The Hair Ribbon - A Halloween Incident: A Dark Seasonal Fantasy

Halloween (more properly: Hallow E'en, the ancient Festival of All Souls) is a night in autumn when pagan spirits roam the woods and streets, doing everything in their power to give us an electric jolt of mixed terror (and, yeah, maybe a shriek of fun). In the hands of a gifted story teller like John Argo, you never quite know when you are being lured closer for a look you cannot resist, only to have the trap of terror slam shut -- and those chills run up and down your back.

John Argo, after all, is a writer to whom Ray Bradbury once sent a fan letter, to say how much he loved another dark seasonal holiday fantasy John Argo had written. Ray Bradbury, a world-renowned master of imaginative (usually dark) fiction, no doubt recognized that the name Argo refers to an ancient Greek ship of wonder, on which Jason and the Argonauts long ago sailed into seas of mythology. John Argo takes you sailing over those gleaming horizons with the ease of a master.

But John Argo prepares a small trap for you, involving the tiniest every-day detail. You will not see it coming until it's too late. Pull your shawl tight, sit by the fire, and huddle over this little story. It is a wee thing -- a hair ribbon, worn by a little girl who should not have been where (much less when) we see her in the story. If you read closely, you'll feel that shiver that is both treat and trick, as in electrick -- zap! up and down your spine. Keep your Jack O'Lantern flickering long into the cold, damp fog tonight, and do not open the door for anyone after the children have gone. Or, make that most of the children...