I’ve always had a fondness for Halloween. It’s one of the few times of the year where we encourage ourselves to go out and contemplate imaginary things. Masqueing is often times a great way to show aspects of our personalities and let them run and play. And I think that’s healthy.
Writers do something similiar all year round. We try to get into the heads of our various characters and bring versimilitude to their deeds and dialogue. For us, we find ourselves in a mental Halloween more often. It’s not suprising, then when things dark and scary occasionally lean out and say “Boo!”
My alter-ego, True Thomas the Storyteller will be telling stories of the Fairies at the Solvang Faerie Festival on October 12, 2013. For anyone familiar with the Fairy folklore tradition (especially the Celtic one), you know that there are some truly strange and terrifying stories in that tradition. True won’t be telling those to the little kids. He might, however, tell the story of Jack of the Lanterns (also known as “Hard John” or “Hard Jack.”) And my colleague, Mr. Bill Howard, tells one of the the best versions I’ve heard.
You see, there was once a man too mean for heaven and too bitter for Hell. He was doomed to wander in limbo, with only a red hot coal from hell for warmth and light. He put the glowing ember in a carved-out turnip, then wandered the night, looking for a place that will have him. That story turnip eventually turned into a Pumpkin, and that’s where we get the “Jack of the Lanterns” tradition. What a long way from that old folktale to a billion-dollar Halloween industry in the US.
As a folklore buff and as a writer, It’s interesting to see the threads of legend and story that are woven around us. Are those colorful leaves swirling because of cool crisp autumn breeze? Or is it a Gaoithe Sidhe (fairy wind) swirling about you, bringing chills and stories both dark and delicious? In either case, have a great Fall Season!
True Thomas the Storyteller at the Solvang Faire Festival