Got Halloween ?

What is it about Summertime that drives us to think about Halloween ?

Raised by overbearing (to my estimation) Catholic parents, there was always a drive to “Christmas in July”, an event that was the "“thing to do” in our community. However, I never felt comfortable among these people; I never shared their belief, and often found my mind wandering either through implicit or explicit rebellion. There is probably other history and issues here which I won’t explore, but the bottomline was my takeaway from this was Christmas in July was about the “giving” to the community or the less fortunate. An article on WIKIPEDIA about Christmas in July, which they attribute to both the weather, and the fact there is no National holidays between the first week of July and Labor Day - which presents little marketing abilities to capitalize on… hence “Christmas in July” being headlined in stores. As Charlie Brown bemoans in Peanuts Christmas, commercialism ruins Christmas (ironic, since Coca-Cola sponsored the special).

But, Halloween isn’t really about “giving”, in a sense (as Lucy references in It’s The Great Pumpkin ), it’s all about the tricks or treats.. Well, from a kid’s point of view.

From a more religious angle, we can track the history back to the Celts and their Samhain festivals in October, when the belief the living and dead overlapped on October 31. As the Romans moved in, they adapted this to their festivals of Pomona, then came the Roman Catholics hundreds of years after with All Saints Day on the 1st of November, later creating All Souls Day on the 2nd of November to dress up and parade in costume. It wouldn’t be until almost 700 years later until the traditions as we see them today evolved.

Perhaps, then, it is less about the honoring of the souls as we learned criss-cross and applesauce on the scratchy green carpet during Sunday School, and more about the evolution of the holiday as it endeared itself to us in our youth. For me, Halloween was about the association of the haunts and creatures. The things that go “bump” in the night. Of course, the Peanuts and Garfield specials were a standard, but that is what made it extra special in the Fall.

Summertime was about when the new thriller would come to the drive in - and after that closed, the theater up the street. When my folks wouldn’t let me see the movie , most horror movies were rated R and this was too much for their sensibilities (mind you this is when the movie rating standards were less stringent than now), it was nothing to be able to sneak into a flick or visit a buddy’s house who had cable TV and parents who didn’t care what we were doing as long as it didn’t bother them.

This was the ‘70’s and ‘80’s when every other television commercial (we only had 5 channels) depicted the upcoming Nightmare on Elm Street, Mike Meyers movie,Poltergeist, or zombie flick. More often than not, there was limits on me getting out to see these - the best ones were out of range to ride my bike out to see when they came out. Summertime was also when I could stay up late and watch the old black-and-white movies of the ‘50’s that Stephen King mentions in so many of his books (noting that IT refers to more than a share of these. King refers to his journeying over long distances to see double features in On Writing).

I remember distinctly a whole summer somewhere in ‘80-’88 (it may have been longer) where 7-11 ran a special on Slurpees where you could get a pair of 3-D glasses with a purchase. All the families on my block bought up these glasses - some of us sharing between families. The draw ? Channel 20 was showing all these black-and-whites from back in the day - Creature of the Black Lagoon and the Crystal Skull come to mind. It was cool knowing that at that specific time that everyone you knew was coming together at that specific time to enjoy the same entertainment.

Maybe that’s it. The community. The togetherness. The nostalgia. Bombarded by Summertime media, it’s about that collective knowledge of what spooky movie is coming out over the Summer…wouldn’t it be cool to see it ? Indulge in that fear knowing that we will all , ultimately, be safe ? Sure, no candy is involved; But just a casual GOOGLE demonstrates numerous “Halloween in Summer” festivals across the country - there is a vein of wanton need of horror in American lives that has been tapped.

I think, given the way things have been over the last several months, we need some Halloween.

Right this very minute.