(Originally posted Oct 9 2007)

Archtypical Halloween Dressup Characters – Horrific vs. The Existential, and which shall I be?

The following was a response to a Bulliten post by Amy (http://bulletins.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=bulletin.read&messageID=4560611141)

Halloween seems to be the focal point for spiritual anxieties – some warranted- others not. I profess an intrest in classical “monsters:” ones rooted in the classically-archetypical/mythological sense; Wolfman – the hidden beast, Dracula – sensual overlord of the night and consumer of life essence, Frankenstein- the horror of inadvertent yet good-willed scientific adventures gone awry. Existentially vacant figures such as Freddie or Jason bore me – with the exception of their connection back to the actual potential of their actual literal news line incarnation; memories of hearing a knife-welding lunatic being shot by an off duty policeman after mercilessly flaying a hapless woman who ‘was just walking her dog’ yesterday in New York echo in my ears. Meaningless violence inflicting, physical horror/violence archetypes are less likely to evoke my mimicry – even for a day vs. the existential ones: who represent actual discomforts/personal introspections present in all of us; for as while I would never meditate upon what it would be like to horrifically dismember a friend or a stranger in some orgy of senseless blood and chaos – I know that lurking within, I do have dark wild impulses, something like a moon could unleash, I have created monsters with my own technologies that destroyed both me and others in ways unexpected and uncalculated and I am certainly guilty of living off the life force of others in my darkest most selfish and controlling moments.

 

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