An Air of Mystery

Well hey, there.

I know I’ve been MIA for the last several months, and although this is not really an excuse, life has been incredibly busy for the last little bit, and I kind of forgot about this whole blog thing. Then, last month, I remembered! But I forgot to post in time. 

Anywho, let’s get down to the nitty-gritty.

This month is Halloween month!! In all reality, Halloween is the only thing I associate with October – well, that and the birthdays of my adorable niece and my husband’s nephew. All wonderful things! One other thing I love about October is the sudden and almost tangible feel of mystery that floats in the air. 

While thinking about this season and how my husband and I are going to be more festive this year, I started feeling a little nostalgic. There are some pretty great Halloweeny and mysterious things out there that I have enjoyed throughout my life and have come to love.

So, to help you prepare for the up-coming candy feast, I’m going to share some of my Halloween favorites:

For the Kiddos

Both of these books are so good!! My mom would always pull these out around Halloween, and we couldn’t get enough of them. They are quick, fun reads for any kid, bringing both mystery and humor with them.

Something Wicked This Way Comes

For the adults, here’s something to chill your bones. While this poem takes place in December, it definitely fits the air of mystery that comes with October. ‘Tis “The Raven” by the literary genius himself, Edgar Allen Poe.

If this one isn’t enough for you, perhaps “The Tell-TaleHeart” will get you stirring. 

For those looking for a bit longer of a piece to get you through the Halloween weekend, try “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr.Hyde” by Robert Louis Stevenson.

Shake Dem Bones

October and Halloween isn’t complete without a playlist of spooky songs. These are just a few of my favorites that I pull out just for this month:

One-Eyed, One-Horned, Flying Purple People Eater

Ghostbusters

Monster Mash

Love Potion No. 9

Thriller

Werewolves of London

This is Halloween

Trick or Treat Yo Self

Get in the Halloween and mystery spirit this season with some hilarious and classic Halloween films. Seriously guys, these movies are a treat!! Sure, they’re all in black and white, but that makes them all the better. You’ve got Frankenstein and a guy who looks like Boris Karloff, a werewolf, Dracula, Teddy Roosevelt, and a quirky reporter who finds a haunted organ.

Okay, this may sound like a random hodge-podge of things, but just trust me when I tell you these movies are worth your time.

Oh, and you’re welcome.

There ya go; here’s everything you need to get started for this October. As Albert Einstein said, “The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious.” While my friend may have been talking about the mystery of science, discovery, and the unknown in the world around us, it certainly applies here. Any sense of mystery brings with it a slight air of wonder and magic.

Of course, mystery typically results in us getting a little jumpy or frightened, but that’s just because we’ve made it that way. There’s a great sense of adventure in going out and discovering what is around us, what is out there that we can’t see or can’t comprehend.

By definition, mystery means “something that is difficult or impossible to understand or explain.” The idea of not knowing allows our imagination to run wild, and in a world where everything and everyone is so exposed, we need to keep an air of mystery.

-B