Thirteen nights left to go until All Hallow's Eve. I spent the afternoon at LaBarriere Park with my pooch Reggie, his labrador retriever "girlfriend" Bella, and some other wire-haired bitch named Sophie. Hiking the winding trails at the park is a favorite pastime of mine, but I wouldn't dare go it alone; I've witnessed too many things there over the years. Things that cannot be unseen. Like the time I caught an unsuspecting 50-something couple fornicating in the forest. My expression aghast as slivers of sunlight filtered through the canopy of diseased oak trees, illuminating the sheer horror that is old age and liver spots. I'm not sure who was more embarrassed: them with their middle-aged spread on full display or me with a curious (perverted?) dog that wanted to stay and watch.

There are other reasons why LaBarriere Park creeps me out, not least of which is the fact that the surrounding area has been used as a dumping ground for bodies left by members of the criminal underworld. When I was fourteen (1994), I had a dream wherein I was being chased down a gravel stretch of Waverley by an unseen assailant. I soon came upon something lying in the ditch and woke up in a fright when I realized it was my own corpse. The creepy part of the story though, is that the next day it was revealed two people were murdered on the same stretch of road at approximately the same time that my nightmare was unfolding.