This year, having put the kids off for two Halloweens, we finally invested in some inflatable decorations after realizing that the delight our children have taken in gazing upon the yardscapes of neighbors historically more festive than ours was not a passing fancy. Here I present a photograph of a guy I’m calling Lazarus, the towering specter overlooking our fence in the backyard when he’s not in a deflated, hamstrung puddle on the lawn overnight:

The wind was particularly vigorous one day last week, flagellating his posture in a dramatic, pneumatic flail and sway, at times causing his torso to bend almost double in a most menacing fashion. We diminutive human onlookers beheld this display with bemusement that, at least for me, bordered on worry that this would terrify small children in the neighborhood. Liam, who was outside at the time, recoiled in mock horror and gigglingly exclaimed, “Holy Ghost!” which just proves that decorating for the holidays, even the now mostly-secular Halloween, truly can be a religious experience.