Tis The Season, the Spooktacular Season!

 We do Halloween big at Whittle Central. How big? When people ask me how to get to our house for trick or treating, I tell them to look for the house with the cemetery. And the life-size skeleton horse. And the rolling fog bank (which got so thick one year it became a traffic hazard, and we had to turn off the machines).

For me, the mystery writer, it’s a chance to indulge my more macabre side without people worrying about my mental state. For my daughter, it’s an opportunity to decorate herself and the house in gothic extravagance. For my husband, it’s the one day of the year he can show off his engineering skills to the general public—we have a swarm of bats that swoop down the sidewalk, a giant eyeball peeking out of the garage, and a fanged trash can that snaps from the bushes.

It’s all in good fun, though. We like to keep things on the amusing side of spooky (think Scooby Doo) and not downright scary. The only items that cause the least bit of consternation are the snakes draped everywhere—small ones, big ones, snakes looped around jack-o’-lanterns and dangling from tree branches. Kids love them (and the spiders and cockroaches too), but the grown-ups sometimes give them a wide berth.

I think we’ve balanced the scares and the laughs pretty well over the past twenty-one years, with only one trick-or-treater fleeing in terror. This youngster marched right past the buzzards and the T-Rex and the Wispy Ghost and the Floating Pumpkin of Death, didn’t spare a second to ponder Skull Pond or the Pirate Skeleton. Just presented herself at the door with her bag open wide and a firm smile on her face. “Candy please!” she said.

I filled her bag. But then…our dog poked his head out the door.

Cloud is a Maltese, a cuddlesome ball of white fluff and bashfulness, but he loves to greet trick-or-treaters, so he came waddling up in his bedraggled bee costume. The girl took one look and ran off screaming. Ran right through the graveyard, taking down a tombstone labeled Death to Disco and hitting the driveway at a full sprint. We hope she comes back this year—we’re dressing Cloud as a piece of salmon sushi, the most nonthreatening costume we could find, just to be on the safe side.

Here’s hoping your Halloween is more treat than trick! Have a good one!

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Tina Whittle writes the Tai Randolph mysteries for Poisoned Pen Press. The sixth book in this Atlanta-based series—Necessary Ends—is available now. Tina is a proud member of Sisters in Crime and has served as both a chapter officer and national board member. Visit her website to follow her on social media, sign up for her newsletter, or read additional scenes and short stories: www.tinawhittle.com.