I eked out a walk, despite the fact that raindrops and drizzle persisted from the get-go … but I got it done anyway. I stepped out the door, walked about three houses down and a few pitter patters of rain plopped onto the tip of my nose, so I headed back home and waited a few minutes. Suddenly the rain stopped, so I took another stab at a small saunter, deciding it was best not to stray very far from the ‘hood. I took a different route than usual and it surprised me to see how many homes were still decked out for Halloween and one in particular took me quite aback. The mist and dark sky put the finishing touches on this whole scary scene. So let me set the stage for you about this corner house with the macabre Halloween décor. A huge gallows had been erected and a noose was still present. A body with a twisted neck and drooping head lay on the ground directly beneath. A guillotine set-up was not too far away and several headless bodies, their clothes spattered with blood, were scattered on the ground. The decapitated heads, with copious amounts of blood oozing from them, were still attached to congealed-looking pools of brain matter. The brains, which glistened from the rain and looked eerily life-like, or what I perceived to be lifelike, was just horrific. Barbed wire was coiled up and strung along the one fence. There were rubber rats around the “death scenes” and blood dribbled from their mouths and was smeared on their faces as well. This scene was quite frankly terrifying and not for the faint of heart. If I were a kid it would have scared the living daylights out of me and as an adult it turned my stomach to come upon such a gruesome sight. To add a further chill to the gory scene, the homeowners had placed mock tombstones all over the yard. Mummy heads and skeletons were popping out of the ground. A huge tombstone at the entrance proclaimed “you are next!”. The tombstones, mummies and skeletons were not scary – nothing like the bloody scenes, but I half-expected the wicked laugh of Vincent Price to greet me before I moved on. A man at the side of this house was starting to take apart some life-sized, black wooden coffins and was hammering away on one and I resisted the urge to say “hey, this is just a tad over the top you know” but it would have fallen on deaf ears I suspect. The Headless Horseman from “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” looked like Sponge Bob Square Pants next to this ghastly death scene. I hurried on my way, glad to see a smiling ghost a few houses down. It started drizzling as I took another turn or two around the block, then raindrops spattered my spectacles and a tremendous whoosh of wind whisked my wool beret from my head and I had to make a mad dash after it. Yikes! I decided I’d had enough of my bizarre morning and would dilly-dally no longer and so I headed home posthaste.