It’s Haloween Blog Hop time! That means giveaways! Anyone leaving a comment here will be in the running to win a signed copy of my book Dawn in the Orchard (mailed anywhere) or any two of my ebooks. One or the other – well, this is the season for a “devil of a choice.” Bwwwwahahaaa!

Oh how I love evil laughter. :>

Ironically, I love Halloween, but I do not like scary things. Okay, maybe roller coasters. I love roller coasters.

Zombies? Monsters under the bed? Horror flicks? Not so much.

I know, Halloween is supposed to be about the chills and thrills, and Thriller, and the non-sexy things that go bump in the night.

Thank you, but I’ll be keeping ALL THE LIGHTS ON, okay?

And I don’t do dress up either. I don’t think I’ve worn a costume for Halloween since I was a pre-teen.

The question is, then, why do I like it at all?

Well, there is the chocolate. Everyone with me, in your best zombie!voice: chooooocolaaaaate!

Aside from that, though, what is it that makes this holiday one of my favorites?

Halloween is, at heart, a celebration of the hidden life: the creature, monster or spirit which we fear and desire that is at once separate and also a part of us.

If that sounds a bit too high-falutin’ (as my daddy would say) then think of it this way: it is the holiday where our deepest, darkest fantasies are let out to play.

Sure, historically it was about the dead coming back to haunt us in evil ways, and nowadays a huge part of it is the candy/party/costume frenzy. Still, I think its charm comes from how, during Halloween, we can be who we want to be, or who we want to mock, without the usual repercussions.

The “doors between realms” open up and identities shift in the encroaching fog, beasts and monsters rubbing shoulders with the common ilk…and they are all us.

I love Halloween for the open invitation it offers us to let ourselves off the leash, to play and roam free and love and eat candy and allow our hidden selves materialize from the gloom of repression, self-consciousness, and socially imposed limitations.

I love Halloween because it brings out our desires (even if it is just for a candy bar). It fuses to two halves of our souls: the controlled civilized beast and the wild, dangerous romantic soul.