And not for the reasons that most Christians do. In fact, I hate it not for any religious reason at all.
My daughter is fearless and curious. This year, with the proliferation of Halloween decorations everywhere we go, Sadie has been exposed to some very frightful images. Since she is curious, she examines and is fascinated by every single one. And, in the daytime, she is fearless. BUT, for the past month, she's been waking up every night, sometimes in tears, because of nightmares. I am convinced that this is due, in large part, to the Halloween decorations. There are gruesome, blood-covered, disembodied heads and arms meeting us at every retail turn. There are jack-o'-lanterns with vicious, vacuous smiles and adult-sized mummies with creepy eyes peering between the wrappings that lunge toward the unsuspecting when triggered by motion sensors. There are vampires and witches and I even saw some sort of flying skeleton ghoul at Albertson's last night.
Note to retailers: This stuff really isn't "fun," people!
It seems like this is a lot worse than when I was a kid. I was a cowardly child who had nightmares about the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland, but the decorations in everyday settings around Halloween nowadays seem to go beyond the silly Disney frights and into the realm of real terror. I could understand these realistic depictions of our subconscious bugaboos in adult settings, but these truly horrifying "decorations" have found their way into kid-friendly places like The Little Gym, Sam's Club, and, as before stated, the grocery store.
I can hardly wait until November 1 and another ten-month respite from the ubiquity of annoying and frightening Halloweenisms. Bring on the Christmas decorations!
1 comment:
I really am with you on this. Halloweenm when I was a kid, was GREAT! Slap on some face paint, throw a blanket around your shoulders, and put on some fake teeth and you were a hobo-ghost-vampire and proud out it. Now, it's another annual budget buster happening on the heels of the most important holidays to this country - Thanksgiving and Christmas.
And I think this is the reason so many cotumes have become so terrifically gory - the yuppie tradition of competitive self absorption - always having to outdo the neighbors.
We'll have fun this Halloween - no doubt about it. But our display will be limited to pumpkins and a happy little sign that reads, "trick or treat", in green and orange lights.
However, I would like to create a grave marker to display on my lawn that reads: "Resurgam" in a nod to our bodily resurrection. Always a way to bring Jesus into it...
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