Happy Halloween!
So today is Halloween and I have to say, I am amazed at how much Halloween has changed since I was a kid. Back when I was a kid, Halloween was not what it is today. Though we certainly celebrated it back then, it was a little bit less commercialized. Namely in the fact that Halloween decorations weren't what they are today, though leaps and bounds in technology is sure to advance things greatly.
Back then, decorations mainly consisted of cheap plastic bats, spiders and skeletons. People would carve their own pumpkins. And going all out meant you added plenty of fake webbing and had one of those tapes with haunted house sound effects or the Ghostbusters theme.
Today, the decorations are about on par with stuff you'd find for Christmas. The cheap decorations are still out there but there are plenty of premium decorations. The same goes for costumes with some people working year round to make their own, much like convention cosplayers.
But I think the biggest difference is that there are now Halloween lights, much like Christmas lights. Then you see people combining that with synchronized music and it makes you kind of wish Halloween was a little bit more than a charming little affair back in the day. But then you look at all the flashing lights and go, 'Well, that's a bit too much and not as scary as walking the dark streets.'
Now as a kid, I trick or treated until the 8th grade, which in these parts was the last grade at our elementary school before being shipped off to high school. In that time span, I had many costumes, many being the store bought variety with a vinyl vest and a cheap mask. Some of my costumes over the years included a G.I. Joe (Grunt from the look of things), Frankenstein, a Pirate, Donatello, a hunter. None of them were what you would consider mind blowing but they were still fun costumes as a kid and naturally rode the wave of popularity of what was in. I remember the year that T2 came out how many Terminators were out and about on the streets, just as you see many movie inspired costumes these days too.
For many people, Halloween has now become their favorite holiday, but for me, Christmas will always remain #1. Though I enjoy the slutty costumes that most teenaged girls and up enjoy wearing, the scary movies, the sugar rush from inhaling candy like crack cocaine and the general atmosphere of the holiday, my favorite part of Halloween remains the fact that once it's gone by, Christmas is less than 2 months away and the next big holiday (sorry Remembrance Day!) for us Canadians.
Though today, I will enjoy Halloween for what it's worth and continue to watch this marathon of old Universal movies which to this day still puts to shame all the remakes and re-imaginings of the classic movie monsters.
Back then, decorations mainly consisted of cheap plastic bats, spiders and skeletons. People would carve their own pumpkins. And going all out meant you added plenty of fake webbing and had one of those tapes with haunted house sound effects or the Ghostbusters theme.
Today, the decorations are about on par with stuff you'd find for Christmas. The cheap decorations are still out there but there are plenty of premium decorations. The same goes for costumes with some people working year round to make their own, much like convention cosplayers.
But I think the biggest difference is that there are now Halloween lights, much like Christmas lights. Then you see people combining that with synchronized music and it makes you kind of wish Halloween was a little bit more than a charming little affair back in the day. But then you look at all the flashing lights and go, 'Well, that's a bit too much and not as scary as walking the dark streets.'
Now as a kid, I trick or treated until the 8th grade, which in these parts was the last grade at our elementary school before being shipped off to high school. In that time span, I had many costumes, many being the store bought variety with a vinyl vest and a cheap mask. Some of my costumes over the years included a G.I. Joe (Grunt from the look of things), Frankenstein, a Pirate, Donatello, a hunter. None of them were what you would consider mind blowing but they were still fun costumes as a kid and naturally rode the wave of popularity of what was in. I remember the year that T2 came out how many Terminators were out and about on the streets, just as you see many movie inspired costumes these days too.
For many people, Halloween has now become their favorite holiday, but for me, Christmas will always remain #1. Though I enjoy the slutty costumes that most teenaged girls and up enjoy wearing, the scary movies, the sugar rush from inhaling candy like crack cocaine and the general atmosphere of the holiday, my favorite part of Halloween remains the fact that once it's gone by, Christmas is less than 2 months away and the next big holiday (sorry Remembrance Day!) for us Canadians.
Though today, I will enjoy Halloween for what it's worth and continue to watch this marathon of old Universal movies which to this day still puts to shame all the remakes and re-imaginings of the classic movie monsters.