By Louis A. Zona
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – I never expected that Halloween would become the favorite holiday of most young people.
It is hard for me to believe that younger people are now placing Christmas behind Halloween. Maybe it’s because Halloween is all about partying and less about singing “Oh Holy Night.”
How in the world could a holiday even exist around ghosts and goblins and bags of candy?
When I think back on my favorite holidays as a child, I recall Halloween leading the way toward Thanksgiving and Christmas, but it was hardly a significant event on my calendar. But I can see that children would be drawn toward anything that elicits spooky themes and subjects.
Even as I share my somewhat negative commentary about Halloween, I think of events and amusements centered around films that scared me – like the classic “Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein.”
That particularly popular movie from the 1950s scared the pants off me! I remember my neighborhood friend Ricky begging my mother to let me go see that film with him. Eventually my mother said yes.
When Frankenstein first appeared on the screen, Ricky and I were on the floor hiding behind our seats. When we compare films of that vintage with today’s digitally assisted ones, we wonder how Abbott and Costello could ever scare two little boys from New Castle so badly that they hid behind their seats, peeking at the movie through the space between the seats while kneeling on the theater’s floor.
Of course, I cautioned Ricky not to mention our reaction to the movie for fear that my mom would ground me for a lifetime.
I wonder what is in our DNA that makes us enjoy being frightened. I assume that it is related to the thrill that we get on a roller coaster.
I also believe that candy plays a role in the success of Halloween among kids. Every type of candy imaginable is waiting for these cute little people to grab.
When I was a kid playing with my buddies in the old neighborhood, the parents were frustrated that we ignored the curfew of “when the streetlights are turned on.” So, they decided to create a fictional character called “The man with the suitcase” who would place kids in a suitcase never to be seen again. We believed it. In my mind, I can still see us running away from this made-up character.
I once had the honor of visiting the famous New York City apartment building known as The Dakota, which is home to many celebrities as well as the late John Lennon and legendary conductor Leonard Bernstein. Also living there was Boris Karloff, the star of numerous scary movies – particularly as the monster of Dr. Frankenstein.
In speaking to the apartment building manager, I was told that on each Halloween, Mr. Karloff sets out a bowl of candy for the Halloweeners and on each Halloween the candy in the bowl is left untouched. Even out of character, Boris Karloff frightens every kid in The Dakota.
Of course, one cannot mention scary movies without mentioning Bela Lugosi, who can scare your socks off when his face appears on the large screen.
A popular figure during Halloween is Count Dracula, who is based upon a real person (Vlad Tepes, aka Vlad the Impaler) who was known for his cruelty toward his enemies. For example, seeing that an opposing army did not take its head gear off to honor him, he had those helmets nailed to their heads. He was cruel beyond words.
The character of Dracula in movies, who drinks blood and lives in a dark coffin, is the product of Hollywood movies.
The name Halloween stems from the Christian event All Saints Eve, which is the night before All Souls Day. Christmas is based upon the birth of Jesus and is a far more holy event in Christianity.
I am in the category of Christmas lovers. There is just something truly special about those timeless hymns that touch our hearts and minds.
What’s better than Christmas Eve or Christmas morning? Nothing that I can think of or measure.