You can be anything you want. When you are scared silly, you squeal and laugh. You get to eat really good stuff that only shows up once a year. It is a fantastic excuse to throw a party. Yes, you are falling under the annual spell of Halloween and it feels wickedly wonderful.
As children, our imaginations would let us ride dragons through the clouds and fly bikes to the moon. The reality that we were just wearing costumes didn’t matter. Somebody behind us would belt out, “Boo!” We were spooked and tickled at the same time while we reached for another popcorn ball.
The grownups took care of party details and us kids enjoyed October 31 with the abandon that comes from being children with bags full of candy. When you think about it, that is the best way to celebrate Halloween in all its scary glory.
There are a few differences between now and then.
It is up to us to organize the celebrations, decorate the house and carve the pumpkins. Still, there is a familiar thrill to taping black cat silhouettes in the windows and draping cobwebs in corners. Propping up plastic skeletons on fake headstones in the front yard is loads of fun.
We get to choose our scary movies too. No one can tell us that we are too young for a flick about killer clowns who eat children or masked maniacs who slash unsuspecting neighbors. However, we do get to tell our own kids that, yes, they’re too young for this kind of psycho stuff.
We can play retro werewolves and howl at the moon in our backyards or pay homage to pop culture and walk like the dead at our favorite hangouts. However we choose to celebrate Halloween and its almost-terrifying traditions, we can always count on one thing…
We get to be kids again, and that always feels wonderful.