Today's the day. Okay, tonight's the night as the day's almost over. Halloween, to be precise.
Honestly, I didn't do much of anything Halloween. Wore a Ghostbusters shirt. Finished the Ghostbusters tie-in book, Tobin's Spirit Guide. Review is forthcoming for another day. Instead I want to focus more on what tonight's entry is really about...
If not for the 80's cartoon the Real Ghostbusters, I haven't the foggiest idea when I would've learned about Samhain. I was a young whipper-snapper when Episode 1 x 08 When Halloween Was Forever aired on ABC. To me, Halloween was costumes, candy, and spooky monsters. Watching the episode was apocalyptic.
I learned there was much more to Halloween than I thought. My childhood eyes were opened to the notion that the practice was rooted in a much more ancient practice called Samhain. Without the episode an question, Halloween wouldn't receive much attention on this blog. Definitely wouldn't care about the practices, customs, and superstitions of other cultures. Hence, all the different articles I link to. Heck, I certainly wouldn't have spent hours watching stuff on YouTube in preparation for this post. For instance, as an American I take pumpkins for granted. They make carving jack o' lanterns easy. Early practitioners of Samhain had to carve turnips!
Which I learned watching this video:
Familiar Faces: Samhain
What? Learned that from a video about a Real Ghostbusters video? Yep. The main villain in question called himself Samhain. He had a pumpkin for a head. Considering he was freed from an Irish relic, there's a bit of a continuity problem since pumpkins are an American thing. Who says 80's cartoons didn't have educational value?
Because the villain Samhain opening my eyes to the wider and ancient nature of Halloween, he was easily my favorite. When he returned the next year during the third season (it's complicated...), I was hooked. Pretty much became a fan of the show throughout its remainder as Slimer and the Real Ghostbusters marking out at slightest easter egg and anticipating when the villain would next appear. Not to mention spending hours watching anything Ghostbusters-related the last several days... ahem...
Granted none of this renewed furor would've been awakened but for two things. One, reading Tobin's Spirit Guide. Two, discovering episodes of Real Ghostbusters are available on the Internet Archive including When Halloween Was Forever. Well, until someone suit complains and the videos are pulled...
However, until they pull them, why not watch When Halloween Was Forever and pretend Halloween 2018 will last just a little bit longer? So I am going to include the video from the Internet Archive here. My first attempt at embedding from Internet Archive so here goes nothing...
Nothing it is. Video would playback in draft form but fails in published form. So I am just going to try providing a link instead. On Internet Archive, here's Real Ghostbusters Episode 1x08 When Halloween Was Forever. That'll take you to all the files. Click on Parent Directory and you'll be taken to the video itself. Couldn't figure how to link to the video itself...
Now you too can experience how I learned about Samhain for the first time, while enjoying the 80's classic of the Real Ghostbusters!
Happy Halloween!
Next time.
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