I can recall almost every Halloween I have known. My infant recollection is very limited, if not at all, but from the age of 5 or so, I can picture myself standing in one room or another, tingling with glee at the idea of roaming the neighbourhood hunting for candy. I still do this once a week but it’s usually in the Wal-Mart rather than at some house down the street. The list of characters I have costumed as over the years is quite simple yet silly and rests with my memories, each and every one. I was cute little ghost one year and than a big black bat the next. I have been a witch, a woman and a warrior. This one night meant complete freedom for me. Despite living in the largest city in Canada, we were safe to wander the streets. Regardless of that old man and his thwarted plans, I cannot recall one Halloween night (living in Toronto) that wasn’t sheer joy for me. I don’t want to speak for my siblings but I imagine it was the very same way for each of them. Of all the cast of characters I have played, my favourite is the Bruce Lee character Kato from the 1966-1967 television series The Green Hornet. The show aired on ABC and introduced the world to Lee before he entered any dragon. The Green Hornet is a masked vigilante, fighting crime with cool weapons, a wicked car and the martial-arts expert Kato as a sidekick. Dressed all in black, with a dark chauffeur’s cap and eye mask, Kato kicked the crap out of anyone who got in his way. He was terrific and the entire world noticed. I already had. Even though I watched the show in syndication throughout the 1970s, I was caught up in the attraction. The series had been cancelled after one season but I discovered it one Saturday afternoon in reruns and was hooked.  I have the complete Green Hornet comic book series, several in fact. I am hunting for the DVD/Blu-Ray collection as we speak. I absolutely loved watching Kato on TV but actually dressing up as Kato threatened me with heaven. So I stood there, from head to toe, dark as any dark knight might be. I was unattended and able to come and go from my chaperone as I pleased. Suburb living meant candy and lots of it. We had to use pillow cases to avoid breakage and spillage. When I got to each door, the experience was different. When anyone dared to ask me who I was, who my costume was meant to be, I did a little bitch fest at them. “I am Kato, from the Green Hornet,” I would snap at their face. Even then I was a grumpy Gus. This night however, I was and always will be, an ebony avenger, a mid-Knight and a blast from the past.

            Housing 5 children, our 3-bedroom abode lacked much free space throughout my childhood. My sister Tracey, for obvious reasons, got a room of her own. So did my folks. The 4 boys got bunk beds and several years of no privacy. I claimed the top bunk, just inside the door and over my oldest brother Alan. Phillip matched up to me on the other side of the room with my brother Chris underneath him. It was a crowded house. Regardless, I cannot locate, in my memory, any real conflict we shared while we lived like an army base. There are, of course, moments of tension I can recall but nothing significant or long lasting. My view of the top of the stairs and down the hallway was a prime location for spying on almost everyone. I had a vantage point and often watched my parents go to and fro. I lost a part of my innocence laying in that bed. One Christmas Eve, I witnessed my mother carrying toys down to the tree below. At one point, she held a giant doll, which I assumed was for my sister. The next morning and that doll sat pretty underneath our real tree. When it was revealed to be from Santa, things changed for me. Realizing Santa Claus was not real did not take away my love of all things superhero. As a matter of fact, I seemed to go deep into myth at this time. Every action figure I owned was assigned a superpower. Every comic I collected was just full of them. I saw it in the gumball machine right away. I thought it would only cost me a dime to get it. It turned out to be an expensive venture. I had to go into my comic book money to keep playing. At $1.60, it fell down the chute and into my clutches. My precious. In spite of my loyalty to Marvel Comics, my hard earned prize came from the DC universe. I always thought the Green Lantern was cool, despite his association. Now, like Hal Jordan, I possessed the powerful totem. It was emerald green and both smooth and silky in appearance. The Green Lantern Corp insignia was prominent and I shook a little as I took it out of the plastic egg it came in. In the car, on the way home, I first donned my mighty force. For months, I was caught up in a different place. Everything was about that damn ring and the world that came with it. I have always supposed that during this episode I was annoying, to say the least. I even suppose the reason someone took my ring was valid at the time. It disappeared, never to be seen again. I had only left it on the window ledge to dry after I washed it. By the time I got back to it, it was gone. I was heartbroken and still remember how I felt. I spent the next few weeks hunting for it, just like candy. In all my days since then, in every antique market, consignment store and thrift shop, I have never managed to recapture that glorious ring or the way it made me come alive inside. It’s strange how something so small, or insignificant at the time, can steal you away into another place. More than 40 years have gone since that ring went into infamy. I have to admit that I still watch for one as I am strolling from booth to booth and table to table. I would love to recapture that part of my innocence, that part of my youth. I fear it would be fleeting. I fear that this otherland is closed for business.