Everything Halloween

Halloween is for children, yes, but it is also for people who enjoy children, imagination, and (most of all) creativity. Halloween is one of those few times when a person, be they child or adult, can be truly creative without worrying too much about the results.

Halloween seems immune to the self-consciousness that has invaded Christmas. Don’t get me wrong, I love Christmas as well, but Halloween is just a little more low-key, because it doesn’t really matter and it doesn’t have to be picture perfect. In fact, the more outrageous and silly your Halloween the better. Think Frankenstein should wear a bunny mask? I do. At Halloween you can get away with all kinds of nonsense, and that’s good for creativity in any medium, from music, to crafts, to art.

Unfortunately, Halloween is getting a bad wrap these days because certain individuals want to make it truly horror-ble, but Halloween doesn’t have to be that way and that is one of the reasons I created this site. I remember Halloween as a a great time to bond with my siblings and parents. What I remember now certainly isn’t the candy, it is the good times we had together as a family.

Some of the things I love and remember about the Halloweens of my childhood:

1. Dressing up to be anything I could imagine. My mom would ask us about a month in advance what we wanted to be and she would make it (I can’t tell you how much that meant to me as a kid, to know that my Mom would do that for me). I was C3PO one year and a dragon another year (I even won an award for that one!). One brother was Mork from Ork once and my oldest brother became The Headless Horseman. In those days (we’re only talking 25 years here) you just didn’t play "dress up" any day of the week like kids seem to do now. Costumes were for that special day of the year, Halloween, and none other.
2. Singing Halloween songs. I realize this isn’t part of everyone’s experience (I grew up in a very musical family), but you don’t know what you’re missing. When I was a kid, my mom and my siblings all got the biggest hoot out of singing songs like "Halloween Tree" and "The Boogie-Woogie Ghost" (I wish I could reprint them here). Now it’s another one of many warm memories to think back on and the inspiration for my children’s music CD, Thirteen for Halloween.
3. "Scary" stuff. No, I don’t like gore (please spare me it at all costs), but kids love creepy stuff, especially when they feel safe. I was just reading this article in which the author opined that children don’t really like to be scared, therefore Halloween was really all about the candy and nothing else. That’s not how I remember it. I loved watching all the old classic monster movies that came on at Halloween time. There were the truly sad stories of The Wolf Man and Frankenstein (which I adored : I knew Lon Chaney Jr. and Boris Karloff by name). Between Bela Lugosi’s mildly scary Dracula, and the somber portrayal of The Mummy by Karloff, I got more than enough thrills to to satisfy the macabre cravings of an 8-year-old. I ate it up. Plus, there were the annual TV Halloween specials which were a real event for us as a family. Who doesn’t love, "It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown"? If you don’t, you might want to check your Scrooge-o-meter (yes, I’m sure Scrooge would have gone about ruining people’s Halloweens as well).
4. Decorating. Yes my creations have gotten more elaborate as I’ve gotten older, but some of the art I created as a kid (saved by my mom) is still fun to look at, no matter how bad it is. There’s nothing like a child’s conception of a haunted house drawn with crayons to brighten up your Halloween decor. Creativity is taking the time to stop and ponder a moment, then putting it as best as you can on paper (or whatever you’re using), not taking a second to worry about what it looks like. No matter how old you are, go for it. No one will care if it’s terrible, it’s Halloween!
5. Church parties. Yes, you heard me correctly. I know more and more churches are moving to an anti-Halloween stance or moving to "Harvest" celebrations (which I think is a good alternative). When I was a child there was nothing more natural than to go to church and have a party with your extended church family. There’d be a costume parade, refreshments and trick-or-treating, all completely innocent and fun. Thank goodness there are still hold-outs. I went online today to find Baptists, Presbyterians, Latter-day Saints, Catholics, etc. still holding Halloween parties. Good for them. Wouldn’t you rather have your kids among friends on Halloween?
6. Trick-or-Treating. Yes, the candy was a pretty good motivator for going out in some less-than-ideal weather conditions (it can get pretty cold on October 31st, and rainy too), but Trick-or-Treating wasn’t all about the candy for me. You got to go to each door and show off your costume, trying to be heroic, or funny, or scary. It was partially about acting. I’ve been an actor in many productions growing up and as an adult, and playing the part of villians, clowns, and heroes is just fun. You get to explore that aspect of your humanity in a safe place and then return to being yourself. Also, I loved that my parents took me on this walk about the neighborhood. It was such incredible family time.
7. Evenings at home. On Halloween, after the Trick-or-Treating we got to come home to cider and donuts. If you’re going to do Halloween, make sure you build some traditions that your kids will remember. We’d listen to this record that came as a promotion from the local donut place that had a story on it about going inside a haunted house, step by step . . . it was a hoot!
8. Now that our church doesn’t have Halloween parties anymore, I’ve started hosting a family party where I invite all my siblings and their children. Some of the games we play are included on this site, as well as some of the recipes I’ve created for these events. This has been a great way to get to know my nieces and nephews and everyone gets to show off their costumes, etc.

So, there you have it. The reasons I’ve loved and still love Halloween. I hope this and every Halloween is a chance for you to do the fun things that bind your family together and bring them closer.

Happy Haunting,
M. Ryan Taylor