Seeing as how Halloween is just around the corner, I thought it would be fun to indulge in the rich tradition of ghost stories and share some spooky tales to get hearts thumping.
And then I looked out the window…
Maybe next year?
I think there is enough real life fodder happening to sustain the horror junkies and all-hallows-eve fanatics until next October.
The days of COVID-19 easily sound like a frightening movie premise read by an intense, gravely-voiced announcer in a commercial.
“In a world where an invisible threat lurks everywhere you go,” that voice would growl. “Where there was no defence and nobody was safe. A world where longstanding institutions toppled and the very fabric of society fell away in the blink of an eye.”
The tag line would have to be something along the lines of “This 2020…don’t…leave…your…house.”
Add an election to that mix, and then you’ve got yourself a frightening political thriller featuring a controlling power at the helm that hasn’t put the public at such risk since the folks in Soylent Green.
You know, that ’70s movie where the food supply comes from recycled humans?
I’ve come to the conclusion, anyhow, that most politicians resemble Frankenstein monsters who lumber from function to function, speech to speech, and debate to debate; it’s madness how candidates drain themselves of all life as they embark on exhausting campaign trails.
I won’t even get into the Frankenstien-eqsue patchwork of money and greed that goes into creating some of them.
The public is no better.
People seem to go after candidates like a pack of zombies looking to steal any part of them they can grab hold of (whether it’d be story-hungry journalists like myself or desperate residents hoping for change).
What’s happening south of the Canadian border is so frightening, I think I’d rather spew pea soup and have my head spin around than be subjected to another Trump/Biden debate; in fact, that’s kinda how the whole thing looked liked.
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Perhaps how we are so captivated by watching the decay of society through social is the real terrifying part.
In these times, I’m reminded of a long-forgotten gem of a horror movie from the ’60s called Targets, in which the relevance of original Frankenstein, Boris Karloff, is questioned when juxtaposed to a young man who goes on a shooting rampage.
Maybe we’ve gotten ourselves into such a place that a manufactured scare just doesn’t do the trick?
Obviously, fake monsters made from make-up can’t hold a candle to real acts of harm and terror, but in modern times, we are so inundated with forces beyond our control – it, for a lack of a better term, is quite scary.
Between an increase in forest fires and the prevalence of pandemics and the world’s future has become vastly uncertain.
Most folks believe they outrun evil beings the Mummy and the Wolfman chasing after them…the looming threats of climate change… that, I’m not so sure.
But if ghost stories and horror movies have taught us anything, there is always a fighting chance for the good to triumph and for a few lessons to be learned along the way.
So, I suppose the moral of the story here is, no matter what you do on Oct. 24th or 31st, remember to be safe and don’t get too frightened.
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Email: ryan.uytdewilligen@aldergrovestar.com
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