Last year I missed the Halloween extravaganza. Holed up in the Scilly Isles
with my family, a not-so-scary film and alcohol that actually tastes nice, I
had a lovely evening. I woke up the next day, as per ususal, to hordes of
pictures on my newsfeed of people with white faces, red lips and ridiculous eye
make-up, pouting at the camera (boys are included in this generalisation).
I found them scary, but for their lack of individuality. I imagine they thought themselves “fit”. This year I went out and experienced the drama first hand.
I found them scary, but for their lack of individuality. I imagine they thought themselves “fit”. This year I went out and experienced the drama first hand.
Halloween is a strange, and now essentially American,
festival. Consumerism in its bid to search and destroy all possible excuses for
unnecessary merchandise has grabbed Halloween by the horns. Unsurprisingly, costumes
have also been consumed. No longer do people wear long druid-esque robes and a
witch’s hat to reflect Halloween’s pagan history, but face paint, some
artistically placed fake blood and a skimpy outfit. Undoubtedly influenced by
Mean Girls (quoted in every Halloween related article on the internet),
Halloween is used, by some, as an excuse to dress like a slut. Obviously, this
doesn’t count for everyone –I’ve seen some truly scary Halloween costumes this
year. However, I wish people would be a bit more imaginative. Black cats,
devils, and zombies account for pretty much everyone at a party. Paris Hilton
dressed up as Miley Cyrus, perhaps slightly hypocritical considering Hilton’s
past outfits have been just as skimpy, but nonetheless hilarious. This year my
favourite costume has got be Moby Dick. She spent 7 hours making her whale
costume and though that’s a little too much effort for me, the idea was so much
more interesting than any other in the room.
Perhaps instead of donning yourself in fake blood yet again,
next year you might consider going as something that scares you: an old
teacher, a film character, a politician, a historical figure? The possibilities
are endless.
The whistling winds and strange shadows are haunting enough
for me without the reminder of how sheep-like our society is. I’m quite happy
to sit in fear of ghosts knocking on the door, armed with hot chocolate and my
trusty frying pan. Halloween has just become another excuse for a party and as I’m
at Uni, every night is a party anyway ;)
In case you were interested, I went as the thing you should fear
most: Room 101.
Photo credits: beauty.about.com; yahoo, famous.
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