Today is Halloween and from the view out of my front door...it's gonna be a spooky one.
As I stepped outside this morning and walked my kid to the bus stop, a cold shiver ran down my spine. The air was crisp, the wind was whipping and boy was it foggy. I imagined the sultry voice of Adrienne Barbeau broadcasting from a lonely lighthouse by the bay, announcing a fog bank was rolling into town hours before dawn.
I glanced about nervously while I waited patiently with the other parents. The fog was here in my little neighborhood, casting a grey shadow over the entire street...waiting for victims...or so I imagined.
Inspired by this morning's weather, I'm officially naming John Carpenter's 1980 horror film THE FOG as Halloween 2011's inspiration. Look out for areas where the fog is especially thick, abandon all unnecessary fishing expeditions and for pete's sake, if you hear a fog horn, run or you'll get fish hooked by a rag-tag gang of Zombie fisherman hiding in the soupy mist.
Not to be confused with the 2005 remake, the original THE FOG was released in 1980 and stars scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis, her mother Janet Leigh, Adrianne Barbeau and Hal Holbrook. It is, in my opinion, the perfect scary movie companion to get you in "the mood" for a good fright this Halloween (available for instant streaming from Netflix).
A quick note from the citizens of Antonio Bay: if random electronic radios and appliances start mysteriously malfunctioning and a dozen or so car horns begin honking in unattended vehicles...it might be a good idea to pack up the car and visit the in-laws for the weekend.
"Mr. Machen: 11:55, almost midnight. Enough time for one more story. One more story before 12:00, just to keep us warm. In five minutes, it will be the 21st of April. One hundred years ago on the 21st of April, out in the waters around Spivey Point, a small clipper ship drew toward land. Suddenly, out of the night, the fog rolled in. For a moment, they could see nothing, not a foot in front of them. Then, they saw a light. By God, it was a fire burning on the shore, strong enough to penetrate the swirling mist. They steered a course toward the light. But it was a campfire, like this one. The ship crashed against the rocks, the hull sheared in two, mars snapped like a twig. The wreckage sank, with all the men aboard. At the bottom of the sea, lay the Elizabeth Dane, with her crew, their lungs filled with salt water, their eyes open, staring to the darkness. And above, as suddenly as it come, the fog lifted, receded back across the ocean and never came again. But it is told by the fishermen, and their fathers and grandfathers, that when the fog returns to Antonio Bay, the men at the bottom of the sea, out in the water by Spivey Point will rise up and search for the campfire that led them to their dark, icy death.
[bells ring distantly]
HAPPY HALLOWEEN NERDSBURGH!
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