The Haunting hour is near once again. Time to dust off the decorations and costumes and get your weight in candy only to give out half of it to trick or treaters. Though I usually feel that out of all holidays. Halloween is the one that has changed the least. The holiday is simple to understand. Wear a costume go to houses in your neighborhood and get candy. How about we get into the spirit of Halloween with looking at a few traditions of the holiday. But before we do that let's dive into the history of this holiday.

Halloween is a holiday that was created by influences from different kinds of celebrations in Western Europe that were Christianized such as the fall festivals in western Europe when it was time to harvest the crops. As well in some parts of Europe as a festival to celebrate the dead where the population is mostly Celtic that celebrate Samhain which is a festival that marks the end of the Harvest season and the beginning of winter. Even though trick or treating has been recorded at the earliest of 1895 in Scotland. However the Halloween we know today only really started in the early 1950's to where it is today. 

So now that we know the history let's start with a childhood favorite and probably most of us have participated in during our grade school years.

The School Costume Parade



When we look back at the school costume parades we were in it usually was a fun and easy excuse for us to wear our costumes all day. It usually was a day of little to no school work and a way to get in some early trick or treating in around some of the classes in some schools. Then after lunch everyone in costume was lined up and was soon paraded around the school with parents on the sides of the halls and parking lot taking pictures. Then at the end of the day go home and get ready for trick or treating. It makes a good memory and was worth it as a kid.

Now how about we move on to another Halloween tradition that brings life into a holiday of spooks and chills?

Halloween Parties



If your not near anywhere for trick or treating or you are a bit too old to go trick or treating there usually is a Halloween party near by or maybe your family is having one is the next best thing to trick or treating. It usually was for adults or older kids who didn't want to trick or treat but have a good time. It usually is that the early part of the party was for kids then later was for adults and older kids. As adults now this is usually a go to for fun on Halloween. You still got candy ether way and sometimes even more then you would when you went trick or treating as a kid. Overall enjoyable for any age from being a kid to being an adult.

Now let's go from laughs to some real scares with this next tradition.


Haunted Houses/Hayrides

  

Halloween has always been about spooks and frights and nothing does that more then Haunted houses and Haunted Hayrides. Who wouldn't want to be scared on Halloween? But which is scarier? Well it usually is based on personal preference. If you are scared of close quarters. But want to be scared then a Haunted house. If you are afraid of what is outside in the dark where anything can jump out and grab you then Haunted Hayrides is the choice for you. Ether way though you are bound to get scared. I usually like haunted hayrides more. Because the environment is natural and genuinely more frightening and leaves more room for creativity with the amount of open space to put in an extra scare or two. This is one thing that is usually a must do for Halloween.

How about we shift gears to one of the biggest traditions of Halloween.

Trick or Treating


The costumes, The Decorations and the sound of feet as kids are going from house to house saying those three magical words "Trick or Treat" this tradition still remains a staple to not only to today's generation as well as the future generations to come. It will always be with older generations as a great memory even though we are on the other side of the holiday. However over the past few years things have slowly changed sometimes for good such as heightened awareness of people putting blades or needles in candy along with for the worse with the health food craze leaving some areas with little to no candy to the changes that really don't matter such as teens and young adults trick or treating later at night. Though it is nice to know that even with small changes this tradition has mostly stayed the same and probably won't go anywhere anytime soon. 

If you can't Trick or Treat or go to a party? How about a movie?

Scary Movies



What's better then trick or treating or a Halloween party? Almost nothing else. However this comes close to it. Curled up with a bowl of popcorn or candy as you watch scary movies such as Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, Hellraiser and Chucky or even a B rated horror movie with friends to just make fun of to have a good time. The thrill of seeing scary films is a great way to get into the spirit. The best way to watch them is in the dark where the only light is the dim glow from the TV. The rush of fear and thrill creeping down the back of your neck as it slowly runs down your back as the build up to the jump scare reaches it's peak leading to the scare itself as you scream and jump in fright hiding under a blanket. Probably one of the best feelings to feel around this time of the year as well as anytime of year.


Well with that this rounds out Halloween for the start of The 90's Holiday Trilogy. Next month we tackle Thanksgiving. Now I shall leave you with this one of my favorite Halloween ads ever.

And remember Live Life and Live Nostalgic also Happy Halloween.