Our Local Haunted Mansion

Aug 25

What’s scarier than 11 straight days of rain?

Ghosts and creepy beasties in August!

One of the most excellently unexpected side effects of being a dad is how my daughter has expanded my world. Which I had thought was already pretty wide. But Lo, how wrong I was!

This past Wed. we dropped in at our local Kominkan, a sort of local community center slash town hall, to use their playroom. We were bored silly staying at home (why? 9 days of rain, up to that point). We ended up being the only people present, which was fine. The change of venue was enough to lift our spirits. Yay! slightly different toys!

As we left, the super staff invited me to hang some of my art during the 明るいおばけやしき (Cheerful Haunted Mansion?).

How could I pass up the chance to scare children? I could not!

So I lent them a couple yokai pieces (Nekomata - a demonic kittycat, Akaname - a licker of unsanitized bathtubs, and At the Edge of the Wood a Summit, a forest haunted by nocturnal spirits and birds..

Then I broke out my little international graveyard for the first time in an age. It transitions from a Japanese墓地 (bochi) to a US graveyard (specifically Savannah, GA which has some truly eerie cemeteries).

I’m fascinated by what people find scary. This was a haunted house for children, so my dread level was low. My 5 yo daughter was mildly perturbed. She also felt that At the Edge of the Wood… was, by far, my scariest picture. I would have picked Akaname. Her 4yo friend had to be coaxed in among the goulies, and wanted out asap. He particularly hated the creepy sounds and music. I felt the scare-level was diminished by the fact that the boom box was out in the open.

The purple-ish drawing, by my daughter, is called “DoteKabocha”, or “Riverbank Pumpkin” which are inedible wild pumpkins. A “crab-pumpkin” if you will. It shows a crow and a Jack-0-lantern. Pretty impressive considering she drew them without reference. The title give homage to the Japanese version of “My Unwilling Witch” by #HiawynOram and #sarahwarburton .

On a happy note, today has been downpour-free so far. It’s even sunny. And very hot. So, I’m not sure if that’s a win…