Thursday, October 25, 2012

The Grinch Who Stole Halloween

My son went out the front door this morning to discover that somebody has stolen two of the "Gruesome Greeters" that have been a part of our annual Halloween decor in the front yard for several years now.

A pic from last year - stolen "greeters" are circled

They were attached two a couple of plant stands that Francine uses - including the wonderful "bunny" plant hanger that we had for years - those were stolen too.

It's not the cost of these items that bothers me, but rather the effect it has on my son.


It was a fun morning - the family was happy, heading out the door to drop him off at school, only to discover this.  He burst into tears of frustration and was determined to go hunting through the neighbourhood, convinced we could find them.  Going to school and learning and seeing his friends and teachers was the furthest thing from his mind.

The incident has been reported to police - it's not the first time items have been stolen from our front yard -- this is perhaps the fifth or sixth time.  Honestly, I have lost count.  And, like in the past when his fun things were stolen (a statue, a fountain, planters, Halloween and Christmas decorations), Alexander is going to obsess with trying to find these items we'll likely never see again.


It's interesting - I'm often asked why I write horror stories.  One of the reasons might be that at least the bad things are fiction. At least, there are opportunities in the horror I write, for good to triumph over evil. And sometimes, when the evil does win in the story (becomes sometimes in horror, the monsters win), at least when you close the book, the bad stuff is over.

But these thieves haven't just stolen some decorations from me and my family. They've also stolen a bit of fun that has become ritual in our neighbourhood.  We enjoy putting out fun decorations - this time of year, kids walking to school enjoy pausing to check out the decorations -- adults often stop to take pictures.  It's a small thing that brings fun and seasonal spirit to people. A little bit of that is now taken away.

I would just love to find the jerks who did this and force them to stand in front of my son and apologize.

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