Treats are found at the bottom, if you wish to skip there. Don't read the issue at all if you don't care for the holiday. Our regularly-scheduled newsletter drops in 6 days.

WHY Jarvis? Why?

My Halloween Why dates back to my childhood. Sure, I had a few store-bought costumes, but my favorite was one we handcrafted in my 4th grade year: a vampire. My grandmother sewed a cape with red satin inner lining and stand-up collar. My other grandmother gave me a homebase with no questions for the night. My parents dutifully dropped me off and didn't look back. Meanwhile, I'd rigged a very respectable costume, complete with lots of fake blood and fangs.

Where it gets interesting is my innovation. Glow in the dark teeth lost their glow like a starlet waiting tables, so I had to do better. What if I could get radioactive vampire teeth, like those watch faces that glowed in the dark? All I needed was radium-226 to produce radioluminescence. As time was short and that substance was not readily available in Ulysses, Kansas, I improvised. I used 4 D batteries in a cardboard tube, a few wires and a handmade switch, powering up flashlight bulbs I glued to my Duckwall's vampire fangs. The contraption made it impossible to say much (the cool vampires tend to be quiet and aloof anyway). I did manage to break a bulb when running from a prank committed, and I burned my mouth from hot lights in my mouth and/or electrical discharge.

I mean, my nickname was Sparky, so...

Failures sometimes lead to successes. In my case, that Halloween was the first time my creativity was unleashed and, well, noteworthy. I cultivated a love for the creative and macabre. I wrote scary stories. I knew all the scary movies and jokes. I wrote a few one-act plays for my brother and me to perform for family. I also had several other award-winning costumes over the years. (One incorporating stilts, another using an inflatable mattress, another yet in which I picketed milk producers.)

I created a full-on haunted house as a fundraiser for Habitat for Humanity. (We gave them $7,000 in the first year alone!) That was so inspiring for me. I was on early Yahoo chats and conference calls with national leaders in the field (yes, there's a whole network and organization of haunted house managers). I visited a fantastic prop manufacturer in Greeley, Colorado, Distortions Unlimited. I worked with some hillbilly engineers to create incredible props...(a Pepper's Ghost, animatronics, a Vortex Tunnel, a simulated electrocution). I could have gone on to be a creature creator in Hollywood.

The point of it all, the why behind my appreciation for Halloween, has nothing to do with spookiness, but everything to do with creative outlet.

In other environs, my kids and I created a 62-ft pirate ship made of pallets. I have rigged many things like a Chicken Moat, patio lights from milk jugs, countless trebuchets and catapults, a lift for my lawn tractor, and so on. I think all these creative urges return to my roots, to my dad. He was a farmer with only a high school education, but he was very well read (Mechanix Illustrated, Popular Science, and Science and Mechanics...and 100's of science fiction novels, and he created lots of things. He even held a patent. How many people do you know who went through the entire patent process?! I grew up in his radioactive shadow and always wanted to be more like him.

My Why, Expressed in Writing

So I flex my creativity in writing. Now you know why it's flavored with science fiction and horror. It's a proud heritage I hope to honor.

My first foray into horror novels, The Unbecoming Remains, will be out soon, with one of the covers below. It's a travelogue narrated by a cognizant zombie who's in denial. You'll find the story is more about identity and character than blood and brains.

Treats

You can learn about what's hot and what's not for Halloween at Google's site, Frightgeist. Lots of fun. Trending costumes in your zip code. Popular searches. Candy.

A great piece from The Atlantic: A Harmless Act of Halloween Rebellion...Don’t worry if you don’t understand some costumes this year.

What I'm listening to in celebration of Halloween:

​Electro Swing Halloween Edition​

​Rockabye Baby Halloween​

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No one does spooky better than the late, great Vincent Price. This link takes you to hours of him reading scary stories on YouTube. He's a national treasure.