When I was a kid, Halloween was something celebrated by all, without modification or alteration. It was a true celebration of All Hallows Eve. Ghosts, Ghouls and Monsters were staples for costumes and parties. And man were there some great parties! It was traditionally believed that the souls of the departed wandered the earth until All Saints' Day (November 1st) and All Hallows' Eve provided one last chance for the dead to gain vengeance on their enemies before moving to the next world. In an effort to avoid being recognized by any soul that might be seeking such vengeance, people would don masks or costumes to disguise their identities. Thus...making Halloween a truly awesome tradition.
I can still remember the school parties as a child, classmates head to toe in real costumes, real makeup, real masks and real fun. The neighborhood was packed with homes decorated in an effort to frighten us all with nightmares for days to come. Pillow cases were filled with cans of pop, popcorn balls, candy and coins. Trick-or-Treating consisted of walking through streets covered with busted pumpkins and pile after pile of shaving cream mess....ohhhhh the smell of Barbasol. And let's not forget about carving pumpkins and baking the seeds while watching Ghostbusters (1984). Now THAT was an awesome childhood Halloween.
Today there are so many restrictions from costumes at school to the candy we can give, that the kids basically stopped caring. And that sucks. When I was in 5th grade I was a "cave woman", with ratty hair, dirt on my face and a bone through my nose. Today that would probably offend some intellect on prehistoric humans. Another year I was an Indian Princess with traditional garb and a plastic axe in hand. Again, totally insensitive to someone out there according to today's standards. But worry NO MORE! Kids nowadays are not allowed to wear face makeup, masks or have any toy weapons of any kind. Costumes may not be anything too scary or too evil and absolutely NOTHING offensive! So basically what we are left with are cartoon characters and sports players. Where is the fun in that?
I recently saw a petition circulating looking for signatures to have Halloween changed to the last Saturday of October. SERIOUSLY?! That completely defeats the purpose of Halloween and the reason it was started many moons ago. I'm sorry but it is a holiday, a tradition, and it is on October 31st for a damn reason! Let me also add that returning to school the day after Halloween with a complete sugar hang over and tired as shit from roaming the streets until all hours of the night is part of this tradition. When I was a kid, returning home when the street light turned on was the rule anytime I was out. Except for Halloween. Because when darkness fell on Halloween, that was when the real fun began. If a petition to change the date of Halloween isn't absurd enough, Halloween controversy has been sparked as school districts have decided to cancel classroom celebrations all together because some families don't celebrate Halloween. Are you kidding me??? What in the "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" is going on here?? I can't even with this nonsense!
As an adult in "today's" world, I have to worry about a peanut free, gluten free and candy free Halloween. Let's be "real!" NO ONE wants a bag of GF pretzels on Halloween. NO ONE! There are so many rules that now people just keep their house light OFF and don't even want to participate anymore. Which is sad. Why can't we just ensure that as adults, we filter through our own kids candy loot for any unsafe items. Why disrupt the very reward of the holiday....the candy?! My parents dug through my bag when I would come home every Halloween, checking each item for needle holes filled with poison, open wrappers and razor blades all while removing the candy that they wanted for themselves OR whatever I was not permitted to have, like the taffy and gum because of my braces. How about we go back to that. Parents check the shit, and remove whatever is not acceptable. Times were simpler back when I was a kid, and because so, they seemed better. We were happy with the little things, even on Halloween. And that was great. Let's go back to Real Halloween....for the love of Beetlejuice please!
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