D-Day '08

Good morning! Well, the big day is finally here: Hallowe'en, All Hallow's Eve, a night for ghost and goblins and ghoulish revelers from all over the world to descend on our fine little hamlet of Salem, est. 1629. This has been a pretty crazy and crowded month, although I think the numbers are down a little bit from last year because of the economy. Still, Hallowe'en falling on a Friday will guarantee quite a lot of people downtown tonight. Hopefully the police can keep everyone moving and keep the ruckus to a minimum and we don't have any stabbings or shootings like the past 2 years. When I woke up I actually saw a story headline on Yahoo! about a Massachusetts town named Oxford actually postponing Hallowe'en and Trick or Treating until Saturday night because of traffic concerns. Well we have a ton of traffic concerns as well, but I can definitely say that the Salem City Council and mayor would have a riot on their hands if they tried to pull that stunt here. No Hallowe'en cancellations here.

I actually took today off so I could enjoy the madness in full. This should end up being a great weekend with Hallowe'en and the Biggest Outdoor Cocktail (oops, I said it Dr. Adams) Party in the World tomorrow. I do believe the Dawgs are fired up to smash Florida's face in.

After tonight, another long winter offseason of quiet and nothing happening. Most of the leaves are starting to fall (it was an exceptionally beautiful colourful fall this year) and most of the crowds will soon be joining them. After tomorrow, no more tourists, no more street performers, no more ferries and express trains to Boston, no more Thing #1s with full beards dancing down Hawthorne St. giving everyone high-fives, no more costumed bikers with demons hanging off the backs of bikes and bloody limbs hanging out of saddlebags, no more dumb picture-taking sessions of the Bunghole liquor store or the Nick-at-Nite statue, no more town criers or historical re-inactments, no more haunted houses except for the ones that are ACTUALLY haunted, no more carnies infesting the Common or the vacant lot on Derby, no more legions of tour buses parked in front of my house to let off seniors and schoolchildren to clog my neighborhood, no more bedraggled store owners and bartenders and waitresses, no more witches hats and robes -- or at least not quite so many. After tonight we'll close it up and shut it down to wait through the winter until next April.

Au revoir dear readers....enjoy your revels tonight and if you should see Dorian Gray slinking by, be sure to tell me "hello."