Happy Halloween

there's a lovely mood in a cemetery on a wet fall day. Very somber, as if the graves themselves know its Halloween.
the leaves help, blanketing everything thickly. They certainly add a bit of atmosphere.

The rain-dampened stones certainly look all nice and ready for a real haunting, even the modern graves manage to look somewhat creepy.
But why? Why do moss and leaves and rain seem so sinister in graveyards? Is it that Fall reminds us of death? Is it the heavily influence of the media, all those movies and fabulous documentaries on hauntings?

for that matter: why do we persist in out belief that graveyards are haunted? Doesn't it make more sense that ghosts would be in places where they had lived, rather than the place where their remains were interred? Based on that, other than my eventual specter, most ghosts should generally avoid graveyards. On the other hand, is the concept of "making sense" one that we can actually apply to ghosts?

(I'm not entirely sure about ghosts, one way or another, and if not for Halloween, I wouldn't be discussing them here.)

Regardless, the atmosphere is wonderful, well suited to deep thoughts, heavy philosophy, and intense emotion. Its a marvelous time to stand graveside and contemplate mortality, and the lives of all who came before us. This Halloween, don't waste all your time mooching candy off your neighbors; go visit your local cemetery, and ponder the deep questions of life.