Halloween shares its trappings of skulls and spirits with the Mexican observance Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, Nov. 1 and 2.
Eureka Springs in Northwest Arkansas will have a Day of the Dead parade -- a procession of floats, hearses and skeletons combined with a zombie crawl through downtown at 6 p.m. Sunday. More information is available at eurekaspringszombiecrawl.com.
Mexico's custom calls for welcoming spirits of the dead to visit the living in a festive mood, as symbolized by elaborately decorated candy skulls.
Americans traditionally stand ready to greet only make-believe ghosts -- not a drop-in from, say, lately deceased Uncle Charlie.
The exception is the longtime welcome mat left out for magician and escape artist Harry Houdini, who died on Halloween, 1926. Houdini promised to come back.
His wife, Bess, gave him 10 years to make good. Every Halloween night, she held another seance for him, but he never came around. "Good night, Harry," she said, finally.
More hopeful souls have continued ever since to stage Halloween night magic shows and seances to conjure up the spirit of Houdini.
Alive, Houdini performed at the Saenger Theatre in Pine Bluff. Dead, he muffed chances to appear at events in his honor in Newport in 2003, and in Eureka Springs in 2012.
But who knows? A certain rap on the door Saturday night just might be the party's most late-arriving guest.
Style on 10/25/2015