Halloween

I do not care about Halloween. There, I said it.

Everybody I know seems to love Halloween. Tons of people consider it their favorite holiday of the year (as if something could dethrone Christmas). They go to spook trails and haunted houses nearly every weekend during October. They decorate their houses with elaborate graveyard scenes and the like. These people go all out for Halloween, and I just don’t get it.

That isn’t to say that I *dislike* Halloween. Before I had kids, we used to go to a spook trail or two each year. If we could get reliable child care now, we probably still would. We take the kids trick or treating, but I feel like that’s a big fuss about nothing when we usually end up throwing away half or more of the candy anyway. Lots of adults I know throw parties for Halloween, but how does that differ from any other weekend during the year besides donning a costume? You want to have some friends over and get trashed, that’s called a normal Friday night for a lot of people.

As a kid, the allure of candy is probably enough to get anybody excited. Candy is great, and Halloween is the one time of the year that most parents (myself included) basically let the kids eat as much of it as they want. But as an adult… I can buy candy whenever I want. If I want to pig out and eat a sleeve of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, guess what. I’m gonna drive to Walmart, buy a sleeve, and have those suckers demolished before I get home. But honestly, it isn’t worth the calories. I’m trying to lose weight right now, so I don’t really plan on eating much candy anyway.

I suppose Halloween can be seen as a holiday of indulgence. Like Dionysus of Greek mythology, people see Halloween as a chance to cut loose without the social stigma normally attached to it. Wanna get plastered in a Jesus robe? Go nuts. Wanna eat candy until you physically cannot ingest anymore? Have at it. Nobody is going to say anything to you because it’s Halloween.

Whatever the obsession may stem from, I don’t share the same enthusiasm. I’ll take my kids trick or treating, grumble about having to deal with people, and then start getting ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Since so many of you love Halloween, I’ll try not to be a buzz-killington, but I would love to know what makes it such a big deal to you. If you’re a lover of all things Halloween, please enlighten me as to what makes it your favorite holiday.