Many years ago on a Halloween night the doorbell rang and another trick or treater was at my door. I went and opened it expecting to find a couple of youngsters in costumes yelling 'trick or treat' but instead this time there was one lone person on the front veranda.

This particular costume was a bit odd. It was all black, a black gown, a black hood, and also a black cloth mask so that no trace of the face could be seen. This trick or treater stood about three and a half, maybe four feet tall, in front of me and made no sound whatsoever. I wondered what this particular costume was suppose to be. Suddenly two glowing red dots of light appeared on the black covered face where the eyes should be. The weird lights looked eerie. Then they started flashing, not fast, but slowly, fading up and down adding more to my already perplexed condition. What happened next really startled me, the figure in front of me started to rise!

I was taken aback by this and I held my breath, maybe even took a step backward. It began to rise very slowly. From four feet it was now five feet and still it was rising. Five feet, five and a half feet, and soon it was the almost six feet tall. This was no ordinary Halloween event. This was now really creepy. Maybe it was a real goblin or black ghost at my door. The red eyes were forcing my attention, I couldn't look away. What was going to happen next? Was I in danger? Should I lock my door? How much time had passed since the doorbell rang? I was caught in a world that I had never experienced before. Then came the voice.

This was no voice of a child. At first I didn't comprehend what was being said. I had to snap out of it. My senses were confused. Wasn't Halloween a fun time for children to come around to their neighbours homes and collect candy that one day of the year? Where were the children? What was this entity in front of me? Why wasn't I doing anything? Why was I just standing there stunned?

A deep gravelly and sinister "Trick or treat" came from the head of the creature. Wait, I've heard that voice before, not exactly like this, but somewhat familiar. Then came the laughter. I was still confused. What was going on?

"Who are you?" I said, trying to sound like this was no big deal.

"It's Gary", said the voice.

"Gary...? Oh Gary!" finally I blurt out as recognition came to me. Gary was my next door neighbour, the same age as me. Gary was old enough to have a family of his own, which at the time he didn't, so this was no teenager. Gary had just pulled the wildest Halloween stunt on me ever. How did he do this?

When I came to the door, Gary was actually kneeling down on the front veranda with the flowing black gown neatly placed around him and the excess material tucked inside so when he slowly rose from the kneeling position to stand almost six feet tall the gown simply flowed from within keeping contact with the landing. The effect that it gave was of this being rising like a ghost coming through the floor. The red lights he installed on a pair of glasses behind the face covering kept my eyes locked on the head and I was only conscious of the rising black figure.

I gave Gary a handful of candy, he deserved it. I'll never forget that Halloween as long as I live.