October gothic moods
-The boundary between worlds is growing thinner as Halloween approaches, and Things are starting to leak out. Don’t look too closely at any of the shadows in the corner of the room, especially not the ones that feel deeper than usual.
-The scent of wood smoke clings to the night air, faint enough that it almost feels like a memory. Something is being roasted over a campfire deep in the forest, and it isn’t marshmallows.
-Families pour into the corn maze every weekend, all excitement and laughter and rambunctuous toddlers. By dusk, only half of them have emerged, covered in dirt and sweat and blood. You remember there being houses along this road, but now you can see nothing but the corn, and the bobbing flashlights of those still trapped inside. As you watch, one of the lights blinks out.
-They say Jack-o’-lanterns were originally meant to ward off evil spirits, but yours isn’t working. Every time you pass it, its grin is wider. It has more teeth than you remember carving.
-There’s a black cat that seems like its been following you. You never see it behind you, but it’s always sitting outside, waiting, wherever you go. Every day, it’s sitting slightly closer to your door.
-You wear a cheap plastic mask on Halloween to hide from whatever has crossed into our world, but those creatures are wearing masks too and theirs are far more horrifying. You just passed something tall and rail-thin, and it was wearing your face.
-This is the closest we get to the Other Side, so if you have a message for the dead, stand outside and whisper it into the night. You’ll know when to do it. It will feel like the right time.
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