Halloween. All Hallow's Eve. Samhain. All of them occur on October 31. They are all based or happen to be a celebration of the dead. Samhain is the Wiccan New Year's Eve. The end of the previous year. A start of the dead season. All Hallow's Eve later became Halloween thanks to making it easier to say.
Why is it so popular though? The month of October becomes a tribute to the scary, creepy, and unholy. Things that go bump in the night become the stars of the month and if you can terrify your friends - bonus points! It's the only time you really get away with terrifying complete strangers. It's the only time that you can expect to have nightmares after getting candy.
Speaking of candy, that's only the best thing about it for the kids. Well, maybe not all of them, however, houses don't just give out candy. They give away toys, cereal, school supplies, rings, apples, caramel apples, and the list continues. It's not always the small stuff either. Sometimes they give away the really big candy bars, you know, the share size packages that you only find at the gas station and your mom, dad, or other parental/guardian unit refused. Yep, those are handed out to the kids.
These kids and sometimes (usually) their parents (because who wants to disappoint their young by refusing this fun pastime?) are dressed in some costume. Now an episode of So Weird? from the Disney Channel (back when they actually played the series) actually had a town that did this every Halloween because of a pact with the local dead. All the Phillips gang had to do to keep from being taken to the "other side" for the next year was dress like they were dead. They disguised themselves as the dead. Some kids will use Halloween to dress as their favorite TV character (this year, we expect to see a lot of Frozen related costumes.) Adults indulge their inner child and in some cases inner kink.
Either way they get to play dress up. They get loads of candy. If done well enough, Halloween will scare the shit out Trick-or-Treaters. This brings me to a thought that actually has started to tick me off more and more every year. Yes not everyone wants to be scared. Yes there are going to be those who don't decorate their homes for the scarefest that is what makes Halloween in my opinion so great. I live in America. I've heard of or read several who are claiming that folks decorating their homes with gravestones is too scary. They seem to believe that Halloween is a night for playing politically correct(PC) dress up and getting free candy for children in middle school or younger.
These people seem to believe that sexy costumes are perfectly fine, but gross or scary is against the rules. (I must reiterate though that most of these instances related are based on hearsay and I may have what they meant to have relayed in their words incorrect.)
To these people, I suggest that for the month of October, perhaps you should hibernate at home. Halloween is a holiday I have looked forward to since I was a kid living in South Carolina. That does not mean that I want you to destroy the main reason I love it - to get the living shit scared out of me.
To wrap this up, for all of you going out to Trick-or-Treat for Halloween, be safe as you try to be scared and get your bags full of sweets. Happy Halloween, everyone!
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