It's the day before Halloween. The moon has been so bright, the colorful autumn leaves are covering the sidewalks. I'm gonna be honest, I have not been doing much heavy lifting when it comes to my nightly reading.
I turned back to a childhood favorite, a book that captures the spooky, exhilarating atmosphere of Halloween night as a child. I loved the Goosebumps series as a kid but nostalgia doesn't completely blunt my brain to the fact that most of these books are, well, crap. However, there are diamonds in the rough. Or at least mica.
The Haunted Mask has one of Stine's best protagonists in Carly Beth Caldwell, a timid eleven-year-old. Her friends delight in terrifying their jumpy friend, but their frequent teasing and elaborate pranks hurt and embarrass her. Resentment compounds, and she decides that in order to avenge herself she wants to scare the worst offenders, her "friends" Chuck and Steve.
Fresh from a humiliating prank in front of the entire school, Carly Beth gathers her life savings ($30, or about $70 today!) and rushes to the new party store down the street where she bypasses the gorilla (made with "real hair," the shopkeeper says), vampire, werewolf. None are scary enough! But wait, what's in this backroom?
Stine goes crazy describing these weird masks behind a creaking door: "A hairy black rat's head poked up from a knot in the hair, the rat's eyes gleaming like two dark jewels." Another one has what appear to be "chunks of rotting skin" falling off, "revealing gray bone underneath. An enormous black insect, some kind of grotesque beetle, poked out from between the green-and-yellow decayed teeth." Carly Beth goes for one with less animal life present and practically has to beg the shopkeeper to let her buy it.
When she gets home, she tries it on to scare her little brother: "It was surprisingly warm inside. The mask fit tighter than Cary Beth had imagined. It had a funny smell, kind of sour, kind of old, like damp newspapers that have been left for years in an attic or garage." Ick! Despite the warmth and mildew stench, or perhaps because of it, wearing the mask makes Carly Beth feel different. More powerful. Fierce.
Mean, even.
The anger that she was already feeling about being picked on, being seen as babysish and boring, gathers in overwhelming force when she's wearing the mask. It inspires her to act out in ways that are decidedly unlike the old Cary Beth.
Acta Psychologica published an article last fall about the effect of mask-wearing on the mind, specifically the increase in malevolent creativity. "As a dark facet of creativity, malevolent creativity refers to the intentional use of novel ideas or ways to harm others, damage property, disrupt social order, or undermine cultural values." We see this play out with Carly Beth. She revels in terrifying trick-or-treaters and pelting green apples at houses. When confronted by one mom she thinks: "I'm going to tear this woman apart!"
But how much of this is Carly Beth, and how much is coming from the mask? And when the night is over, will she be able to take the hideous face off?
The book's a blast and the descriptions of Halloween night are so evocative, it brings me back to being a kid in my homemade costume and the thrill of roamin' in the gloamin', pretending to be something I wasn't for one night, and the sense that something magical could happen.
Happy Halloween!
-Michael G.
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