Halloween and Rhode Island Comic Con.

Today is Halloween. My favorite holiday. It’s my wife’s favorite holiday. We had a Halloween-themed wedding. It’s my son”s favorite day to get free candy. Halloween may as well be a religious holiday in our house.

I love Halloween because it’s the most casual of the major holidays. There’s no universal expectation to spend a lot of money on food or presents. There’s no obligation to see family members, whether you get along with them or not. The only “official” behavior for Halloween is to dress up in whatever costume makes you happy and go trick-or-treating, or to have a modest bowl of candy waiting for eager trick-or-treaters who come by. If the weather holds up, it makes for a magical night out.

I love being on both sides of the Halloween tradition. Nowadays I go out trick-or-treating with my son, making certain he gets to enjoy the same experience I did as a child. A few years prior to his birth, my wife and I made a (small) production of handing out candy to trick-or-treaters. And years prior to that, in an area near Boston University, I handed out candy to drunk college kids in costume on Halloween night, who were wandering the streets in search of a party. One of them looked me right in the eye and said, “You mean… I can just have some candy?” I swear there was a spark of their childhood behind their eyes for one magical moment. It was nice to help them remember that, if they remembered anything from that night.

This year, the day after Halloween, I’ll be exhibiting at RHODE ISLAND COMIC CON for the second year! I had a good time at this hidden gem of a show last year, so much so that I decided to return! So if want a firsthand account of how Halloween treated me and my family this year, and/or want to pick up some merch, come say hi!