I didn’t know that Halloween was going to be a terrifying experience for me. Even while I was enjoying the decorations, my apprehension was growing. I kept hearing tales of witches eating little children, stories of cats scratching out eyes, ghosts and goblins flying about and bats sucking all the blood from your body til you died.
“Whass a goblin?” I asked my sister.
“Dunno. Kinda like a ghost I spose.”
“Whass a bat den?” I queried
“All I know is dey only comes out after dark. Kinda like a big black bird wit sucker lips.”
“Is dey real?”
“Yeh,” chimed in Peggy from across the table. “Bats is real and dey sucks de blood right outta ya!”
I was terrified, afraid to ask any more questions and that night I was afraid to go to sleep. I kept looking out the windows trying to see all these creatures I had heard about.Finally, Halloween arrived and I was scared out of my wits all day. I kept seeing people in scary costumes making, squealing, squeaky, sounds. After supper the big dining room tables were stacked. Mrs. Forsyth and the aides dished out Halloween treats and scary stories were told. We were then taken to the basement and told to look into the laundry room.
I saw was the profile of a witch in a tall pointed hat stirring a huge pot of brew!
“Hee, hee, hee,” she squeaked.
Beside her stood a big black cat with its tail sticking straight up and its back arched in rage.
“Hee, hee, hee, watch out for the cat. She’ll scratch your eyes out,” the witch squealed again while stirring her brew.
“Come here, little girls and boys. It’s almost hot enough for you now!”
“I’m scared, Marcie,” I cried, clinging tightly to my sister.
“Tis not real, Josie,” she assured me.
The bigger pupils knew what was happening, but they didn’t tell the little ones. Looking back I imagine they meant no harm but I was terrified.
“Look, Miss! A giant bat jus flew by de window!” someone yelled.
I screamed and clung to Marcie’s hand. Sheer terror overtook me.
After the ghosts and goblins were gone, we settled down for hot cocoa malt and cookies. But I was too upset to enjoy them. I couldn’t get the blood-sucking bats, eye-scratching cats and the witch’s brew out of my head and I couldn’t sleep for days after.