Halloween, the holiday you get hyped for in August only but fail to plan for the day of, is a holiday surrounded by ghouls, spirits, candy, and last-minute costumes. While Halloween is typically thought of as a holiday focused on the kiddos, it is fair to say that Halloween is a big holiday for adults as well. Much like Disney adults, Halloween adults go ALL IN on the holiday spirit. From Jack-O-Lanterns, giant spider decorations, to mannequins in costumes standing on the front yard, when people say they love Halloween, THEY LOVE HALLOWEEN. Creating their own costumes, dressing up their pets, and making spooky treats and recipes is just a preview of their October 31st. Though they are fanatics of “Spooky Season,” it feels, much like fall in Fresno, that Spooky Season is being skipped. With that said, there is one thing that can’t be skipped on Halloween, and that is Michale Myers. Or maybe you can?
Halloween Ends might have dominated the domestic box office with $41.3 million in its opening weekend, but with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 40% and a Metacritic score of 45%, The franchise feels like this time it might finally be dead. Michale Myers for almost 40 years has been known as a proper “Boogey Man.” With quiet, overwhelming presence, and a true sense of powerlessness, Michale Myers made you feel as if no corner of your house or neighborhood was safe. The original Halloween is not just a horror movie staple, but it is a timeless classic film in general. Much like Jaws, it is a suspenseful story of never really knowing how much danger you were in until it was too late. Both had soulless eyes that didn’t hesitate to cleave into their victims. They played into our deepest fears of what hides in the dark or beneath the surface, that is until the sequels came along. The sequels for many of us almost took the fear out of these maleficent creatures and have now been seen by many as campy or “so bad it’s good.” And while it is sad to see Jamie Lee Curtis finish the monstrous franchise limping through the finish line, this led me to start thinking of the overall holiday itself.
During a previous episode of The Drew Show (Monday-Friday 6-10 am) Drew and I discussed Halloween, costumes, and our thoughts on the Spooky Season. From levels of excitement to plans, the overall feeling was that it just doesn’t quite have the spark it once did. But what exactly has changed? I walk my crusty, white-furred little turdburglar of a dog every night, and every night I see houses still with no decorations or props. With maybe 4 total houses on the street decorated (ours included) the rest of the homes seem to be fine with skipping Halloween in general.
(Full Episode here:)
As you grow up Halloween is a mystical holiday that gives you the opportunity to dress up as your favorite monster, slasher, hero, or for a lot of us, ninjas. You, your friends, and siblings all get the sturdiest bags or pillowcases and go door to door to try to get the biggest haul of candy your cavity-riddled teeth can munch through. This is where many of us learned how to barter and sell, some of the greatest deals and finesses were done on the night of Hallows Eve. Then those beautifully awkward tween years start. You find yourself going through changes and before you know it you start to question everything you thought you knew. One of those questions you find yourself asking is “Am I too old to trick or treat?” This is like much like the college grad still going to frat parties asking “Am I too old to be here?” Though the answer is definitely a yes, a lot of times you still them there every year ready to party. As I mentioned in the podcast episode above, I believe we get three windows of Halloween in our lifetimes.
- Ages 4-12: You’re a kid who gets to truly enjoy the excitement and joy of proper trick-or-treating. You can be anything you want and eat as much candy as you like with little to no consequences. The world is your candy oyster.
- Ages 15-25: A bigger window but a different kind of enjoyment. You’re done going door to door for candy and instead are trying to go to Costume parties. Everyone is in either a funny or sexy costume while you try and figure out if that mummy is actually a mommy. (fingers crossed). From high school to college you will try and find a party to either be invited to or crash. Though it is not as innocent as the first window, it can be the sweetest. *bonk
- Ages 35-40, 65-70: Though these are technically two windows, they represent basically the same thing. You’re either a new parent or a new grandparent. You are dressing up your little rugrat for the first few times or even going with them for their first time trick-or-treating. Arguably the most wholesome of the windows and probably the one you’ll remember the most.
These three windows are the peaks of your Halloween spirit. The years around it you have essentially either outgrown it or are so beat down by it that you either are too busy to properly celebrate it or are unfazed by it completely and basically just leave a bowl of Snickers outside the door and hope the honor system works. (It doesn’t). With all that said it feels like the lack of the haunting holiday feels relatively new, and there is a simple reason for that. We were shut down!
In an article from Insight to Action, Halloween participation dropped all the way down to 58% in 2020 and respectfully so. It was an uneasy time where people weren’t sure if it was even safe to be outside. Some people tried keeping the spirit alive by leaving bowls out so they could socially distance themselves while still trying to be apart of the fun. Thankfully though this wouldn’t last much longer, as 65% of Americans participated in the year of 2021. These numbers are all good and are apparently going to the even better this year. The article suggest that in this year alone 78% of Americans will be participating in this year’s festivities. A huge boost from years past and could be exactly what we need to get us back on our broomsticks.
You can read the full article here: https://itoaction.com/halloween-growth-strategy-examples/
I guess in conclusion though it may look like the Witching Hour for Halloween, numbers suggest that not only is Halloween back, it’s coming back for Payback… or in Jay’s case, Paydays.
I hope all of you have a fun and safe Halloween and a last reminder: if you don’t give our good candy or try giving people raisins, you will get teepeed.
