We are nearing the end of Pride season; Oct. 21 marks bi-coastal celebrations in Volusia County and Sarasota, and we close with Sanford Pride Nov. 5. As the Pride door shuts the holiday door swings open.
You can always tell when the holidays are coming, and I include Halloween as the official kickoff to the end of year holiday extravaganza. Pumpkin spice is everywhere, people are complaining that Christmas trees are already on sale and the temperature drops from a balmy 98 degrees to a cool 92. Ah yes, fall in Florida. There really is nowhere I’d rather be. I’m so basic that I love everything pumpkin, it’s never too early for tree shopping and nothing is better than warm weather. Fall is arguably the best time of the year.
In honor of this spooktacular time, I thought I’d fill you in on one of my most memorable Halloween experiences.
The most scared I’ve ever been in my life was in the first grade. Before I go any further, it’s important to know that I cried a lot when I was kid. I’m not sure why. Maybe it was a means to get my way or pure frustration for not being able to express myself? In this instance, it was pure fear.
My elementary school in Houston, Texas, was hosting a Halloween party. There was trick-or-treating, bobbing for apples and a haunted house, among other things. It was probably more like a haunted walk through, but to this six-year-old it might as well have been a haunted mansion. I was dressed as The Lone Ranger: black hat, black vest, badge and a six shooter. Even though it was Texas, the six shooter was a toy. My black mask was not a real mask, it was black make-up smeared on my face to make it look like a mask. I looked amazing and strutted around like I was the sheriff. I was definitely in character.
I decided to tackle the haunted house. It was cute at first, just some howling winds and scary noises. I came upon a cutout in the wall. It was a big square about eye level and it was dark. I wasn’t sure if it was covered in a black cloth or if it was just dark, so I decided to investigate. Hand on my holster, I crept up to the wall and leaned in. Out of the dark abyss jumped the most monstrous, haggard witch a child has ever seen. She had a cackling scream that pierced my soul and sent me into survival mode. I screamed my way to the exit, pushing anyone down that was in my way like George Costanza exiting a kitchen fire.
Once outside the torture chamber, I bent down and let out all the emotion of 20 pregnant women. I cried more than Tammy Faye Baker begging for money, and thanks to my makeup mask I looked worse than her, too. I mean, who puts eye makeup on a crybaby going to a haunted house? I was embarrassed, scared and humiliated. My mom came up to me and I thought the worst was over. Here comes the most important person in my life to save me.
“Don’t cry. It will be okay,” she said lovingly. “Look baby. Look who came to see you.” Was it Glinda the Good Witch to bring a smile to my face? Santa Claus? No, it was a huge scary beast reaching out to eat me! OK, it was a man in a gorilla costume trying to hug me and tell me they were sorry. To me, that gorilla was 30 feet tall and I was a small banana ready to be devoured.Who sends a big ape to comfort a screaming child? I wasn’t dressed as Dian Fossey. Spooky-dookie elementary school haunted house 1, Lone Ranger 0.
In this issue of Watermark, we decided to do something we have never done in the past by devoting our In Depth section to Halloween. Scottie Campbell walks you through some great costume ideas under $100, lists some of the scariest places to visit along with some of the best family friendly Halloween events, gives you some incredible must-have ideas for your party and delivers some costume mishaps from notable Watermark readers. Jeremy Williams, our resident movie expert, walks you through some of the best films in LGBTQ horror. Also in this issue we profile Orlando’s Eric Rollings as he strives to become Orange County ‘s first openly gay commissioner, we welcome St. Pete’s Annie Hiotis to the Equality Florida board and we showcase my favorite dancing diva, The Fitness Marshall, as he brings his tour to Lakeland. In the previous issue we introduced the Last Page, where we feature a Watermark staff member. In this issue we introduce you to Watermark’s mom, Sam Callahan. I hope you love her as much as we do.
We strive to bring you a variety of stories, your stories. I hope you enjoy this latest issue.
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