For me, Halloween has always kicked off the holiday season. It’s my favorite in the line up of year-end holidays. I enjoy the ghosties and goblins, hearing spooky tales about things that go bump in the night, and the yummy fall treats (think apple cider and fresh fry-cake doughnuts) that segue into delicious holiday specialty foods for the remainder of the year.
It’s also a solemn time for honoring those who have crossed over from this life to another realm, as ancient Celts believed that the veil between the worlds of life and death is thinnest on Halloween night. For those celebrating Samhain, or the “summer’s end”, it can also mean the end of the Wheel of the Year, with the new year beginning on November 1st. A book that offers a different perspective on this time of year is A WITCH’S HALLOWEEN by Gerina Dunwich.
Whether you get into the history behind the holiday or just enjoy the celebration, it’s fun to let loose and venture down memory lane. Trading costumes with friends after each trip through the neighborhood was the norm. The only rules were that you couldn’t take the entire costume from your fellow trick-or-treater for the switch, and you had to dump the contents of your sack before venturing out again. What kid hasn’t played with their stash at the end of the night. or tried to swap the yucky stuff for something better?
Corn mazes and haunted hayrides are also on the holiday fun list, although my experiences with each were not the best. I got claustrophobic in the corn and would have been lost in the maze, after wandering away from my friends, but the sneezing that resulted from my allergies helped them find me.
Another time, I agreed to go on a haunted hayride for a first date with a cute guy I met. We decided not to dress in costume, and to this day I’m baffled by the small garbage bags he had tied to his ankles when he arrived to pick me up. The bags were empty, looking like little capes hanging on the back of his heels. In the snow belt region of central New York state, there might be a valid reason for having garbage bags tied to the back of your ankles, but that night was crisp, clear, and snow-free. When I asked him about the bags, he just laughed and looked at me like I might be crazy.
If that wasn’t bad enough, he spent the entire time talking like Bela Lugosi’s Dracula character. Needless to say, that was also the last date with that guy. But the ride itself was nice, except for the loud Brrrraaaahhhaaahhhaaa he felt the need to let out every now and then.
Halloween haunted houses and home parties suit me better, especially visiting friends or having them drop in on my own celebration. This year I’ll either be the hit or the horror of the neighborhood with gummi eyeballs ready to hand out for tricks-or-treats. I like them because they fit into the freaky holiday theme, and they are the first Halloween candies I have found that I don’t even want to think about snacking on.
While my good old days don’t compare with tales from my mother, who would sing at strangers’ doors with her friends for pennies on their Halloween night out, they were fun and safe. Sadly, people seem to have shifted to a crazier gear with the passing of time. Trust has been replaced with caution. Still, I think there is enough good left to enjoy these changing times and revel in our holiday traditions for as long as we can.
©2007 Barbara Dolny
Photo of Anthony B by Cynthia Battilana
