Tales of All Hallows' Eve: Halloween

NOTE: Comes complete with special video recordings of the author, Dr. Jeffrey Lant reading each chapter of the book. At university, myself and my closest friends undertook to go out in the twilight fast falling, and see what we might see of the opening in the Earth's crust where every sort of noxious, evil, malevolent creature was waiting to come forward and populate the night scene with doom and despair. We found ourselves in a small village, not a soul on the street, not a soul to be seen... but in one place: the cemetery. The cemetery was heavily overgrown with vegetation, heavy moss, and strangulating plants. The very aura of the place made us want to cross ourselves and implore “I beg of Thee, O Sweet Jesus, that at the hour of my death, Thou wilt show me mercy.” There was something lurid about this place of the dead. And then we saw it. On an overturned tombstone, bright with creepers, this message: "Not Dead But Sleepeth". At once, we felt sure that that was a message for us to retire as quickly as possible back to the haunts of man, who craves the congregation of our still quick neighbors. I have never forgotten that day, the haunted aspect, the omnivorous plants, the overturned tombstones, and the frightful possibilities which we saw clearly might emanate from such a place where death stands forth each Halloween and the aspect for all is frightening. This is Halloween, and this, my book, is composed of stories that make it all explicable. Halloween is an acknowledgment that evil exists, and that evil is daily in confrontation with God and the Cosmos. Thus, each All Hallows' Eve, October 31st, the door to Hell swings open on rusty hinges releasing a terrible smell of burning flesh and brimstone, Prince Lucifer's luxurious perfume. The doors to Hell swing open, bit by bit releasing the unlimited number of sad and woebegone creatures packed within 364 days a year, and released to carry on their noxious work. It must be done before midnight of the next day. And so smart people stay locked behind closed shutters, holding hands, singing psalms, and praying to God Almighty for relief, mercy, and absolution. For if the Devil is around this night, God is surely around as well. All Hallows' Eve, most fervently celebrated by the Celtic peoples of Europe, is an indication that the great war between good and evil, between God and the Devil, is not finished yet. God ascends in triumph for all but 24 hours of the year. In these 24 hours, every transgression, every sin, every malevolence, is not only imaginable, but visiting your neighborhood to see who could be wooed to attend the macabre dances of Prince Lucifer, where burning flesh is the prevalent scent, because fire is the prevalent instrument. We of course wish to think nothing on this terrible event which comes to call so many, and returns no one at all. Their motto: "Not Dead, But Sleepeth". And they wake up with a vengeance and a purpose on All Hallows' Eve. This book offers five Halloween tales, each of which is intended to take you into this curious holiday, where the real meaning has been filtered out, leaving nothing besides sugar and delusion.

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