Hey, hey, it’s October 28,
and I am exactly 64 and a half years old today!
Today is my half birthday, with six more months to the wonders of being the big 6-5!
Wow!
Time sure has flown. It seems like it was yesterday that I was getting my costume ready in preparation for Halloween.
What a big day that was when I was a kid, not just for me, but for all the other kids who were that young at that time.
Today, no matter how you slice it, Halloween is ho-hum, and that is because we adults confiscated the holiday from the kids beginning in the 1980s and 1990s and really haven’t given it back.
What was once a real kids’ holiday is now an adult holiday too … and it just has taken the life out of Halloween.
And we do live in a different world today, so Halloween is not just a time of fun, but a time where you have to be ultra-careful.
Sure, you had to be careful back when I was a kid too. I remember one year, my sister got an apple filled with pins for a “treat” from an elderly woman who must have been senile.
We knew exactly who gave it to my sister, but back in those days, you just tossed it out and forgot about it.
Today, that woman, even if she was 100 years old—and she might have been for all I know—would have been arrested almost on the spot.
But today, you have to be careful not only about the treats you get, but also about the environs and who may be lurking around waiting for you.
It has become a scary occasion both literally and figuratively, and the fun has been sapped out of Halloween.
And last year … well, with the pandemic, Halloween was canceled by many municipalities, so you would think that this year would be special for the resumption of the holiday … but no, the air has been taken out of this year’s celebration too, what with the inoculation for kids ready to go—
“Hey, kids, get your treats, and then get your inoculation right on the same day!”
Yes, that makes Halloween such an attractive day, doesn’t it?
In my neck of the woods, even though our house has been dressed up every year by my wife for the occasion, we don’t get anybody coming to our door at all, but since Halloween is on Sunday this year, my wife has told me to buy some candy anyway, just in case.
And I know that we will be stuck with it, just like we always are.
At this point in my life, the things that bring back the fun of the holiday are the songs that celebrate Halloween, whether purposely or not.
Here is a top-dozen list of Halloween songs, and again, some of them are directly related to the holiday, others are on the list because they are creepy and fit the holiday.
So, in no particular order, here is my Halloween song list:
Bobby “Boris” Pickett and the Crypt Kickers – “The Monster Mash”
John Zacherle – “Dinner With Drac”
Warren Zevon – "Werewolves of London”
David Bowie – "Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)"
Screamin’ Jay Hawkins – "I Put a Spell On You”
Turtles – “Grim Reaper of Love”
Cliff Richard – “Devil Woman”
Jack Marshall – “The Munsters Theme”
Vic Mizzy – “The Addams Family Theme”
Ray Parker Jr. - "Ghostbusters”
Fifth Estate – “Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead”
Donovan - "Season of the Witch”
And to make it a baker’s dozen …
Meat Loaf – “Bat Out of Hell”
I am sure I missed a few, but those are the songs that conjure up ghosts, goblins, monsters and the old days of “trick or treating” for me.
And once Halloween is over, we are right at the start of the so-called “Holiday Season,” what with Thanksgiving, Hanukkah (both three days apart this year!), and Christmas in our sights.
With all that is going on in our world, maybe those days are currently even scarier than Halloween ever really was.
Today is my half birthday, with six more months to the wonders of being the big 6-5!
Wow!
Time sure has flown. It seems like it was yesterday that I was getting my costume ready in preparation for Halloween.
What a big day that was when I was a kid, not just for me, but for all the other kids who were that young at that time.
Today, no matter how you slice it, Halloween is ho-hum, and that is because we adults confiscated the holiday from the kids beginning in the 1980s and 1990s and really haven’t given it back.
What was once a real kids’ holiday is now an adult holiday too … and it just has taken the life out of Halloween.
And we do live in a different world today, so Halloween is not just a time of fun, but a time where you have to be ultra-careful.
Sure, you had to be careful back when I was a kid too. I remember one year, my sister got an apple filled with pins for a “treat” from an elderly woman who must have been senile.
We knew exactly who gave it to my sister, but back in those days, you just tossed it out and forgot about it.
Today, that woman, even if she was 100 years old—and she might have been for all I know—would have been arrested almost on the spot.
But today, you have to be careful not only about the treats you get, but also about the environs and who may be lurking around waiting for you.
It has become a scary occasion both literally and figuratively, and the fun has been sapped out of Halloween.
And last year … well, with the pandemic, Halloween was canceled by many municipalities, so you would think that this year would be special for the resumption of the holiday … but no, the air has been taken out of this year’s celebration too, what with the inoculation for kids ready to go—
“Hey, kids, get your treats, and then get your inoculation right on the same day!”
Yes, that makes Halloween such an attractive day, doesn’t it?
In my neck of the woods, even though our house has been dressed up every year by my wife for the occasion, we don’t get anybody coming to our door at all, but since Halloween is on Sunday this year, my wife has told me to buy some candy anyway, just in case.
And I know that we will be stuck with it, just like we always are.
At this point in my life, the things that bring back the fun of the holiday are the songs that celebrate Halloween, whether purposely or not.
Here is a top-dozen list of Halloween songs, and again, some of them are directly related to the holiday, others are on the list because they are creepy and fit the holiday.
So, in no particular order, here is my Halloween song list:
Bobby “Boris” Pickett and the Crypt Kickers – “The Monster Mash”
John Zacherle – “Dinner With Drac”
Warren Zevon – "Werewolves of London”
David Bowie – "Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)"
Screamin’ Jay Hawkins – "I Put a Spell On You”
Turtles – “Grim Reaper of Love”
Cliff Richard – “Devil Woman”
Jack Marshall – “The Munsters Theme”
Vic Mizzy – “The Addams Family Theme”
Ray Parker Jr. - "Ghostbusters”
Fifth Estate – “Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead”
Donovan - "Season of the Witch”
And to make it a baker’s dozen …
Meat Loaf – “Bat Out of Hell”
I am sure I missed a few, but those are the songs that conjure up ghosts, goblins, monsters and the old days of “trick or treating” for me.
And once Halloween is over, we are right at the start of the so-called “Holiday Season,” what with Thanksgiving, Hanukkah (both three days apart this year!), and Christmas in our sights.
With all that is going on in our world, maybe those days are currently even scarier than Halloween ever really was.
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