My Halloween Conundrum

By G. E. Shuman

My mother used to use the word conundrum every once in a while.  She probably still does.  When I was a small child I sometimes wondered at the meaning of that strange word.  Those were the days before wikipedia, and children such as I also wondered at the meaning of words like dictionary, so for years I never really learned what conundrum meant.  I did have some idea what that meaning was, and now have no idea why I didn’t just ask my mother at the time.   These days we do have wikipedia, and I have learned what the word dictionary means, so I looked up the word conundrum.  According to wikipedia, the word conundrum means: A logical postulation that evades resolution, an intricate and difficult problem.   I knew it!  I was right all along!

So, I am now faced with a logical postulation that evades resolution, an intricate and difficult problem, a conundrum.  My conundrum has to do with Halloween, but you know that if you read the title.  You see, I have always loved Halloween.  If you know me, you know that I am also a quite imperfect Christian, but do love the teachings of the Lord, and appreciate the council of my church family in matters of how to live.  I just can’t do the church-family advice-thing completely, on the subject of Halloween.  

I know that most Christian churches, including my own, discourage the celebration of what has been called the devil’s holiday.  This may seem a little spooky, but I just don’t see it that way.  I never have.  I know that bad things are done by bad people on this particular fall night, and I hate all of those things.  Still, to me, Halloween is about kids dressing up to get candy… and maybe a slight fright. In my day this special night was all about witches and goblins and ghost stories and pumpkins. The scariest sound you heard was someone yelling “BOO!”  Maybe the problem is that it’s no longer my day.

I once wrote a column which included the true childhood memory of “the sooty-sweet smell of candle-lit carved pumpkins.”  To me, Halloween evening also brings back memories of dead leaves, and the first brisk bite of winter, whipping around in the nighttime air.  I actually have been known to stand on the front lawn, just to conger up this feeling, on this bone-chilling night.  I also always recall the scent of baskets of crisp apples on Halloween-decorated porches at trick or treat time, and the seasonal taste of popcorn balls, candy corn, and cider.  

I know that all of these memories are just a yearly re-sensing of coldness and darkness, and the sights, sounds, smells and tastes of autumn. Halloween is not necessary for one to experience any of them.  Still, there is something deliciously scary in the idea that something might just be there in the darkness, watching from behind that familiar old tree.   This year I will decorate the front porch a bit, in the hope of ‘spooking’ trick or treaters just a little.  I don’t go overboard, but I have not given up on the spirit of Halloween yet.  

I will now return to my mental cauldron, and continue stirring the seasonal ingredients of my terrible Halloween conundrum.

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