I like October. It’s the month for Halloween, when the creeps and the scares slowly move through.
October was also off to a rough start. Without getting into details, some events have changed my future. Don’t worry, no one has died or fallen seriously ill. Everyone is alive and well, some even better than they were in September. And on the plus side, I accepted my first Book Riot sponsored post, which will be about the impact of Goosebumps on mainstream children’s horror, creating a legacy.
Some days bad stuff happens during your favorite month. And on those days, you light the candles you were given as Christmas gifts, watching the wax melt into colorful puddles. You marvel at how the wicks burn away to black ash, filling the room with scents that a company names.
Candles have such a romantic atmosphere to them. Before light-bulbs, they were a necessity, and writers and clerks would have to write their letters and balance their book by candlelight. At the time, there was a real risk of them catching fire. Now that candles are a luxury, relative to light-bulbs, they seem safer, almost comfy.
I went through a Christmas vanilla one, and another one called “Naughty or Nice.” The scent eludes me, but it has a bright dark red color that makes one think of velvet.
It’s technically the wrong holiday to use these candles, but the right time. Some day we need reminder about the light we can find.
