What Halloween Means To Me

After many years of anguishing over whether to do Halloween or not, I came to the conclusion of why not?

Growing up, I dressed up in costumes and trick-or-treated.  My parents decorated with basic Halloween things usually bought from the grocery store.  I also took interest in illusionists like David Copperfield and puzzles.  I always liked to know how to do things that amazed others.  In high school, I decided that what I wanted to have a career in was special effects.  I wanted to be the person that made the behind the scenes magic so when you watched the movie you would see a zombie or alien, not a guy in a suit with makeup. I went to school and learned mechanical puppetry, makeup effects, set design, etc.

A year or two later, I had a crisis.  I was going to church (still do) and couldn't see how Halloween worked being a Christian and all.  I struggled with it for several years, wanting to decorate but not wanting to be anti-church.  I didn't want to take part in a pagan thing.

When we had kids I finally realized that modern Halloween has little to do with the old religions and has different meanings today.  It's evolved so far from what it was originally.  (Read some of the articles on History Channel for the modern traditions of Halloween.)  I found bloggers like Dave Lowe who decorate but with a more cartoony and less gory style.  I figure Halloween is about celebrating the little bit of scariness in our lives.  For adults it might be more gore and shock, but for kids it's about costumes, candy and a little bit spooky.  So we go with cartoony skeletons, vampires and monsters.  I try to go along the same line as maybe a Disney movie might.  Add just a little scary, mix in a lot of goofiness and you have a great holiday to have fun with.

For me, Halloween is about having a spooky fun time with my family, decorations, costumes, and candy.  Plus for me, it's a time to create props and decorations to try to add spookiness to our home, at least for a month out of the year.