There are just a few occasions in the year that is worth living up to. That often means sprucing the house, getting the family and friends together, preparing a festive meal, or just getting into the fun of things. Christmas and New Year celebrations come to mind. Valentines, anniversaries, are also great. Weddings and graduations don’t come often. But they also provide the occasion to splurge and be happy. Birthdays, yes, for the kids, but not your own as it just reminds you how closer you get to the grave every time. Nothing could be scarier than that. Talk about something scary, what about Halloween? Yes, that’s another time of the year that for many cultures, signal the coming Christmas holidays. It’s supposed to be a scary occasion to remind us about death and all the ugly stuff about it. But Halloween has grown to be a festive celebration of what is scary. On its own, Halloween is celebrated in many cultures with just about the same fervor as any holiday. Christmas and Halloween are probably as old as each other. They are the two major pagan celebrations that have been absorbed into the Christian traditions when Christianity spread over the British Isles in the early middle ages. Halloween takes just a night out in many countries and may not be worth as much trouble sprucing the house or preparing for the revelry as in Christmas. But in whatever way you mark the occasion, Halloween can be so much a fun diversion to take the ennui out of our daily commotion. Improving on the Tradition You have jolly ole St. Nick for Christmas. You have Cupid on Valentines. What’s the best symbol for Halloween? There’s probably no single icon for fright night but a whole bevy of them †ghouls, vampires, werewolves, pumpkin jack, goblins, scarecrows, witches on broomsticks, and other macabre creatures of the night and beyond. They make up the imagery attending the Halloween traditions. The 20th century has inspired and created its own modern symbols associated with the occasion. Just as St. Nick has assumed an interesting symbol with all the movies spun off about him and his elves, Halloween didn’t lag behind. Traditions are spawned with the prevalent legends and pop cultures of the times. The 20th century and the current one is deep into the entertainment media of games, the internet and movies, both in the homes and on the road. The emerging pop culture spawned by this preoccupation has created new icons that now figure in Halloween celebrations that make the festive traditions a bit more interesting and varied for the younger crowd. It started with the grotesque undying Freddie character from the Nightmare on Elm Street movie series as well as Jason from the equally disturbing Friday the 13th trail. It didn’t end there. With the pervasive popularity of computers and mobile games, you now have the contagious zombies in the Resident Evil franchise. This gets further with 21 Days After series. Online Trick or Treat? No, there’s none yet. But who knows. With virtually all the commercial and educational activities happening on the internet, traditions like the time-honored trick or treat just might make a debut online so that kids don’t have to get out of the house come fright night. It may rob the fun out of it, but for convenience-centric 21st century, a more convenient trick or treat is always welcome. GP
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