all hallows

let me just say that halloween is great. more than great even, i mean, the one night of the year when the veil between this world and what lies beyond is thinner, and if needed can be lifted to reveal what is usually hidden from our mortal sight.
i celebrate all hallows eve with my parents in their house, it has become as traditional as christmas. we carve pumpkins to ward off evil spirits, and feast on our evening meal by candle light, followed by ghost stories around the fire. 
their house is old, over two hundred years, and used to be a pub for miners. but when part of it burnt down it was made into two cottages. there has never been anything sinister within the walls of the house, but i cannot escape the fact that there is something inhuman that remains there. 
my parents have seen there fair share of bizarre occurrences, ranging from clumsy footsteps heard upstairs to full blown apparitions that stand and look through the bedroom windows at night. 
one particular guest (we call them guests as not to offend them and of course they are welcome to stay as long as they wish) that we had for quite some time was a young boy. we called him 'the brown boy' because for the first few times we saw him he would run past so quick he was just a blur of brown clothing. but since then we have seen him walking through the rooms, hiding behind the kitchen table and most frequently, crouching at the top of the stairs, only to run into one of the bedrooms when we catch sight of him. he is mischievous and playful, always running about, making noise.
we hoped that he would make a visit this halloween but strangely the house stayed quite quiet. 

our guards, the pumpkins

me and the boyf

mother

father

brother

beanie baby got scared so we gave her a pumpkin

all hallows beer

our feast by candle light

but my halloween was not all about mischievous ghosts, on the saturday before i went out with friends and celebrated in a more alcoholic fashion....

what a fantastic way to welcome all who do no longer share our mortal realm! 

x