A is for apple, that grows on the trees,
B is for bats, that fly on the breeze,
C is for cat, that is black as night,
D is for demon, that hide out of sight,
E is for eels, that go in a witch’s brew,
F is for frogs, that go with it too,
G is for ghost, that moan and wail,
H is for haunt, something they do very well,
I is for ink, that gets spilled on the page,
J is for Jack, who hangs in a cage,
K is for kids, that play with a mouse,
L is for Lady de’Kay, who hides in her house,
M is for moon, that shines like silver,
N is for night, so cold, you shiver,
O is for owl, his feathers are brown
P is for Peter, the mayor of our town,
Q is for questions, we ask before we sleep,
R is for rats, that go “squeak, squeak, squeak”,
S is for skeleton, who has a big grin,
T is for town, that Peter lives in,
U is for umbrella, the winds blow from the west,
V is for velvet, used to make a pretty dress,
W is for witch, who turns frogs into stones,
X is for xylophone, make of skeleton bones,
Y is for yell! A scream of delight.
Z is for … well… ‘Z’. My darlings, let’s call it a night.

So in the stuff we had in storage up north, I found a notebook containing ideas for a comic series I wanted to write — it was a little NMBC like, but different… I tried mythology building, played with symbolism, flesh out a few characters, created a town named Nightmoor, set up land marks, introduced elder-gods, etc. Even tried to outline a few simple stories… I obsessed over the mythology, trying to create something Halloween familiar, but not a rip-off of NBMC.

One story was to pull from an old victorian Halloween superstition about apples and mirrors, but more of an older lady, sipping tea in an empty bar, mid-day, sitting at a table near a mirror, cutting up and eating an apple. She is met by her friends — what seems like a common Tuesday afternoon affair — and they pick up from where they left of from the week before with talk… Secretly, the friends knows what she’s doing, the nine apple pieces, the quick glances into the mirror between bites. They tease her from time-to-time during the conversation — very subtilely at first, but as time reaches the point of calling it a day, they call her out on it, chiding her on her childish beliefs… but something unexpected happens…

The intent was set forth a few characters to play into stories later. The tea gathering conversation would give the reader insight into the town of Nighmoor and the local gossip. The twist was to tie the story up into a nice bow… or set the stage for something more sinister… I also like the idea of digging up an almost forgotten about superstition for the basis behind a story.

I should actually take what I wrote and expound upon it, giving it more details… adding tone and atmosphere; drawing upon authors I like to tell a more complex story.