Who's ready for Halloween?

It occurred to me very belatedly that it's almost October -- which, in a typical year, is when I try to watch five to ten scary movies to quench my thirst for horror leading up to Halloween.

But in a year as scary as this, when the whole year has been one big horror movie, such a horror binge really feels besides the point. 

Add to that a real uncertainty about whether there will be a Halloween this year, and the idea of my usual October horror marathon feels particularly purposeless. 

Halloween has become a bigger and bigger thing here in Australia. In the seven Halloweens I've been here -- well, six, since I was in the U.S. for Halloween in 2018 -- I've been able to watch it grow with my own eyes. From the early days, when flustered candy givers could be seen giving out sleeves of cookies as a desperate cover for their lack of resources, to last year, when hundreds of kids gathered in a neighborhood courtyard after collecting their bounty, it's really become beloved, especially in my neighborhood. 

But we're only just coming out of Stage 4 restrictions here in Victoria, the worst-hit part of Australia. Only three days ago did we drop the 9 p.m. curfew, which had been 8 p.m. until just a week before that. The playgrounds are open, but non-essential stores are not. Who knows when movie theaters will open again. It may not be until 2021. 

So yeah, if I want a local taste of Halloween in 2020, I may be limited to carving my own jack o'lantern and letting it burn on the 31st, as a silent vigil to what we've lost.

As for movies, I guess I need to make a decision more quickly about that. Tomorow is the 1st. And while I don't usually start on the 1st, you can bet your bottom dollar that I've watched at least one horror movie by the 5th. 

I guess I'll just see how I feel.

In 2020, is there anything else you can do?