In a commercialized culture where greeting cards are obscenely expensive and stores insist on decorating earlier every year, Halloween stands out as an annual venture that we are almost societally required to partake in. For the most part, this is driven by parents who feel they must provide their children with the experience of ghouls, goblins, candy, and costumes. After all, parents most likely went trick-or-treating years ago when life was much simpler. They may even possess fond memories of those times.
But if parents choose not to let their kids participate in Halloween, the decision is met with shock. This is evidence that peer pressure, and not a worthwhile purpose, ultimately drives the day.
The descent into this brief season is palpable. Once summer ends, school begins, and the weather turns cooler, we’re again reminded that Halloween is getting closer. To get beyond the gruesome and to the place on the calendar where joyful celebrations like Thanksgiving and Christmas reside, we must go through a few weeks of the dismal. If you ask me, fall would be much better off without it.
Of all the official celebrations on our yearly calendar, Halloween exists as the anti-holiday. Even if you strip the religion from Easter (Christ’s resurrection) and Christmas (Christ’s birth), you’re still left with positive, family-oriented traditions that promote the best of humanity, community, and even love of country.
Halloween stands apart from all in its praise of the macabre. Unfortunately, the ritual of Halloween continues in large part because it’s just something that has always been done. This year alone, Americans are projected to “shell out $8.8 billion this Halloween on costumes, candy, and pumpkins.” Though this massive sum is lower than the 2018 season, it still represents the collective desire to improve upon treats and attire from the year before.
Yes, Halloween is big business. Beyond padding retailers’ pockets, it has little to no positive effect.
It only takes a quick trip to your local grocery or department store to recognize the theme of Halloween is the never-ending curiosity with both death and violence. Instead of focusing on the beauty and refreshing aspects of autumn and harvest, shelves are lined with plastic skeletons and tombstones. Costumes range from the innocent to downright disturbing. There is no shortage of fake blood and guts. The more frightening, the better, at least that’s what we’re sold.
In addition to the darkness, costumes for adults seem to become more sleazy with each passing year. Instead of assembling a creative look, the focus is on making one appear as seductive as possible. And this is what children should emulate?
Furthermore, there’s always the fear of Halloween-related crimes against the innocent. Any parent will tell you that their concern increases on Oct. 31. Predators know that minors will be walking around, sometimes unaccompanied. Cars drive around in the dark with heightened pedestrian traffic. Afterward, collected candy is rightly scrutinized before consumption, just to play it safe. Evil is real.
Childhood imagination is a precious thing. Parents should want their kids to experience the joys and adventures that are a part of growing up. But actively celebrating a day that revolves around the terrifying, and even Satanic, is a harmful waste of time, money, and yes, even innocence. Families should not be made to feel bad because they don’t participate based on religious or other reasons.
When the calendar turns to the first day of November, you can almost hear a sigh of relief. The preceding weeks, dominated by the sinister, are gone. The remaining two months of the year are filled with thankfulness, family, and festivities that don’t center on evil.
The decision to abstain from Halloween is one that each parent and family must decide on their own. However, I believe there is good enough reason to ditch the fake holiday that brings with it more bad than good.
You’re really not missing out.
Kimberly Ross (@SouthernKeeks) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner‘s Beltway Confidential blog and a columnist at Arc Digital.
