I could hear the next group of kids inching their way around the corner. I began growling to prepare myself. I reminded myself to be patient this time, to let them think I'm harmless before barking like mad in my cage.
It was difficult to judge the success of the haunted house up to this point. Each kid tried as hard as possible to not show fear. Whoever admitted to fear lost the game in the eyes of their peers. The first groups were all boys, passing through loudly, using singing and laughter to push away the darkness and the spooky music. They passed by my barks and growls chanting "CABEZA CABEZA" imitating a morning energizer I use to wake the campers up. The word 'head' in Spanish is not the usual reaction to a caged werewolf. Despite the harassment, I refused to break character.
The group approaching now was the first set of girls. They smiled at me when they recognized me as their morning English teacher, but as my growls grew fiercer they showed discomfort and tried to scuttle past as fast as they could. Not a single one said 'cabeza' to me. As the last girl passed I let out a few vicious barks, producing a few shrieks from the group. I was getting the hang of it.
In the next room I heard the girls' fear mounting. Before entering a pitch black section of the haunted house a girl complained "shame on you guys. What are you taking us through!" Maybe we had made the haunted house too scary. Even the boys who had yelled 'cabeza' at me had probably been scared, or else they would not have had to harass me to calm their nerves. These were not American children, used to scary movies and ghost stories, they were Moroccan and had never experienced anything like a haunted house. Did we really want to scare them? And if we didn't want to scare them, what was the purpose of a haunted house?
I was finding it difficult to demonstrate the purpose of Halloween. What kind of culture celebrates fear? I couldn't even began to describe its history. Like most traditions, I suppose we just do it because it's something to do. Celebration of fear hardly makes sense though. Do you try to conquer the fear, unraveling the essence of Halloween? Or do you let yourself get scared, hardly enjoying the process?
A few more groups passed. I became a scarier werewolf with each performance, despite putting up with several more chants of 'cabeza.' Before the last group entered the music clicked off, marking the end of the hour long soundtrack. I noticed that 90% of the fear in our haunted house was the mood created by the music. That and the darkness. Someone started the track back from the beginning and as the final group entered, I committed myself to filling up that last 10% with my best performance yet.
It was a group of girls. They did not scream or show terror when they approached me, but they were clearly disturbed by seeing their English teacher acting mad. The last girl stopped and stared me down. She had won the costume contest with a kind of Bride of Frankenstein look earlier in the night. I anticipated her to yell 'head' in Spanish at me. Instead she got into character and roared. I pretended to be a scared puppy for a second and then returned to barking at her through the bars of my cage. She stepped closer and again roared at me. I admit her costume was scarier than mine, but I think my barks were more realistic than her roars. We went back and forth a few more times, an English teacher pretending to be a wolf and a 15 year old Moroccan girl pretending to be a monster. I finally whimpered letting her walk away with a victory.
Somewhere in our interaction I think the purpose of Halloween emerged. I'll let the reader analyze it and produce an explanation, because, between all the 'cabezas,' I am still pretty confused about Halloween.
It was difficult to judge the success of the haunted house up to this point. Each kid tried as hard as possible to not show fear. Whoever admitted to fear lost the game in the eyes of their peers. The first groups were all boys, passing through loudly, using singing and laughter to push away the darkness and the spooky music. They passed by my barks and growls chanting "CABEZA CABEZA" imitating a morning energizer I use to wake the campers up. The word 'head' in Spanish is not the usual reaction to a caged werewolf. Despite the harassment, I refused to break character.
The group approaching now was the first set of girls. They smiled at me when they recognized me as their morning English teacher, but as my growls grew fiercer they showed discomfort and tried to scuttle past as fast as they could. Not a single one said 'cabeza' to me. As the last girl passed I let out a few vicious barks, producing a few shrieks from the group. I was getting the hang of it.
In the next room I heard the girls' fear mounting. Before entering a pitch black section of the haunted house a girl complained "shame on you guys. What are you taking us through!" Maybe we had made the haunted house too scary. Even the boys who had yelled 'cabeza' at me had probably been scared, or else they would not have had to harass me to calm their nerves. These were not American children, used to scary movies and ghost stories, they were Moroccan and had never experienced anything like a haunted house. Did we really want to scare them? And if we didn't want to scare them, what was the purpose of a haunted house?
I was finding it difficult to demonstrate the purpose of Halloween. What kind of culture celebrates fear? I couldn't even began to describe its history. Like most traditions, I suppose we just do it because it's something to do. Celebration of fear hardly makes sense though. Do you try to conquer the fear, unraveling the essence of Halloween? Or do you let yourself get scared, hardly enjoying the process?
A few more groups passed. I became a scarier werewolf with each performance, despite putting up with several more chants of 'cabeza.' Before the last group entered the music clicked off, marking the end of the hour long soundtrack. I noticed that 90% of the fear in our haunted house was the mood created by the music. That and the darkness. Someone started the track back from the beginning and as the final group entered, I committed myself to filling up that last 10% with my best performance yet.
It was a group of girls. They did not scream or show terror when they approached me, but they were clearly disturbed by seeing their English teacher acting mad. The last girl stopped and stared me down. She had won the costume contest with a kind of Bride of Frankenstein look earlier in the night. I anticipated her to yell 'head' in Spanish at me. Instead she got into character and roared. I pretended to be a scared puppy for a second and then returned to barking at her through the bars of my cage. She stepped closer and again roared at me. I admit her costume was scarier than mine, but I think my barks were more realistic than her roars. We went back and forth a few more times, an English teacher pretending to be a wolf and a 15 year old Moroccan girl pretending to be a monster. I finally whimpered letting her walk away with a victory.
Somewhere in our interaction I think the purpose of Halloween emerged. I'll let the reader analyze it and produce an explanation, because, between all the 'cabezas,' I am still pretty confused about Halloween.
