This is Halloween

Halloween, for me, is like alcohol, football, high heels, Friends, and the Beatles - one of those wildly popular phenomenons whose appeal entirely escapes me. I guess I can understand why kids enjoy dressing up and walking door-to-door for obscene amounts of candy, although, as I recall, possibly because of my severe shyness, I didn't.

But many adults seem to love Halloween as much as, if not more than, kids, which really baffles me. What, if anything, am I missing? Should I just go wild (for me), buy a costume, wear it to work, and sit outside freezing on my front porch with a bowl of candy, waiting to be mobbed by costumed children? It would be an interesting experiment, I suppose, but one that I have no interest in launching. 

For one thing, although I'm not as shy as I was as a child, I remain socially anxious, and kids in large numbers frighten me. (Seriously!) For another thing, my neighbor, who apparently enjoys Halloween and with whom I don't really get along, takes over the front porch of our apartment house every year, so spending the evening with him just isn't going to happen. And did I mention that it's usually at least moderately cold and often raining in my neck of the woods (and that I have an increasingly low tolerance for cold weather)?

I guess I could blame evangelical Christianity (it's a handy scapegoat for whatever ails you), which indoctrinated me, via a Pentecostal church. for approximately six years as a young adult that Halloween represents Satanism, for my aversion to this day. I no longer believe that Halloween is evil, but I suppose, like most other things in life, it is what you make it.

For whatever reason, I'm basically a Halloween grinch. I don't get it, but I don't begrudge anyone else (of any age) the right to enjoy it. Costumes, whether scary, silly, or slutty, aren't my thing. My idea of celebrating Halloween includes wearing orange or black clothing, possibly enjoying a round of Warren Zevon's "Werewolves of London," and buying a bag of candy for my workplace's daycare kids on the big day. 

 

That's about it, although I started a new tradition a year ago of watching scary movies (the Nightmare on Elm Street series) all weekend, which I usually don't do at any other time of the year. (For obvious reasons...like I live alone, I'm hyper-phobic and over-imaginative, and I tend to wake up freaked out in the middle of the night hearing strange noises after watching a horror film. But how quickly we forget the fear once it passes.) Despite my fear (or perhaps because of it), it was more fun than I expected. I think this is one Halloween celebration that I can get down with.

So, if anyone needs me, I'll be bundled up at home this weekend, frightfully watching the Halloween film series, and instantly regretting it once the daylight fades and things start going bump in the night.