Depending on how tight of a grip religion has on you – or maybe you’re just a curmudgeon who hates fun – today is everyone’s favorite non-holiday holiday, Halloween. The day the kiddos(and some adults) dress up as their favorite monster and ghouls and go door to door in search of Fun Size chocolates. Of course you also fill their heads with scary movies to add to the psychic trauma pounds of sugar an hour before bed will inflict. Maybe add in adult parties with drinks, kinks, and nearby sinks to throw up into and you have Halloween 2023 in a nutshell.
My son and his girlfriend had a Halloween party at our place Friday night. Seemed like a pretty mellow affair. I think besides them, there were six other people that attended with all but one staying the night. They ordered pizza, had gobs of chips and treats, plenty of 2 liters of soda, and everyone dressed up. I don’t think I recognized any of the costumes. Where were the Freddys and Jasons and Michaels? Or the Frankensteins, Draculas, aliens, or even someone dressed as a sandwich? They all pretty much looked like they were heading to some futuristic rave(end old man rant here.)
Regardless of whether I knew who or what they were dressing as, they seemed to have a good time. Nothing got out of hand. In fact you’d never know there was almost a dozen 18-year olds in the basement having a party.
It’s been probably 25 years since the wife and I had a Halloween party. We had just a handful of people come over that night. There was beer and probably Bagel Bites. I can’t recall who I dressed up as. Probably drunk guy at a party or something close to that. I was always more of a fan of the vibe of Halloween, not necessarily a dresser upper for Halloween. I haven’t been excited to costume up since the 7th grade.
I’m more of an aesthetic guy; the burning leaves, overcast skies, kids yelling and laughing in the distance, and the possibility of spookiness just around the corner. I got more into Halloween when my kids were little and going trick-or-treating. Searching for the perfect costume at(insert box store here), mapping out Halloween night candy routes, then counting the haul once we returned. My three kids at the kitchen table dumping their candy and beginning the bartering; a Payday for Kit Kat, or a Three Musketeers for a Milky Way. There was also a stack of unmentionables that nobody wanted to eat. The cheap, chalky stuff that was popular during the Great Depression. Those were removed from bags and left for dad and mom to deal with. They usually ended up in the trash, as I wasn’t a fan of that crap either.
Halloween(and really most of October) for me is soaking up as much horror as I can, movie and TV-wise. It’s just my thing. Friday afternoon after cleaning I’ll find something on Shudder to watch. Some are great, and some are awful. It’s a crap shoot; a roll of the dice like Vegas. You may hit jackpot, or you may roll snake eyes. Either way if a beer is involved then it doesn’t matter whether it’s good or bad.
If you have little kids, get out there and enjoy the spookiest day of the year. Or maybe grandkids, even better. If you’re going to a party have fun(but not too much fun, if you know what I mean.) And if you’re handing out candy to the kids, get the good stuff. Nobody wants chalky candy, or banana-flavored taffy. Or Tootsie Rolls. Don’t be THAT house on the block. I guarantee you will get egged.
Make the most of your Halloween. Please enjoy these photos of gravestones I took back in August during a walk my wife and I took at Oakwood Cemetery.
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We hand out bubble gum and the kids get so freakin’ excited. I think it because most people don’t of it, so it is a novelty.
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I always liked getting bubblegum. Even if it was so hard it’d break a tooth. Loved variety in my Halloween treats.
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