# A nice article



## jdubbya (Nov 6, 2005)

Not the one I was looking for but a good read on the importance of Halloween.
There is another one that has been posted about why we need Halloween and the importance it plays in our community culture. I hope someone can find the link to it.

http://celestina.newsvine.com/_news/2007/10/29/1057817-why-we-need-halloween


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## Revenant (Mar 17, 2007)

Thank you, jdub. Thank you.


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## Hellspawn (Oct 13, 2006)

I copy/pasted one from last year and didnt save the link
I cut out the portion that deals with the Origin of Halloween, I can post it if theres anyone is interested.

*Why We Haunt*

Halloween Today
Commercial Halloween
Like other holidays, Day of the Dead and Halloween have developed into secular holidays, and acquired a crass commercial overlay. 
There are many who still remember and cherish the religious traditions of Halloween. But to most people in modern America, Halloween is just a time when kids can run through the streets in costumes, demanding candy and treats from their neighbors.

For adults, Halloween is increasingly turning into a time when they get to dress up and party.

Dia De Los Muertos
Dia De Los Muertos, the Mexican Day of the Dead, is celebrated November 1-2. 
Like other holidays, Day of the Dead has developed into a secular holiday, and acquired a crass commercial overlay. But private observance tends to maintain a lot of the reverence. Altars are sometimes set up at home to remember the dead. Visits are often made to graveyards, bringing decorations including flowers and decorated skulls made from sugar. It is not unusual to hold picnics in the graveyard, at the final resting place of ancestors.

Some Day of the Dead folk art uses skeletons and skulls in everyday scenes: wearing hats, playing instruments, walking the dog, getting married. It's a healthy reminder that death comes to everybody and you shouldn't worry too much about it.

Mexican sugar skulls come in all sizes. Many are decorated with colorful icing.

Those with allergies should be aware that a small quantity of egg meringue is used to held it together. You can find more information on Mexican sugar skulls at http://www.mexicansugarskull.com/mexicansugarskull/

Is This Healthy?
I'm not a psychologist, but I believe that it is very healthy for a culture to acknowledge death. 
Death comes to us all. We may dodge it from time to time, but eventually we will all die. Some people go overboard worrying about death. This is a waste of time and energy.

If you have to worry, worry about raising your children well. Worry about paying your bills. Worry about getting a better job. These are things that you can do something about.

But don't worry about death - there's nothing that you can do to prevent it. You can just delay it a little by trying to stay healthy. Instead of fearing death, mock it by celebrating Halloween!

Halloween also gives us a time to look back on our loved ones who died during the year and complete the grieving process.

Talking about why he haunts-

Most of my energy goes into haunting my house. By this, I mean making a simple middle-class home into something that looks creepy and haunted. So if I am making it look haunted, I am a haunter and what I do is haunting it.

We don't have a walk-through "haunted house". We don't build a maze for the kids to enjoy. We simply set up a tableau for people to walk past, look at, and enjoy.

The main attraction is a graveyard of about 20 tombstones, surrounded by a creepy wrought iron fence. The fence has five big stone pillars at the corners and every 16 feet or so. Crouching gargoyles sit atop the pillars. Inside the graveyard, you can sometimes see strange things, like skeletons sitting in a circle, telling stories. In the back, a translucent glowing ghost floats around. On top of the house a giant spider reaches over the porch, rearing up when trick-or-treaters approach. To the side, the roof of the garage serves as a clock tower, where the glowing purple face of a strange clock with 13 hours displays hands in the shape of spider and snake, rapidly running backwards.

Our haunt isn't intended to give anybody nightmares. We intentionally go low on the gore, with skeletons that look like they were bleached in the sun. The stuff that is really intended to scare does so by startling you - like the giant pumpkin that pops up out of a trash can as you approach the house. And we try not to trigger those for smaller kids. We also like to include elements of grim humor - like the animated dog that was digging up bones from the grave of Elvis.

Our haunt is a lot of work: advance preparation, setup, running it, teardown, storage, maintenance. It is also a lot of stress. I get restless and irritable. I don't get enough sleep. I worry. I suspect that I'm not that nice to be around. Other tasks suffer: I stop writing grumbles. Even when the first trick-or-treaters arrive, I am still making last minute adjustments or trying to set up one last prop. Finally, I give up, saying "It is what it is." About a half an hour after that, I start having fun.

This year was no exception, and during the stressful period before Halloween I read some e-mail

[1] from a prominent haunter that bothered me even more.

From: [email protected] On Behalf Of toyguy710

Sent: Saturday, October 23, 2004 11:09 AM

Subject: Hall: First complaint of the year

I guess I've been lucky in years past. I'd never had someone come pound on my door.

A neighbor, new to the area, stopped to let me know how my skull fountain display was going to permanently imprint on her young daughter's brain.

I kept cool and explained that I'd always had one in the yard, since 1999, and it was expected. Locals always ask where it's at when they see me decorating if I don't have it out soon enough.

I explained very politely that I understood her opinion but that it wasn't coming down until 10 pm this evening at its appointed time. I did concede that come the 29th when it's time to put everything back out that I'd put it farther back in the yard. I didn't mention what would be in its place so that it couldn't be there. Best to let her find out on her own.

The real kicker here is that there's multiple ways around this neighborhood. She lives on a street that allows her to go an extra 10th of a mile and arrive at any location past my house. She claimed that she has had to explain several of my props to her daughter but that she wouldn't be able to with this one.

Oh well. I can't please them all. I just hate to have even one person upset with me.

Better go dream up safe props for tomorrow. Ha!

Mike the

Toyguy

Toyguy got a lot of sympathy. I let it fester a whole day before I replied.

From: Jack of Shadows [wolfstone]

Sent: Sunday, October 24, 2004 11:32 PM

To: Halloween-L Mailing List

Subject: why we haunt - Toyguy, please read

I'm sorry that the new neighbor ruined your day. Please read my story...

Saturday, we were setting up the graveyard, fence, and pillars. We were almost done, just adding final touches when the neighbor from across the street came over to chat.

My neighbor was recently diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer. Inoperable. He will die, the big question is when. The small question is what will happen to him as cancer eats up his brain stem. The doctors give him as long as a year. He's a fighter, and may make two years. He wants to see his daughter graduate from High School. He will never dance at his daughter's wedding.

So, there I am, surrounded by styrofoam tombstones, next to a "stone" pillar made of masonite, looking over the PVC fence with plastic skull toppers from Toyguy. Across from me is a man doomed to an unpleasant and nonnegotiable end. His death is real. My stuff is fake. I feel like 12 kinds of ****.

I took off my work gloves, and reached through the fence to shake hands. My neighbor gives me a big smile, notes that we are hard at work again this year, and compliments our setup. His eyes are unable to properly focus on me. His handshake is strong and sincere. His smile warms my heart.

There are many reasons why we haunt. Sometimes I think of it as a present that I give the local kids. It is a way to revive the kid in all of us, and help people of all ages have a good time. For those who keep the Old Ways, it is a time to celebrate the end of the old year, and usher in the new. For those of several faiths, it is a time to reflect on our loved ones who have passed away in the preceding year.

But there is another reason to haunt. A reason perhaps more important than any of the others...

By haunting, we mock Death. We know that sooner or later, Death will take us. And neither poet nor priest, surgeon nor saint, truly knows what is beyond Death's door. Is it paradise or perdition? Is it union with the godhead? Perhaps there is nothing more, and like a candle flame, when we die, the flame is gone forever. We have theories and beliefs, but we don't know. Despite this lack of knowledge, with an instinct programmed into the very core of our being, we hate and fear Death. This gives it power over us.

By haunting, we laugh at Death. Every lawn mower attacking a man

[2] - is giving the finger to Death. Every bloody fountain - sticks a sharp twig in Death's eye. Every cannibal BBQ gives Death a hotfoot. Yes, the Reaper will come for us some day, but until that day, we fight Death. And our strongest weapon is laughter.

Perhaps your new neighbor tries to explain too much to her daughter. Perhaps she tries to explain away misfortune and death. How does your neighbor explain the daily newspaper or evening TV news? Can she completely insulate her daughter from the fact that bad things happen, and good people die? If she can, is it wise to do so? I think that it would be better for that girl to learn to laugh at Death through your haunt.

Tell the Reaper to bug off! Laugh at Death, and fight him for every life he takes.

Join me. Haunt on!


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