Happy Halloween

It's a bit early for this, I know. And this isn't really anything to do with horror in a straight forward sense. I can't help it though, as I've recently started working at a seasonal Halloween store, slinging FX makeup and gore decor.

All good horror fans, darksiders and devout christians know the long and ever evolving history of All Hallows Eve. This post isn't about the historical elements-- it's about Halloween. Good ol' plastic pumpkin bucket Americana Halloween.

The progress of the Halloween holiday has evolved into something really quite phenomenal. It breaks the rules of current sociology and it's effects touch on all american demographics, regardless of race, class or geography.

American society, on a whole, is extremely introverted. We live, work and commute independently. Our entire social lives revolve around a tiny microcosm of people, a selective circle of friends and relatives. These groups interact near each other, doing the same things simultaneously but rarely converge. A look at a typical American coffee house is a perfect illustration of this. An environment speckled with pairs and groups, maybe even a solitary, all independent and mindless of each other acting under the facade that "out" equates to "participating in society."

Holidays act to enforce and exemplify and this social-anti-social behavior. Christmas, Thanksgiving, Birthdays-- all emphasize and rely on a select group of people. Holidays are more often than not, about "family," and for these events we retreat into our own, should we be lucky enough to have such a thing. Christmas, as an example, is supposed to be a time of generosity, a time to invoke the "spirit" of the season but becomes "home for the holidays." Something with the attempt of being communal becomes internal on a massive scale.

Halloween, however, is philosophically and in practice the polar opposite. Halloween is about community. It's about people opening their homes to complete strangers. About generosity that makes the colder "season of giving" look like the personification of greed.

The social psychology behind Halloween is a fascinating, albeit a bit disturbing. People will open their homes and pocket books to complete strangers... as long as they are in costume. And here, on October 31st, we celebrate the inevitable dark side of life-- in a big way-- without most of us realizing it. On Halloween, personifications of the dead wander the suburban wastelands and we love it.

Halloween is an excuse to play in the shadows without social or psychological consequence. "It's just for fun."

It is fun. With the aid of costumed anonymity and a pre-approved excuse, we leave our reserve at the door, forget our bullshit, our problems, our stresses and have fun. In times of economic distress, the sale of cosmetics and candy never falter. People will always pay for small luxuries, especially during times of stress. Halloween is an annual embodiment of this. Even with the economy dragging like a low laying fog, people are spending hundreds of dollars on things that, outside of this solitary excuse, would be considered a frivolous waste.

There are, of course, people that believe Halloween is a waste, that it's evil or only for kids. This is grossly unfortunate.

They are missing out on something so much more substantial than fun-sized candy and parades of ghosts and ghouls. They have no idea.

So put on a costume, act like an asshole. Forget your problems, compliment your neighbor and embrace the dark side of life-- even if only for a day.


Happy Halloween.