More Than Candy

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Halloween provides something that other mainstream celebrations simply cannot. It’s something primal, dark, and mysterious within our very beings. It’s a sense of belonging in a world where, normally, we very much do not. And how fitting for a night when the dead are said to walk the land of the living?

While the regular folks will take off the masks, makeup, and costume when they get home, the Samhainist will probably try to wear it as long as possible. We want to soak up the special time as much as we can, because this is who we are! We are the children of the night! The ones that haunt the world! But, dear reader, I have a secret for you. The fun need not end when the sun comes up November 1st. Instead, we can keep the horror going all year round! For Samhainists, every day is Halloween!

And to us, Halloween is more than candy. It’s the dark beauty of an old Victorian house, where the ghosts never sleep. It’s the forest at midnight, where witches gather to perform their wicked rites. It’s the black night sky, speckled with stars and bats, and the very same moon that the werewolves howl at. Halloween is fantasy.

Halloween presents a prime opportunity to express ourselves. We get to stalk the streets or haunt a party like we really want to, free of the judgment that would come on any other day. Suddenly, horror and fear are celebrated in a manner that acknowledges the darker recesses of the human mind. In the mainstream western culture, this is the only day where this sort of thing happens in a mass collective. It’s sad, truly. Many are missing out on the wonderful clarity that comes with morbid territory experienced on a daily schedule. But perhaps, it’s actually better that way. After all, could they handle being in touch with such a dark and primeval force on such a regular basis? Probably not.

And these impulses, what of them? The desire and longing for trickery, just as equal-sometimes greater than- that for treats. The fascination with mischief and debauchery that follows the last day in October is a fascination, in itself. How interesting that on this particular evening, it’s socially acceptable to wear lingerie and mouse ears. But when else would they do it? In time for Christmas dinner? Of course not. Because All Hallows’ provides a freedom, a release, from the mundane and trivial workings of a wretchedly unimaginative society. Permission, granted by Jack-O-Lanterns, plastic bats, rubber rats, and sugary treats has been doled out to the masses, to act as they would if they weren’t within the confines of perpetual dullness. For one night a year, the veil of boredom is lifted, allowing for tomfoolery, ensuing pranks, and a whole lot of fun. 

However, the case is different for Samhainists. For us, Halloween is in every single day, upon every hour, until the moment of our expiration. We don’t wait around for the calendar to waste away to a single day. Instead, we bring October into the remaining eleven months of the year. We acknowledge the dark impulses that mainstream culture tries to forget, save for that Hallowed Eve. We take on the fearsome attributes of infamous monsters, imps, and devils. Because who else will? Who else is willing to make the point that death awaits around every corner, that life is fleeting, and that the candy never truly has to run out? Not everyday folk, that’s for sure. It’s the Samhainists, by name or otherwise, that choose to make life interesting by indulging their imaginations. This introduces a beautifully strange paradox. By living as a monster, we’re more human.