Thread: Why Do YOU "Do Hallowe'en"?

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If you're a serious Haunter, you must have been asked a version of this question before. Why DO you "Do Hallowe'en"?

In my case, I never have been into Christmas. I'm not a Christian, and I would feel like a total hypocrite by putting up a tree, lights, buying gifts, and yaddah, yaddah. But then I got married and had kids. As they grew, I felt bad that they were "deprived" of Christmas and all of its trappings. So, to compensate, I started making Hallowe'en a BIG DEAL. Over the years it's gotten totally absurd, but, hey, it's a passion, what can I say.

But that raises a question; Why do you guys go Over-The-Top for Hallowe'en?

This is probably kinda selfish...but I want to be the house that children will remember all their lives. I've always given out big toys and gone over the top with decorating so that some day a mom or dad will tell their little TOT, "When I was a kid, there was this ONE house..."

I guess I just want to become the TOT's special memory.

I do it because when I was 5 I went to buy my costume with my mom. I was the youngest and the only girl my mom couldn;t wait to buy the princess costume. We went to the store, we looked at the box costumes, you know mask and jumpsuit type, she said how about the princess, or snow white, or cinderella, or raggedy anne. I looked up and said no I want to be the Creature from the Black Lagoon. She looked down at her shirly temple looking girl, sighed, and told the lady, we will be taking the Creature from the Black Lagoon. The lady said and for the young lady? Mom said that is for the young lady and then gave her a look like go ahead say something!!! I give my mom big props for that day, because I know it wasn;t what she wanted, but she knew that Halloween was about me not her. Its been my favorite day ever since!

Because it was my absolute favorite holiday when I was little. I loved the fun of dressing up - and I mostly made my own costumes starting at 7 or 8 years old. I loved the freedom and magic of running around at night, never knowing if a werewolf or vampire was right around the corner.

It was a magical time.

I can still recapture a little of the magic when we do our yard haunt. I love being THAT house in our neighborhood.

I am a graphic designer (so's the DH) and creating and coming up with new stuff for our graveyard and Halloween party is a great outlet for us. Neither one of us in mechanically inclined, but we more than make up for it in creativity - and it's been a great "hobby" for us as a couple.

I love it so much that I got married on Halloween. Thank goodness that my husband shares my crazy love of Halloween, cause I doubt I'd be able to deal with a guy that didn't think this was the most fun to be had all year!

Because if I don't the ghosts of all those audited by me will come and drag me, body and soul, into the abyss of the Hell of 1,000 Paper Cuts in a Lemon Juice Swimming Pool, where I shall scream in torment for eternity.



Seriously, one Halloween when I was little, going about ToTing, there was a Full Moon. Looked up at Her, and thought, "There's more to this day than candy...and I'm bound and determined to find out what."

And every day, I get a little closer to figuring it out. All part of the process.

I think it's 3 reasons for me.

1) My parents went though the uber religious phase and Halloween was then eeeeeeeeeeeeeevil so I had ot miss several years as a kic. I still give them flack and tell them it's their fault that I've gone overboard on Halloween now as an adult

2) As mentioned above I want to give the local kids a memory that will hopefully last well into their adult life. It's a very small bit of immortality but I'll take it. I've apparently also inspired several others on the block and the decorations are starting to pick up more and more each year now.

3) I like to see if I can build stuff just for the sake of building it. I've built a ton of props for pirate shows / renn. festivals and things like that. This gives me another reason to build a bunch of odd stuff.

From my blog:

Why?


Invariably, this is the question always asked of me.

For most, it's "Why Halloween"?

Simply put, there's no other single holiday I can think of that would accomidate the wide variety of opportunities as Halloween.

From research, to sculpting, to building mechanical devices, to acting, lighting, sound design, sets, scripts, and providing a willing audience, reliably, each year. No other holiday can boast such a thing.

There were 2 in the neighborhood growing up that played a huge influence as well.

First there was THAT GUY...

Still do not know who it was. But there was this guy...each year as a child, he would dress in ratty old clothes, covered in chains, and simply wander the street dragging the chains behind him. I was absolutely horrified as a kid.

Then there was THAT HOUSE...

I still remember it vividly. All lights out, spider webs covering the hedges out front. Strobe light shining on a coffin, from out of which would rise a mummy to chase you. I don't think I ever quite made it to the door at that house.

Of course, I quit Trick or Treating by the age of 8. My older brother being sick that year, my dad working, mom not wanting me to go alone, nor able to leave my brothers, I was confined to the house to watch "The Bat". Complete with 3d glasses we picked up promoting the thing. They didn't work. It sucked. I decided it was more fun to sit on the porch to hand out candy.

Mom came out to talk, and was just sitting there, not dressed in costume or anything, we had been talking. A couple kids came to get candy and commented on 'what a nice dummy you have there'. Mom looked at them, they ran, I was hooked. I wanted to become THAT HOUSE.

A school assembly that year also featured a jacobs ladder, blacklight, and tesla coil. Though I fail to recall what it was actually for. I saw the tools to make a mad scientist lab. And began asking Santa for them. I also came across liquid latex.

For the years from then till I got a car and discovered girls, our house became THAT HOUSE in the neighborhood. You would hear the kids walking up, "oh this is the scary house".

When I moved out, I had great expectations to begin doing my own house. We had one. Trick or Treater. One. Solitary. I did manage to scare the daylights out of some teens coming to smash the pumpkins, but for several years I tried, no trick or treaters. So, I resigned to returning to my parents neighborhood and being THAT GUY. Wandering the street at random, scaring kids.

I once tried the same at the in-laws neighborhood...a small neighborhood where everyone knows everyone and no one did anything of the sort. I scared em all right...but it was certainly not appreciated having a stranger wander around.

We moved out of that house July of 2004. The first thing I asked the new neighbors is how many kids come by on Halloween. I had found my home to finally become THAT HOUSE on my own. That first year was just me and "the biggest bowl of candy I've ever seen!" as one kid put it, a couple torches and some music. ~150 kids came by that year.

The display and traffic have both grown since, to a 400+ kids this last year, and who knows how many adults.

i think the only way I can answer this question at this point is by saying...take everything everyone else has said, roll it up into a big ball, dye it orange, slap a creepy grin face on it, shove a candle inside and call it HQ's JOL!!!

It's all those reasons and more. Its hard to describe the feeling I get when i think of it. I get a lump in my throat. My heart starts thumping a little harder and faster. I get an unrelenting restlessness. Its an unexplainable excitedness in the pit of my stomach. The very thought of Halloween triggers countless reactions throughout my being. I love it!

Originally Posted by HQ4ever

............................I get a lump in my throat. My heart starts thumping a little harder and faster. I get an unrelenting restlessness. Its an unexplainable excitedness in the pit of my stomach. The very thought of Halloween triggers countless reactions throughout my being. I love it!

My, if I didn't know better I thought you might be talking about a really hot guy.

(Sorry, I just couldn't help myself)

Why I do halloween:

1. It 's a night to dress up, escape reality for a bit and be a kid again.
2. I love to provide hopefully fun and long lasting memories for the kids.
3. It gives me a creative outlet. (accounting doesn't accomodate that to well)