I love Halloween!!
Is the celebration with door-to-door Trick or Treaters a uniquely American thing? I thought it was as universal as Christmas. The Great Pumpkin! Santa! (both as real as a comic strip.) But the spirit of the holidays makes it all real. We are united by the smoke of bonfires in the dark autumn air (already the days are so short, the sun down so soon), the crunch of leaves, the moon shining behind the barren tree branches, the decorations everywhere.

My costume idea: if you wanna go as a zombie, just roll in some poison ivy a week ahead of time, and go blistering and oozing pus. Ugh. Ugh. I once had to attend a FUNERAL this way. My face had taken a hit, and short of wearing a mask or a paper bag with eye holes, there was no hiding my ugly condition. Off to the funeral I went, looking like the walking dead.

I love the way you mention the veil between the living and the dead in this short window of time. As for shifting the Big Events to the weekend... so it goes, in this world of clocks, calendars, school, work, and all that.

Happy Halloween - my favorite holiday!