One of the few things I enjoy about fall is Halloween, and its arrival is upon us.
It seems as if the highly anticipated holiday is announced earlier and earlier each year - some stores herald candy and costume sales as early as late September, and Halloween decorations pop up everywhere around that time. There are constant reminders of the macabre and the terrifying, from contests to the new movies releases.
Sometimes it’s enough to make someone sick.
All of the hype is a bit much, even though Halloween is generally a pleasant, worthwhile holiday. It’s just that too much hype can be overkill - after a while everything associated with it can look tasteless and tacky.
Nonetheless, for millions of us, the celebration is a forgivable offense.
Halloween is one of the most widely celebrated - and enjoyed - holidays of the year. Everyone seems to get in the spooky spirit on Oct. 31.
According to the National Retail Foundation, Americans probably will spend nearly $590 million on Halloween home decorations this year, making it second to Christmas, when shoppers spend $2.1 billion on decorations annually.
The federation also expects Halloween spending to reach a total of $6.9 billion this year - about $2 billion is spent on candy, topping the $1.8 billion of which is spent on Easter candy.
Some believe this holiday to be an incarnation of the ancient Celtic fire festival known as Samhain, but I regard it just as a day to get in a costume and indulge your sweet tooth. What more can be expected? It’s a childlike fantasy in every respect. I’m sure many of us can attest to past Halloween eves being hide-and-seek games run amok and orgies of candy.
Just thinking about those fun-filled fright nights from my childhood makes my mouth water.
Trick-or-treating was, of course, the highlight. There were so many Kit Kat bars, Snickers, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Smarties, Skittles, Hershey’s Kisses, caramel, non-namebrand candies ... and apples. For some reason, my friends and I seemed to hit up at least two or three health-conscious houses in a two-block radius.
It seemed like sweet justice when we’d pass by again and see the remnants of eggs splattered across their porches and doorways.
According the U.S. Census Bureau, there will be 41.1 million potential “trick-or-treaters” - 5- to 14-year-olds - across the country on Halloween night. I’m sure that number is at least a million higher, since older teenagers and college students aren’t included in the statistics.
I know many people (myself included) who have not participated in this fiendish ritual since middle school, but don’t think you won’t see an 18-year-old hunched in a hooded sweatshirt and a goofy “Scream” mask at someone’s doorstep Thursday, begging for candy for “my little brother,” “my cousin” or “my nephew.”
I consider myself a sugar addict, but I am not even that desperate for free candy.
Despite the delicious glucose perks, maybe it’s the allure of disguise that makes Halloween so appealing.
I remember planning my costume weeks ahead of time in elementary school. Everyone I knew did the same. We’d search for the “perfect one” at least a month in advance.
Then, when Halloween finally arrived, we’d come to school dressed up as witches and ghosts (the typical ones of choice, of course), vampires or things of that nature. Over the years, we evolved. One year, I was a giant M&M’s. Another year, practically everyone in our neighborhood was a Power Ranger.
Whether the disguise was a homemade costume or a cheap mask bought at a supermarket or discount store, it was amazingly fun wandering the dark streets playing the part of someone else. It was a surprise when, sometime around 13 or 14, Halloween became a normal day with abnormal amounts of candy. By then, no one seemed to care about the change. It just seemed like a time to hang out, watch scary movies, get giddy off of all of the sugar and pride ourselves on not being the immature kids roaming the streets in costumes we ourselves gave up the year before.
That’s why it is so humorous seeing so many college students and adults dressed up for costume parties on Halloween. I suppose the enchantment of masks and tacky costumes is too good to pass up, no matter how old you are.
Perhaps that is why we sit mesmerized whenever we hear even the vaguest mention of Halloween. Maybe I’m getting sentimental, but it means more than ghouls, goblins, jack-o’-lanterns, parties or scary stories.
The word alone conjures up not only childhood joys but the macabre, the unexplained, and freedom - freedom to act crazy, pull practical jokes, run in shadows and remain carefree for at least one night during the year.
May Halloween never go out of style.
Mark Hicks is State News opinion writer. Reach him at hicksma4@msu.edu.
