I know I know--there's like a presidential campaign going on and all that important stuff! But seriously, I vote. But also, life goes on. And one thing going on, this next coming week is Halloween. Which in my super-conservative state, is starting to just not be any fun at all.
What's worse than no Halloween?
Halloween in the middle of the daylight hours! All safe and pre-masticated, and utterly flavorless. Can you imagine if the powers of "safety" had successfully done this to the 4th of July? How cool would fireworks look during the daytime?
In our headlong rush to make everything so safe, that one couldn't get so much as a paper cut, Halloween has been sucked dry of it's innate character.
Many large events have turned into Cattle Calls. Nothing but long lines of kids standing behind one another, waiting with that glazed look in their eye for the next piece of candy--bored to death! I can tell too, at these events, that the adult participants don't enjoy it either. I wonder how many suggestions of returning to the "old ways" were shot down by legal beagles and flustered religionists? Some events are so crowded that I would say they are not safe, that distribution of revelers and places to celebrate are wildly out of balance.
I attended one event when my children were still toddlers, that was so crowded, that you were afraid to let go of them, or they might be trampled by others rushing to get candy.
In addition, with these new "safe" hours, the sun is out, it's always just a bit too warm for costumes in the sun, even in October. The alternative is of course "trunk or treat" which are events put on by churches who have their own agendas. "Safe Harvest Fest in the exchange of your immortal soul".
Oh how I miss real Halloween. When it happened at night, and you were out in the crisp fall wind, going from door to door, it was an adventure. You could be anyone or anything, and you could encounter the same. Candy was an added bonus to the adventure.
Jack-O-Lanterns look so much more cool in the dark, lit up, illuminated from within by flickering candles. During the day, they are just carved pumpkins. Not that interesting. They need the night to bring them alive.
Spooky Costumes, and enchanted Costumes are the same way. Night time festivals capture the soft shadows of the night that contribute to illusion and fantasy. The harsh rays of the sun, simply cannot compete.
All the money we parents spend on costumes and accessories--or in my case, the time I spend building those costumes, making them glow in the dark, for fun and for safety's sake--and then seeing 90 percent of the "festivals" from 11 to 4 pm--WHY BOTHER?
I can take my kid on an educational field trip any time, but this is Halloween!
I guess I am still stuck, back in the day, when neighbors didn't assume that people they knew for years would poison candy while sacrificing kids to the Dark Lord!
I reflect upon the differences of the Halloween of my youth and the one that confronts me now. If you stood in line for candy, it was a short one--maybe 5 people deep on a porch in a neighborhood. That community would be decorated with Jack-o-lanterns and ghosts hanging from trees, with home owners dressed the part, waiting to amuse or scare trick-or-treaters. You went with a group of friends. There was friendly banter between the kids, and the adults distributing candy. It was a celebration and not what it has become now, a crowded event that nods to good times long gone.
You cannot talk to the candy-distributors, because now, you are in a line that is 200 people long. You have to keep the line moving. What started out as a fun idea, has quickly degenerated into an impersonal, nonsocial, mechanically sterile routine.
Your reward? A piece of candy. If that is, the candy doesn't run out. Which it has on several occasions.
Then you go stand in another line of 200 or so kids with parents, in the sun, for your next reward--a piece of candy. No talking please--no cuts, keep it moving lady with crying toddler in the vampire costume, his potty break will have to wait--you don't want to loose your place and miss out!
Wooot this sure is fun! [note snarky disappointment]
I don't know about you, but we worked on our costumes, and they were made to be seen at night.
What is the point of even trying, if TEH SAFETY PO-LICE make all Halloween observances during day-light hours?
So Oklahoma, you can keep your cattle calls for candy, and your Church-o-weens and Mall-o-weens. Next year, I am planning on taking my kids and our costumes somewhere else, where people still remember what Halloween was like, before the televangelists of the 1970s successfully rebranded it as Satan's kiddie killing Holiday filled with razorblades and LSD tainted candy.
When you have lines in various venues that are hundreds of people long, then clearly the demise of traditional trick or treating was greatly exaggerated. And so these people go where there are still vestiges of this practice in play.
So are there any communities that still practice a traditional, night time Halloween?
Wed Oct 24, 2012 at 9:55 PM PT: Well I have found there are a couple of night time venues that are not purely adult-only or NC-17 rated. I also heard that some cities/communities are still participating in what I would consider traditional trick or treating. So I will take the kids and try some new spots out and let you all know how it went.
If it goes really well, I may have to eat crow and re-write this entire piece.
Wouldn't that be something?
Fri Oct 26, 2012 at 6:49 AM PT: An interesting story with similar observances about Halloween and certain rumors.
http://eatocracy.cnn.com/...