Halloween has become a lot like Christmas. When I was a kid, there was plenty of trick-or-treating. But other than having some candy at the ready on the big day, parents didn’t make such a big deal about Halloween back then. Other than an occasional pumpkin on the porch here or a cardboard window print of a witch or a ghost there, we didn’t have much preparation for “spooky season”. Today, houses are decorated in early October with orange and purple lights, along with figurines of skeletons and spiders and tombstones. Much like Christmas, just different colors and symbols.

Halloween has become more like Christmas over the years, and at the same time Christmas has become more like Halloween. As with trick-or-treat day, Christmas is now mostly a children’s holiday. It’s something that adults do for kids, not something that has any other meaning to them (not that doing something for kids is such a bad thing; I can understand that children are a very big part of many adults’ lives). To the degree that adults do celebrate “the season”, it’s mostly thru drunkeness and maybe even lust (think about the sterotypical office party; I can almost see the Christmas episode of The Office right now). In other words, it’s the worst of both childhood and adulthood.

Both Christmas and Halloween are now secularized versions of what were once major Christian religious holidays. And in turn, both of these Christian holidays were co-options of ancient pagan festivals. The early Christian church set Christ’s birthday in late December so as to coincide with the Roman winter solstice festivals; and All Saints Day (called “All-Hallows Day” in olde English, the eve of which became “Halloween”) replaced the Celtic new year of November 1, when the worlds of the living and the dead were said to temporarily blur together (giving people the creeps). I’m surprised that the religious groups that urge us to keep Christ in Christmas haven’t started running ad campaigns about “putting the Hallows back in Halloween”.

As an aging adult, Halloween seems more and more ironic each year. At least Christmas offers adults the ideal (however unfulfilled) of peace on earth and goodwill towards men (yea, it’s sexist, I know). But I really can’t share the kiddies’ delight in all the fake cobwebs and gravestones and skeletons and all the other cute little reminders of death. I can get all the fright I need and more these days by going to the doctor’s office and talking about biopsies and colonoscopies and blood test results and HMO coverage policies. I hope that the medical establishment becomes a bit kinder and gentler by the time the little trick-or-treaters of today have to start worrying about their cholesterol count.

I saw a lot of kids out with their treat bags during my ride home from work today. That was nice. Nonetheless, I always feel better once Halloween is over. Thanksgiving is coming soon, but it ain’t such a big deal. Thankfully, Christmas and New Years are still a ways off, along with the miserable cold and snow of January and February. For about 3 or 4 weeks, it’s back to just plain weather and just plain life. And that’s just fine with me.