A yellow leaf crumbles underfoot as a cool wind bites. Chin to chest and hands in sweater, he shivers ambling past an uncarved pumpkin.
Halloween is coming. This hallowed holiday, with its roots in pagan tradition, evokes our juvenile nature and brings controversy for some, but everyone loves Halloween. Even the folks who create elaborate ruses to sway kids from the harmless fun of trick-or-treating can’t complain too much. If it wasn’t for Halloween they would have to stick to every other holiday to get their message across.
When was the last time you wore a costume? Remember how much fun that was? It was painting your face to become some gruesome, zombified character so as to mimic the living dead. It was scouring once-a-year costume warehouses to find some gem of a prop, perhaps a severed finger or arrow through the head.
Have you ever made your own costume? I suggest you do. It can be hilarious in the process and ultimately more rewarding.
You become someone (or something!) you could never be in reality, an escape from the drudgery of the rest of the days. It gives the chance to relive the fantasies that gave us so many years of backyard make-believe and connect to the people we once were. The masks we wear everyday are shed in place of the goofy or spooky ones this day alone warrants.
Remember trick-or-treating? The entire neighborhood filled from block to block with the sound of laughter and parades of ghouls and vampires and princesses. The fourth of July is the only other holiday where the entire neighborhood bans together and the true meaning of neighbor manifests. That is far too few holidays to get to know Bill and Suzie Homemaker.
Just that feeling of apprehension and the anticipation of a fright is enough to justify this holiday as international. There is nothing like going willingly into a movie theater to be terrified by a special showing of some classic scary movie, hopefully something good like the original “Psycho” or “Creepshow.”
It raises more than just our heart rate and adrenaline. It creates something more; or rather it finds something in the deepest sectors of our minds and strangest parts of our personality. These parts coalesce when we parade with the ghouls and goblins. We are oblivious to this happening; nonetheless, it is what gives Halloween that magical macabre nature.
This year find that child you once were, dress up and let yourself remember a time that wasn’t so hectic. Find a Halloween party and make your own costume to connect with the spirit of this holiday. Hit the haunted houses with all your friends, let yourself be spooked. I assure you it won’t be a Halloween you soon forget.