It’s an important holiday after all, one that allows us to freely explore our obsession with the macabre and the unexplained, to experience “the rawness and nearness and excitement of death” as Bradbury put it. And children, he claims, are fascinated by death. As a writer, he’s always understood that young readers shouldn’t be talked down to, that good youth fiction is written for children, not to children. Kids love Halloween because it’s a celebration of all the stories that offer them a glimpse into the dark, forbidden places. Facing that darkness, that horror, is a very important part of existence.
“We just can’t face nothingness. We’ve got to make something of it. So we can hold death in our hands for a little while, or on our tongues, or in our eyes, and make do with it.” – Ray Bradbury