At a friend’s birthday dinner I happened to notice some papers with, “REST IN PEACE” written on them, in the hall by the restroom. I was thinking that they were made by the restaurant to respect its loyal customers as they had their rest in the restroom.

After I had my rest, I looked at the wall again. “Oh God,” I thought. It was part of Halloween. I can’t remember the exact words, although, it mentioned many funny things that cause death.

I have heard many stories about craziness on State street when Halloween comes. But on that chilly day, I decided to celebrate the Halloween by volunteering. Before I went to Olin Park as a volunteer at the haunted house, I had hot chocolate at Michelangelo’s Coffee House on State street. There were many customers wearing very strange costumes and make-up.

I have never celebrated Halloween in Indonesia. I only know about it from American movies. Before I came to the U.S., Halloween seemed to be all about ghosts and scary people. But when I looked at people on the State street, they could be anything, from bloody girls to the village style boys.

We decided to go to Asian Midway Food, an Asian shop, before we went to the haunted house. After almost three months in the U.S., I really missed Indonesian food. On my way to the shop, I could see a music stage was being prepared in front of the Veteran Museum. After I had my sweet soybean ketchup and tofu, we walked to the Olin Park.

We were prepared with scary masks. Our job was to scare people in a dark room. I could see a long line of people from different ages and races that came to the haunted house.

“Oh my God, he touched my leg,” people screamed with a fear, and they went back forward, hugged with friends. They couldn’t see us. It was totally dark. Some people didn’t want to become the first person that entered another room. I could hear loud screaming from a room that pushed people to the corner by a running wall. In the corner, I was thinking, “Why do people like to enter the haunted house paying $8 if they were very afraid?” Do they just like the feeling of fear? It was irrational. I don’t know the answer.

Next time, I would like to have crazier Halloween. I wasn’t happy with the last Halloween. Would you like to share your experience on theonlineclarion.com?