Haunting

YESTERDAY, my family made scarecrows. It was a great bonding experience, though we did have meltdowns, feuds, and some discussion over artistic license. Just as I was warming up, seeing scarecrow potential in everything from rakes to scoop shovels, trunk lids to tomato stands--we were done. (I made another one, later that day, just because!)

There is something in me that seeks expression in the crafting of beings--not my kids, here--scarecrows, sandsculptures, effigies, stick people...I do not know why this is a tendency I have. I don't remember anything profound from my childhood.

Deeper, I also find I am very good at crafting "scares" for others. This has some roots in April Fool's pranks, but it goes farther and farther from center. I operated a haunted house for two or three years, giving MONTHS of my life to its success. It consumed me. I was part of something large-scale scary, so much so that I could not tour my own haunt w/o screaming like a little girl. I was engaged in online chats with the operators of haunts in St. Louis, Salt Lake City, and on the outskirts of Hollywood. I toured a factory in Greeley, Colorado, makers of those life-like, life-sized creepy robotic things. We literally bought out a haunted house in Topeka, and 8 of us and a semi-tractor trailer hauled it back and adapted it to our purposes.

Now, for any new readers, I am not into the occult nor black arts. I don't even like Black Sabbath. (I don't even like the color black, if you really care.) There were no pentagrams nor strange worship services at our haunt.

A pinnacle, however, was the larger-than-life Grim Reaper we crafted. It was shockingly realistic (though, how could a mythic figure be realistic?). I hope I still have photos of it somewhere.

Building scarecrows reminded me of building that Grim Reaper. I could populate my whole 11 acres with such things and invite the public, but I don't think my family would like it much.

I still don't know why it gives me such a charge.