The Fear We All Forget...

Good evening, dearest reader. Once again, I find myself being dragged back to the annual ritual of the Halloween Countdown.
  A count of the days, counting down from thirteen,
  From today, thirteen nights till we see Halloween.
Whilst I love to dwell in the delights of the horrific and the horrible in this haunting hour of the horrid... I'm a touch lugubrious, this year. For you see, that tonight is my birthday - the inciting incident of this performance:

Happy Birthday to you,But beware what you do,Or this might be the last timeThat we sing this to you...

This year, I'm turning Twenty-Eight. I was so ecstatic, last year, to be turning Twenty-Seven, as it is one of my favourite numbers, but now I fear I am not entering some enigmatic era of my erstwhile entertaining existence, but rather I am simply one more year older. It's a touch depressing... I was once so young, and now, I'm dripping away like the interminable grains of sand in my mortal hourglass. It's making me yearn for a time when I was a younger morsel.

Indeed, I find myself in a reflective mood, looking back on those times of my childhood that I once enjoyed or endured with naive hope, and ignorant bliss.
I guess you could say that I'm suffering from a sense of longing for the past - which is apt, considering that the word of the day is: 'NOSTALGIA'

Nostalgia /nos'taljiə/ n. 1. A wistful desire to return in thought or in fact to a former time in one's life, to one's home or homeland, or to one's family and friends; a sentimental yearning for the happiness of a former place or time: A nostalgia for his college days. 2. Something that elicits or displays nostalgia.

You see, nostalgia was once an affliction for the mentally unwell - it is a longing and fascination for home or the times of our youth that is so powerful that it causes disorder and discomfort in our life. A sense of unease for the way things are, due to a desire for the way things once were.

Nostalgia has always been a source of suffering. Yes, suffering... sickness and perversion...

Well, perhaps I can find some joy in this wistful sentimentalism after all. For you see, not only have I been reminiscing on the pleasures and simplicity of childhood and innocence, but also on the hidden darknesses and secret pains.

People often view the past through rose-coloured glasses, letting the less charitable memories shrivel up and wilt away like old flower petals, and seeing only the colour on the surface. But, much like those wilted petals and leaves and branches, those memories don't go away, they simply sit underneath, hiding worms and creepy crawlers in the loamy darkness.
So, let's go digging up some old memories…

For this year's display, we'll traipse through some moribund memories of forgotten youth, and the media which helped to populated my nightmares with monsters. As well, I'll explore childish amusements and games which have lead to tragedy, horror and death. I'll also be setting my sights on some of the mythical creatures that prey on children. And of course, as always, I'll be sharing some select stories with you, of a sentimental sort. I hope you find this year's Countdown to be… unforgettable.

Until Next Time, I'm the Absurd Word Nerd, longing for those days that once were, but never will again.