Thoughts on Halloween, by Someone Who Doesn’t Celebrate It

My family went to the local amusement park on Saturday, descending on the place en masse. It was me, my mom, 2 brothers, 1 sister-in-law, and 9 nieces & nephews running around riding as many things as we could before the legs gave out. The adults’ legs; the kids were good to go for another 6 hours. Anyway, the park was all decked out for Halloween with fog machines, red lights, and employees dressed as mummies, zombies, vampires, etc. At one point my sister-in-law and I, trying to find a particular roller coaster, were huddled around a map with two zombies and a vampire getting directions. The scene was so surreal, I started laughing. If only I’d brought my camera. “Surreal” and/or “amusing” is pretty much how I greet Halloween. It’s not a holiday my family has celebrated traditionally, so none of the spooky thrills appeal to me.

However, I do enjoy watching Halloween episodes of my favorite TV shows! I may not dress up every year, or go to Halloween parties, but I get a kick out of seeing what my shows do for the holiday. Usually it’s a chance to do something tongue-in-cheek, something out of the norm, just like in the real world. This year I’m looking forward to special episodes of Castle, The Vampire Dairies, and Eastwick. The Peanuts special – It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown – is another fun part of the festivities.

For the record, my favorite costume of the handful I’ve worn is the one where I tied strips of paper with participles printed on them to my hair. Get it? Dangling participles? English nerd humor at its finest.