For the more cynically inclined it’s hard to view Halloween outside the prism of commercialization.
Costumes, candy, decorations, movies and music. Promotions and advertisements pushed off the scale until October 31. Trick or treating and pumpkin carving.
A means of extracting cash from parents as kids seek a ready made costume before filling up on a variety of sugary treats. A dentist’s delight.
Stores pop up to fill empty spaces with a ghoulish assortment of spooky and ridiculous themed items. From Halloween – John Carpenter’s 1978 classic is one my favourite all time films – to Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street all of the established horror franchises are represented. Macabre make-up and a slightly disturbing array of plastic weapons on display. Dressing up as a competition, the more outlandish the better. When November 1 arrives the temporary shops slash their prices for a few days and then magically disappear for another year.
Yet not everyone celebrates or even acknowledges the holiday – can it be considered a holiday? – especially in the ethnically diverse cities and neighbourhoods of Southern California.
Its origins are open to interpretation and, depending on the source, Halloween emerged from Ireland and Scotland with the ancient pagan festival of Samhain.
While some of the symbolism remains Halloween is now essentially a kid’s night (or day) out. Although much of the marketing is definitely targeted at adults.
Driving through Los Angeles County it’s the exception rather than the norm to find any decorated houses. Perhaps it’s too much trouble, an unknown irrelevance or just a strain on electricity in financially challenging times to make any kind of effort.
There are some well known anomalies.
The incredibly detailed Holiday House in the Mar Vista neighbourhood of Los Angeles even has its own place on Google Maps as it boasts nightly shows with eerie songs and props that trigger jump scares.
It’s an interactive attraction which appeals to curious little ones and slightly larger ones that should know better.
While a former Disney employee runs spectacular film themed shows – including Harry Potter and Pirates of the Caribbean – at their residence in Long Beach, complete with intricate lighting, music and an amazing cornucopia of well known characters.
Further afield it’s only in the more affluent areas that children roam the streets freely without of any kind of real (or imagined) fear. I overheard one older gent remark that it was like ‘old times’ in one incredibly well illuminated neighbourhood of Aliso Viejo in Orange County. Kids, and some adults, in all manner of Halloween garb admired eerily themed houses heavily inspired by The Nightmare Before Christmas as stewards and police monitored the streets.
For some it’s a one off, for a very select group of others it takes a lot more planning to conjure up a memorable spectacle to scare the bejesus out of those that like a fright on Halloween night.
Tales of Terror – another with its own place on Google Maps – in Mission Viejo caters to those than enjoy the scenery but not necessarily the heebie-jeebies.
It offers both scary and non-scary haunted house tours with easily affected children in mind. It’s a thoughtfully planned out family affair as the entire clan play different characters in a backyard set which resembles Halloween and features small vignettes adapted from John Carpenter’s masterpiece as well as plenty of unexpected chilling moments.
Billed as a Disney tribute, the Haunted Mansion Haunt in Lake Forest is a far more upscale attraction, which requires a booking (although they won’t refuse people that don’t have one).
While it didn’t quite justify the lengthy wait the supposedly professional actors employed by the house owners and impressive attention to detail did make the visit somewhat worthwhile.
It’s was all a world away from my own childhood, as I recall guising (taken from the word disguising) in Scotland.
We had to do a ‘turn’ whether singing, dancing or telling a joke to get our share of sweets. We were made to work for our Milky Ways and Marathons (now Snickers).
The inevitable Americanization of Halloween, whether good or bad, has altered everything. Turn up, demand candy and then scarper to the next house.
Maybe some of the old traditions remain.
As an excited youngster I dooked (or bobbed) for apples in a yearly competition with my brother and cousins. We knelt on a chair and dropped a fork from our mouths to stab one of the fruits in a water basin below.
I dressed up into my teens, most memorably as WWF’s The Undertaker for a school Halloween dance. Other than a few raised eyebrows on the relatively long bus ride from one end of Glasgow to another, it was a success and I stayed in character the whole night. One girl even told me to cheer up, unaware that I was spellbound into a death stare by Paul Bearer’s urn.
Customs and attitudes have irrevocably changed but Halloween still offers an unearthly sense of escape. In uncertain times of war and climate change perhaps temporarily delving into a fantasy land is not such a bad idea. Maybe it’s worth spending a little cash to create memories in make believe worlds of our own.
Stephen Kasiewicz 