Profile: The legend of Jack Skellington

A rare glimpse of Jack on Banyan Street, waving at a local youngster.

In honor of Halloween, the “normal” writers took a break to bring you this one-of-a-kind profile on one of our favorite All Soul’s Eve characters, Jack Skellington. This perspective was written by none other than Skellington himself, exclusively for the Boca Beacon. Jack and his wife, Sally, are now full-time Boca Grande residents after his 2011 retirement.

My name is Jack Skellington. The story that I’m about to tell you is more of my background than my foreground, but that is what most find interesting. While I currently live here on the island (check Banyan Street on a night when the moon is full), I have humble beginnings in a place called Halloween Town.

Let’s start at the beginning shall we?

My father, Christopher Skellington, met my mother, Judy McDreyfus, in the cruel times of Halloween. The people of the mortal world had all but stopped celebrating and believing in the Halloween Spirit, and because of that our world was dying.

The line of Skellingtons was supposed to end with my father, but he met Judy and fell in love with her. Chris loved her more than life itself, but both of them were really too young to get married. They had no choice, though, for my mother was pregnant with the heir to Halloween, me.

The day of my birth, my father cleaned me off, wrapped me up in warm blankets and handed me to my mother. She cried with joy when she saw me and heard me cry for the first time. I must have had a good set of lungs because I was told that my cries were ear shattering.

My mother named me Jack and my father got my middle name from my grandfather, Drayden. I must have been a troublesome little demon because my father told me that I would run throughout the entire house giving him and my mother a fit about taking baths when I was just a year old.

At the age of six my father had fallen ill, I don’t recall as to what made him so sick but I sensed that whatever it must have been was fatal because he passed away several years later.

At the age of 10, I was crowned king, so my childhood was over with. Then the training started and the lecturing.

Finally, one Halloween it was up to me, Jack Drayden Skellington, to deliver a scary Halloween to the mortals. Big mistake! I failed. Upon my return home everyone booed and hissed upon seeing me. I decided to take refuge in the graveyard and so I sat on the spiral hill without a friend in the world. I knew I had to learn from my mistakes.

On my nineteenth birthday I whipped myself into shape, not only physical shape but mental and emotional as well.

After being King for several years I’ve learned a few tips and tricks. Speaking of tricks I’ve noticed some troublemaking juvenile delinquents around here on the island, so I guess I need to take care of them too.

I remember meeting my love, Sally. I went to Dr. Frankenstein’s place just to check on him. He answered the door with a smile on his face and he said, “Hello Jack, my boy! Please come in.”
He then took me up to his laboratory and showed me his newest creation. It was a female; she looked like something from a Frankenstein movie. The woman was pale blue, dark blue stitches covered her entire body, and she had long dark red hair.

I looked at the doctor and smiled. Her name was Sally Analee. The doctor advised me that he was not quite finished with her, and wouldn’t be for quite some time.

Years passed and I was now 23. I had grown more depressed with my life and of being the so-called “Pumpkin King,” but this was also the time when Sally had been brought to life.

Halloween rolled around again and, once again, I had to do my death-defying dance consisting of taking a lit torch and setting myself on fire. But I was getting tired of the day-to-day routine as I began to want more out of life. Once again I took refuge in the graveyard and climbed the spiral hill as I sang my song of woe.

I remember wandering out of the graveyard as my faithful ghost dog, Zero, glided by my side. I smiled sadly at him, stopping once to play a game of fetch with one of my ribs.

As I continued to walk I got very weary and then I fell asleep. Not really knowing where I was or where I was going, evidentially I had wandered into an unknown forest not too far from home.

My curiosity got the best of me as I looked at each of the trees that bore many different carvings on them. My guess was that they represented other holiday's maybe, but the tree that fascinated me most was the one that had a Christmas tree on it. I walked toward the tree and turned the doorknob, I looked inside to see total darkness. A swirling, icy wind wrapped itself around me and pulled me inside the tree. I continued falling until I landed in a soft sparkling white powder. I looked all around me as my eyes and ears were filled with the beautiful colored lights and delightful sounds. My heart began to sing a different tune as I decided to take a look around this new place I had discovered.

I loved it and I wanted it for my own! I looked up to see a sign that read “Christmas Town.” I found a snowmobile and took the nearest exit out of Christmas Town.

Once I was back in Halloween Town, I called a town meeting. I tried to explain the joy I felt in Christmas Town, but to them I had just become the fearsome Pumpkin King.

After the meeting was over with I headed home to try and think of a way to logically explain this Christmas thing.

The plan was to kidnap Sandy Claws. I was blinded by my own greed of wanting to take over Christmas. Sally tried to change my mind, but my friends gave me no choice. When they returned from their attempt to kidnap Sandy Claws, it was the Easter bunny that they had in their bag.

Oh boy! Did they ever make a wrong turn. Now that I think about what happened it was pretty hilarious. I told them the mistake they made, the three got into a huge fight, but they took the Easter Bunny back after I scolded them.

Not long after the Sandy Claws/ Easter Bunny fiasco I retired here in Boca Grande. It’s been a wonderful place to live, and Sally and I have made new friends, play a lot of tennis and love to walk on the beach at night.

Of course Halloween is still a special time for me. The nights are long, the days are short, and for just a brief period in time I can blend in with the mortals that live here. I particularly enjoy the Community Center Halloween Carnival, and you can expect to see me there.

Now I shall retire back to my tree, and contemplate my humble existence.

Cheers to my Boca Grande neighbors and friends, and know that now that I am here, this will be one of the most special island Halloweens there could be.View More images >>