While I was away last weekend, Amy at Passages to the Past tagged me for the Six Quirky Things meme. I already did this meme, but I thought of another quirky thing about me that is very appropriate for the fall.
I hate Halloween.
It started when I was little. I was a very timid child, so I hated the scary masks and costumes that the other kids in school wore. In fact, I was terrified of almost everything in costume, even the Kool-Aid Man that used to wander the grocery store where my mom shopped. Parade day each year in elementary school was a horror.
Obviously, I’m no longer afraid of costumes and I don’t have a real reason to hate Halloween. Regardless, I don’t like ghost stories, in fact I don’t like any scary stories or movies, and I hate even more the mischief that always seems to go around in my parents’ neighborhood. All the trees in our and our neighbors’ yards are regularly toilet papered and we’ve seen cars splattered with eggs. Nothing dangerous, just annoying. And I’m possibly the least creative person in the world, so I never come up with good costumes. Free candy is nice, but it’s not enough to redeem the holiday for me. I love fall, but only after Halloween is over.
So I don’t like Halloween, even though all of my friends love it and encourage me to go out with them. Tell me, do you like Halloween? Why?
When my son was in the second grade, he decided to dress as Wolverine. The 3 year old boy across the street was Wolverine, too. When my son went to their door and the 3 year old saw him, he (the 3 year old) screamed bloody murder, even though he was dressed in the exact same costume.
I hate Halloween too. I liked it when I was young, but I don’t like scary stuff in general because it gives me nightmares. And I HATE how girls now use it as an excuse to dress like a slut. That’s the main reason I refuse to go to Halloween parties anymore!
I don’t like Halloween either – it’s my least favorite holiday, but my husband and kids love it. We compromise. I don’t want any scary decorations in the house (I have a fear of spiders, so the last thing I want is fake spiders everywhere) but they can decorate outside. Usually they just carve pumpkins and leave it at that. We do take our kids trick-or-treating around the neighborhood, and then we turn off the porch light and I breathe a huge sigh of relief that we’ve put the holiday behind us for one more year.
I don’t hate or dislike Halloween, but I really don’t acknowledge it all that much. Maybe a “Happy Halloween” as I leave the office, but that’s about it. I don’t hand out candy or attend a party, dress up or anything like that. It’s just another day for me. I’d use the excuse that it is because I do not have children, but I have childless friends who do celebrate, so it can’t be that.