This article comes late, unfortunately, but I don't call it retrospective for nothing. Keep this in mind for next year.
In the days of yore, the 31st of October was when the dead walked the earth and spirits mingled with the living. On the first of November, all the known monsters, witches, zombies, werewolves, demons, vampires, ghosts, imps, goat-men, hellhounds, blood-hawks and swamp creatures coalesced into one giant orgy of phobia. Humanity quivered in fear, concealed behind shut windows and huddled under blankets. Back then, the dead were equally venerated and feared.
It then became tradition to mock or impersonate said monsters by dressing up as them. All Hallow's Eve eventually was shortened to Halloween, and it seems that as the holiday's name was abbreviated, so too were the costumes. Or done away with entirely.
Nowadays, kids our age, if you want to call us that, don't care about costumes. Halloween becomes a day where, for the most part, we just put some half-assed attempt into our costumes. Boys usually show up dressed as something that they culled together from their limited wardrobes. And a lot of girls just find their shortest skirt and a revealing shirt. This lackluster effort is the recent theme of Halloween parties, and frankly, it's a damn travesty
Step back for a moment. I have absolutely no problem with scantily clad women. This isn't my internal chauvinist speaking here, either. I just know that I belong to an overwhelming demographic of men who understand that the adage 'less is more' can apply quite well to clothing. However, as with alcohol, board games and family reunions, moderation is critical. And while my threshold of tolerance for those who dress to impress is far higher than, say, Monopoly, there's still a limit.
I'm not on a crusade for decency, either - reading the previous paragraph hopefully clued you in to that. And boys are just as guilty for bad costumes. You can't just throw on a mask and expect results. If you were robbing a bank, then maybe, but not for Halloween.
That I'm looking to do is reestablish some of Halloween's former glory; honoring the dead, huddling in fear of the monsters that stalk the mortal plane. Or, heck, if you're not a fan of being devoured by hellspawn or chased by three-headed werewolves, I'd favor just bringing it back to the old days where costumes were mandatory and good costumes were expected.
I half-assed my costume this year, I'll admit. My disclaimer is that I had to wear a neck-brace because apparently something was wrong with my spine. A neck brace is a tough cookie to have for a foundation for a costume. But I tore up a laundry bag and turned it into a sling, wrapped my head and hands in bandages, and stole a crutch from the wall where it was ceremoniously hung to honor the last injury in my house. And blam: I'm an accident. I even sharpied in a little blood for extra effect.
It might not have been your paragon of costume jobs, but you could at least appreciate the work put into it. While hobbling from one house to the next, several cars actually stopped to ask if I wanted a ride. In this way, I wasn't that different from a lot of girls on Halloween.
Except I was wearing a real costume.
I'm not sure exactly how we got from a day where the dead intermingled with the living to a grand old costume ball to an excuse to lose clothes, but I'm guessing it's the same way that the birth of Christ got turned into a 12 day gift extravaganza with reindeers and senseless logging. In the end, we're a far cry from the original holiday.
This isn't to say there's not a secret unseen alliance of people who still labor to make Halloween a day of ingenious costume design. I understand through hearsay that the garment district downtown was packed this weekend. Also, Davis Square's own Buck-a-Book seems to have been replaced by a store devoted exclusively to costumes (like that'll last for another week).
Ever wondered why our mothers used to make or buy us kick-ass costumes? Aside from silencing our inane yammering, I am willing to bet that they were trying in a small way to relive the bygone days vicariously through us. So latch on to these final days of Halloween before you get too old to costume yourself.
Next Halloween, your costume should become your first and only priority. You should make your costume such that people are talking about it for months. Thanksgiving turkey should evoke vivid memories of your burn victim masquerade.
But then, what about the scanty dress-up aspect of the holiday? I'm not saying this has to go either. Let's just set aside a day and make a new holiday where this is required of us. On a day of month x, all of us will have to dress like a playboy bunny or a topless god of thunder or a loin-clothed Tarzan. If they invented a holiday solely for the benefit of Hallmark, then we can make up our own holiday as well.
Alex Sherman is a senior majoring in Architectural Studies. He can be reached via e-mail at Alexander.Sherman@tufts.edu.
