The last Hailovveen Night

October 31. .. Halloween Night ... not for me anymore ... never. ..
Looking around in the "Party City" store in San Patricio Plaza, I noticed alJ the
Halloween d.e~o~ationson the aisles. There were all kinds of costumes of.the notorious
scary',~hara~ters.s~ch' as: Dracula, Frankenstein, witches, mummies, aI1d many more.
B~ts, spider~~arid pumpkins .}Verehanging from the ceiling, arid the walls were covered 67
with the rypi~al black and orange colors. Through the speakers, you could hear a siniste~"
voice laughing mischievously ~Flttu£l,'Zhahaha ... It was the Classicspooky atmosphere of
Halloween.
I didn't like it. I promise myself that I would never like Halloween days again. Not
anymore ... after what happened on my last Halloween night ... a long time ago... and I
still remember it ...
I was 14 years old, and I was in 9th grade at Las Americas Jr. High School in Rio
Piedras. I was a good student with good grades, I had many friends, and ev~ryrhing was
going fine for me at that time. So, when they invited me to the usual Halloween-costume
party at Josiah's house, I simply said- "Oh yeah, sure I'm going. "
We spent the whole week looking for the costumes to wear, and talking abom hmv
cool the parry was going to be. After all, we ail got permissions from our parents, and
Josiah's parents were pretty cool about letting us ~se their house in Cupey Alto. The party
was scheduled for Saturday and we couldn't wait!
Finally, the night of O~tober 31 arrived and we were at the party! It wa:~the p~rfeet
,Halloween nightfor a parly. Even nature was decorating the sky with a bright -yellow
full moon ... although some ugly da~k clouds were forming up on the horizon.
When I got there, the music was rocking ... bum~ .. bum ... bum. The DJ was
blasting the house with all the favorite bands of the moment. All my friends were wearing
crazy costumes. IndiJuz was dressed up as a hippie; Miriam was the bad witch, and
Deborah, the good witch. Emmanuel was a pirate, Michael was Dracula, and Delines was
Cinderella. I was "El Zarro."
Wao! Everything was so awesome! The house was decorated with all the Halloween
ornaments and there was food every\'vhere. Josiah's father was making "pinchos". at
"68
gatberid. at ih.::;'porch to call our p::trents pic:!:. us '.jf" /\nyway, it was in dlere: Wid.:;f th(: 1:'.)

.. --~r,""Y-r-'='
?:~-..1·,~ J1.-::-. "i
l<fyH~ "':' ....,_1..,.... '--"-cll.,·.S, .vn~J.e 4{1
'01 ~·.-I.g6~",-·_·L.-,
1\ .rich a",
.-r ~
.. <: ..... ·.•. ...L •.I<~~j 1dea"
~~:$ (" p- p..
c.~.•1"c -~ .r7-~" ~

<"f.l~-:·-y g:~·.~y.i) i/s .!-la.lk/uJ6 en tzig/Jt! Its ::i~:f.rkf ~[t~:~ ?:;:;:-i;:·;~/l7.;~ll.£.i-:~~cio j·oJnethit!.~:< ..6~:-:::1:_;;"Y: -···.rJ~:
1
l.t

J{ra:3.~3:.J.k~J~;al:.r.OOtt~f:nm~
.. (a huge r:ll.uI}_d(~1.· :struck at tite distance) "\':\7c~ j:...Ul'1.r··{·,:-:,:: :frc.d--:::·.~
OLE chair;;,. and .~'1khael continued -
>. ''H'JU-' about t C fUt' all tell scary storie)' ~,:' i~:Yf. t(/;

\·y'e-t.,I
<'n07:/' aon,
J' .•k nou/, ..m
T' ge"tt'tng scarer;;·
'j- ! ! i' 'W',:t."Z7 _'"
11I-?·f.fl-t)' ..Jf I:~. _. tl···unde.?'s..'.' _·.'.\.'!·l·".·.'::.'.'·.·.'"',
t·;;',".,'" " _ _ .~.:~.<.l·-'.·.'.·
.

with her black witch hat.

"Dh. .t....
plea'" ··;;·,·,/t be c;o 'rniedosaw -sor:nc Gth~rs reulied
-~'v: '.....• 1' . .•.. I.

Kra~kaakal}oc:m.n.L .. rain was pouting no,;'\!. :4.i~JIr)w,we hazJt no cA'oic;,', \:(.~;·:'::·s,:·,:;:(X:

here until oU't"i't.:;·;··Cl·Zt'Scmne ,;'0 ll/e hulle to do .wmet}.iing i-(f tlmuse oursdves. :·'....}.;E.:b-.:,·:.<.::;\.;, i ..,

Soon. after a little argurnent, quiet listening everibody \V''Y.S to all tbe: fL;:~\r",,':;;;:::,:.
stories. >vIidncl began. telling one tt'l:.at·his old grandfatl'ler had told h.itn '.ilL.-:!;.; ;.;:: './•.,::
Co •• "h.~ ••••.~.·'--bllo-ly wi',-!·'F..
'.) littk t>; h ;;"·as·~b,,,t 'Lhr",r-'
_ ••••• .. ··:;;'.ho 'J.,,,,d "0 blOCk
_,.~ •••• Jj_t. ''-_.l'" ~' • .'''''-.'w'.''' .•..•... on his ?.L.'.n.;i.:.·,-<,:-,:::
.•..•

PVC"y n;,,·h,· a' ,~ven'hO'.lI Thi> wi"rhe'o vr-~ ,..

•... .~ .•..•/:).- t...~ ·.,n; ..·,c.. oo,.,f ,,,,,,parning
.'~'-"~'-E, I i.....
_.. ~ , . - '" •...•.. ...J \-J.\... .;J. •.•.••••.•...••••...
at _bin',
.-. _ ··dj o.;...·~.h,·h,:.,.~.:... \c.',
r_......,:.

·
1 1·Hm.u.p.
wa.x:e
'r(r>" 1
"N nene'Jer l.C vyent out
. .,
wlch a stHJtgun.
h .ad,. tney
1 1 l' ,. .
,VOlUo. (I'; ·':.:;'-:··i·"'·,l' ) ".~.,
ne
the night only come back later and rhrow I'i'::c).;:s
i:C- and de2.d. anilnals ~lt; his v,:j;:·.L: ,····f: .. <'.::.::
. door:5. I:1> COl1\] not .c;t~ep-8.t all. They "vauld crawl and. creep allover the 'v\J..U:, :.,:' .!. ''-';;

.roof of ttH::. }lOl.t~e .... 1vilcb.aei k.ept Oft "y·virJ:i

.h_~_s story- ...
E-\-:"r.2.\y""b(J.:1y ';,~T2.5 scarEd then. ~['lte nigL.t '~:vas tU~l~lng very terlse 8.L~:J .-i·~>;::

Kraaakk::..kki±boCK?m •..• T'he rain WC'Ldd nnt stop, and it was getting Vel?... ..
lio-htnin(T
D . '(;> ,·~o!1tinu..~d ·...·v·;':rOlltinued
- ....• ) \ -_ _- \istl""';'\o'
.a..•.~·~.•.•. ~ •..t) U',
~ ' ~""'Oi'/'
4.~_1 .•• _ storl'e~ )'osiah·
• ..v. •. :-01··1
•.. '.' 'h
._.' ·:·.r.'.".· !.:
 parents had told
. ";
?~
years ago about a girl that hung herself in the woods near their
",,","~i"'.. .;, . . .

house. Thentwe 1:i~ard)stoJiesabout ghosts, spirits'inside houses, dead P~8pl.{:,Y{~

.....
·· .

.-;;;~~~t~if~:mft?~;;~!~~~
Kraakakldi.h~oili.~.It "vis also difficult"to\ieter~ipe where was the nois~;,coJ)J.ing;"·
from since it was verydarkqutside. We tried{(:rl()~k:vthentherewaslightning:' 8~t ~e
couldn't see anything. Hov:,ever"on one thing we allagfe~d ... the noise sounded just like
the distressirigvoic~ ofsomeorte crying... .
We we~e terrified and confused,The \rp\~e.or·~blid4;~coriung right from the tall'
'.. :.•.:pi1ieti:ee~<tha.'t.~~~~,bdiind
an ,abandon;4"y6~den .how,~n&tt~ Josiah's house. The rain
"-continu'ed poUring and th,e noise was becon;ung louder',and more frightening .•.}it ,fdt
'like'3.voice cryi~g a;{d sUffering.'Westopp~d 'ii;teni~g to"the foolish stories wcLjtln;,ped '
to the gate'()fth'e porch trying to find out ""hat was rtiaking that'i.1oise or where vias it
coming frbm~. ..\ .., 69
We were focusing~verytime there\va:slightn.i~g. s'O;nebody brought out a fl~iilight ...
and we saw a black d.6~circling one of the tall trees. That was even.stranger since I could ~t:i
never recall seeing dogs getting wet like that. The dog noticed our lights and stoppe4th,~;,,; ';'~l.F(;f:~n'::;;,j,:';·'\{'·

~~:::;~~~.
~~::;;~i~~::ddi~e~t~~a~~:r~Z~,~~ili~~ii~~i~O£l'ii~~~:
~9 go outside undefith;e;ii'~dryr~, but nobody would dare to go withhifu. - ~<"

Josiah's parents were pretty busy inside the house and didn't notice what was going
on outside. It was, a scary feeling... something was crying 'out there and this was not a .
, story, We started arguing about the location of the sounds so we could focus through the
lightning.'''Viene'de alIi... No vi'enede aquel palo ... ,No viene dealld!" And the voice came
. , again, and we agreed that it was from the tallest tree. " We were all looking ...
Then ... a lightning flashed .. ,
c~aaaatUlaaahh! Ay Dios miooor' -Deborah shouted in horror
Some girls,ran back inside, others were screaming from the top of their lungs ... there
•.: was confusion ... they saw somethi~g out there. . ." '.
. Kraaaakkaaakkabooom ... My friends were running in and out. "Que paso?" "Qui
. fue fo que viste alld?" "Que era?" Nobody could talk ... they were panicking, .
The voice was laughing now ... Imich 'lo~der.. ~and crying again. I was trembling, my
heart was pumping and I had trouble breathing. Another huge lightning struck the sky
. brightening the dark Halloween night... .'. .
And there I saw it. .. or her. .. That was the scariest mOrJ.?entofmYJif~"llptheri/,t:>
about 30 feet high, stuck in the branches of the tall tree/the{~~~sth~ figur~ of a sm~i
creature naked an9-gettirigweCli{spiitseconds, I saw how creepy the face was, and th~
70

eyes were wide open .. .looking straight at me ... and the mouth was desperately crying
under the heavy rain. Then, it began to smile at me .. .it was a small girl with a rope tied
around her neck. It was up there, on the br~ches of the tree, under the rain ...
In the middle of the commotion and the sct~3..JIlS, a lot of flashlights appeared. Some "
parents had arrived and began flashing their cars' headlights. Josiah's parents ~d othirs
ran towards the tree to look for the creature; I baked out and noticed that the dog was-
gone then., ," - , '
Kraakakakkabooom ... They couldn't find anything. There were no sighs of any giri
out there. The voice vanished in the air leaving us with just:the memories brth~ spirit of.;'
that girl who hung herself on that sinisrer night. ",c,.t:

I won't ever forget that image of that Halloween night. I don't wam ~o celebr3te,tlk
Halloween no more. I can't even look at dark trees at night whenever it'sraining. I nevel'f:i(f~
knew wha~ really happened that night. .. nobody knew ... and we didn't want to talk aboLf ;,;;'i
it either. Later on, I learned that Josiah and his family moved out of the house. ,¥:~~~,~
, "Miraa ... hellooo; vamos a cerrar fa tienda" -s'aid the clerk at Party City. I noticed:·h'''i.tk\
she was dressed up like a grotesque zombie with a hanging rope around her neck. As I was.~~iE::
leaving the store, she smiled at me and told me -"Have a happy Halloween Nightr~:m;~!\;;
 1. spooky (misterioso) frighteningly, suggestive of supernatural involvement
2. awesome (grandioso) impressive, inspires a strong feeling of admiration
3. shotgun (escopeta) a short range gun that shoots a load of small pellets
4. brightening (aclarando) to become less overcast or rainy
5. crawling (gateando) to move slowly with hands and knees close to the ground
6. commotion (conmoci6n) a scene of noisy confusion or activity
7.. dreadful (horrible) extremely bad
8. distressing (perturbador) causing somebody to feel anxious or upset
," "9.':va.hished,(desapareci6) disappear suddenly . . '.........,,;/ .. ',
. ': ::)9:~gih,te~qu.eL(gr;tesco) ~trang~; misshapen, e~peciailyi~ a dist~lb~rik~iy~' ,
'-" - - ;-- .:.~'~.:~.':

1. What was the flashback in this story?'

2. What were the two main settings of this story?
3. What did the boys decide to do on Halloween Day?
4. Who was at the party?
5. What were the major events that changed the mood of the story?
6. What did the kids see on the tree?

III. Critical Thinking Questions:

1. Do you consider that the vision (of the little girl on the tree) was real or was it
just an imagination from.the kids? Why?
2. Why do you think all the kids accepted to play the game of spooky story telling?
3. Why do you think the girl was crying and laughing at the same time?
A. Have you ever ,'vimessed or experienced frightening visions of ghosts or spirits
or something similar? Anyone you know? Write a short paragraph or passage
narrati.q.gyc:ur experience. Then, share it with your classmates.
 The History of Hallo~\Jeeil""'" .;".'/:;"

Halloween's .ongms date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain

(pronounced sow-i,Il)" ",': '::
.' .. ",;: 1hd:I:elts,:wh6lived 2,000 years ago i:iIthe area that is nbwIrelan8., the United .' .
, 'Kingdom, ':ahd northern Fr~ce,celebrated their new year orrNovembe; 1. This
72 day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold
winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed
that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the
living and the dead became blurred. On the night ofOctober31,.th~y'"f~I~~X;?§

,~~;:,\~~~;~w~ttgiiii~~r~~
";"~fth~oth~~orldly spirits·tnade it ~'i~iJ:tFbi the Druids:::o?Celtic :p-ri~~ts,to make %

predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural
world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and di~_c::c~ion during
the long, dark winter. .. :,:i'>,'" ..'
To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people
gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities.
During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically ccinsistingof aniinal
heads and skins, and attempted to ,teil each other's fortunes. When the celebration ..
was over, they fe-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that
evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter.
By A.D. 43, Romans had conquered the majority of Celtic territory., In the
course of the four hundred years that they ruled the Celtic lands, two festivals of
Roman origin were combined with the traditional Celtic celebration of Samhain.
The first was Feralia, ~ day in late October when the Romans traditionally
commemorated the passi~g of the dead, The second was a day. ~Qho.n')r Pomm1a:,
the Roman goddess of fruit.anci. t~~e~.The,symbdl:'6fPO'th:bri:~;:i{):m~:·~pplt~dih¢'
'. .' )Ll~orpo~ation of this :c~1~brati6~::}ri'~~
~amhain probably ~xplain~tE:e tradition oE"
"bobbing" for apples thaCis practic~ci. todaYori·Hallowe~n.:. ... ~:
 Y t e 800s, t e ln uence 0 nstlamty a sprea Into
seventh century, Pope Boniface IV designated November 1 All Saints' Day, a time to
honor saints and martyrs. It is widely believed today that the pope was attempting
to Jeol;:tce the Celtic festival of the dead with a re.lawi but church-sanctioned·
holid~y. The celebration was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas (from Middle I·
English Alholowmesse meaning All Saints' Day) and the night before i~, the night of
Samhain, began to be called All-hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween. Even later,
in A.D. 1000, the church would make November 2 All Souls' Day, a day to honor
the dead. It was celebrated similarly to Samhain, with big bonfires, parades, and
dressing up in costumes as saints, angels, and devils. Together, the three celebrations,
the eve of All Saints', All Saints', .and AllSoyJs', were called Hallowmas.

73