A brief history of hardly liking (hating?) Halloween
A brief history of hardly liking (hating?) Halloween
It's a scary tale for some, I know.
Over the years, I’ve put just a handful of controversial opinions out into the world via the internet. For the purposes of this post, only one of them is worth repeating:
I am really, really not a fan of Halloween.
If I’ve learned anything by sharing my work and life online, it’s that you might never see your own hot takes coming.
And for me, that was certainly the case here.
As we approach October 31, I thought it was high time I dig a little deeper and share more about the root of my Halloween ick factor.
That way, if you happen to see or hear me mention it, you’ll know why—and you’ll also know that I already know that you’re annoyed about it and we can all move on.
As always, I’m not here to yuck your yum (especially when there’s candy involved).
If you are Halloween’s number-one fan, go forth! As the parent to both a dog child and a human child, I’ve tried to embrace the occasion more in recent years. Per the photo of my golden retriever above, those efforts have not yet been received with a lot of enthusiasm, but I’m hopeful that the newest addition to our family will be a better sport. He is, of course, prepared with the cutest costume and there’s a real chance that his enthusiasm could be contagious.
Over the years, I’ve managed to piece together some of my Halloween baggage, but when I decided to write this post, I realized that I can identify a few key moments that turned me off the whole experience. When I put those things together, it all makes sense.
It’s cool of you to indulge my storytelling moment. But beyond that, I wonder if my own walk down (haunted) memory lane might help you feel more grounded about any complicated feelings you have about the slew of holidays ahead. After all, ‘tis truly the season to be triggered by any holiday weirdness. If nothing else, maybe my confessions will remind you that you’re not alone as a Grinch or Scrooge on any particular special day… and that there’s no reason to judge anyone else who you perceive to be that way. (Ahem, me, ahem.)
Currently Reading: Lavash at First Sight by Taleen Voskuni
This is the October pick in the SWR Book Club, and I can’t wait to discuss it with the group IRL and virtually at the SSR retreat in a few weeks. I’m a big fan of Taleen’s debut novel and really respect her commitment to introducing Armenian American culture to mainstream readers and to shining a spotlight on queer love stories. So far, my favorite thing about Lavash at First Sight is all of the food writing! I want to taste literally every dish mentioned.
We’ll start at the beginning: with my parents, who also didn’t—and don’t—like Halloween.
If you’re the fact checking type, this would be fairly easy to confirm. Call them up. Send them a text. While they were great sports about costumes and trick or treating when I was little, both my mom and dad have independently confided that this is not a holiday they particularly enjoy. Like I said, they were happy to be along for the ride when I was into the occasion, but once my enthusiasm started lagging, no one was especially heartbroken.
My enthusiasm started lagging when I was in sixth grade.
For one, Halloween was the backdrop for one of the hardest moments of my young life.
I know I’ve been going on and on about how much I dislike this holiday and how it was always going to be that way because my parents don’t dig it, either, but there were actually a few good years! When I was in elementary school, my best friend loved Halloween and lived in a neighborhood that was ideal for trick-or-treaters. Since my own neighbors were primarily senior citizens who turned off their lights and pretended not to be home on October 31, I was glad to have a place to go where my costumed frolicking would be welcome.
Sixth-grade Halloween was an especially big deal where we lived at the time. In our town, middle school started in seventh grade, so as sixth graders, we had serious seniority—and reaching that status meant gaining admission to the annual Halloween Dance. Essentially a glorified costume party in the cafeteria—but one with really awesome scary decorations—it was the first school dance we had access to, an important rite of passage before we made the transition to junior high. I couldn’t wait.
Parts of this story are not mine to share, but due to a couple of difficult circumstances, I learned just before the start of sixth grade that my family would be moving somewhat suddenly that fall.
As we all know, being a tween is rough stuff, and the aforementioned difficult circumstances added extra pressure to an already hard time. Plus, I didn’t want to move! I was eleven and loved my friends and didn’t want to lose them before we became middle schoolers together. I really didn’t want to lose them before the big Halloween dance.
I ended up using that Halloween as a bit of a bargaining chip.
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