League of BOB Challenge #1: The Halloween Spirit

Today I am here to talk about Halloween, or something related, as are three other of my peers who have blogs, as per our agreed-upon weekly assignment. I suggested the topic because I thought by this time of the month we'd have things to discuss regarding the holiday, like trips to corn mazes, haunted houses, or even watching scary movies. Sadly none of that has happened yet for me, and I'm finding that half the month is already over and it doesn't feel like Halloween is near at all.


Yes, that's right, I'm going to talk about the LACK of Halloween spirit this year. As much as I wish it weren't true, another year will have gone by and I will have spent the night of the 31st in front of the TV flipping between candy specials on the Food Network and Degrassi reruns. Last year I didn't even get to hand out hardly any candy because for some reason there was just an underbundance of trick or treaters. And yes, I just made up my own word. If I were 16 or even 17 I'd be trick-or-treating with a group of friends, but I feel like I'm past my prime at 19 years old and a sophomore in college who still lives at home. But it's not just about Halloween day - I'm fine with not having a extravaganza party with costumes galore, as long as I get to do fun things during the month, too. And quite frankly, that isn't happening. Work, school, and other obligations have taken over my weekends, eliminating any possible time to partake in spirited activities that only happen during October. I know there's still time left, but fitting anything into my schedule (and coordinating with others') will be a challenge.

Nevermind the things I can't DO this year, what about the lack of Halloween spirit in general? My family still hasn't taken the trip to pick out pumpkins for our porch, the annual neighborhood boo-gram apparently isn't happening, and I have not yet seen any fake arms dangling out of the back of people's trunks while driving around town. The only decorations I've seen anywhere around are in our house, and even those become unnoticeable after you've looked at them for a week. Not to mention I keep seeing green leaves, ON TREES, when we should be raking dead ones into crunchy piles for jumping into. I'm still wearing short sleeve shirts most days, and I should be wearing hoodies. I remember when we went trick or treating in 8th grade at my house, it was so cold it snowed and we had to make an emergency run back home for gloves and extra jackets!

The weather is confused, as am I, about where everybody's enthusiasm has gone. I don't even get $5 Halloween t-shirts anymore because I'll be the only dork wearing one anywhere in this state unless it is the day of Halloween, and even then it's a close call. And I haven't even MENTIONED what will happen this year because the holiday happened to fall on a Sunday again. To anyone who's not LDS, the rescheduling of traditional activities due to religious doctrine or whatever is really annoying. But I won't get into that.

Where is all the candy corn???

What I'm trying to say is that holidays aren't just supposed to be celebrated in 24 hours. Halloween to me takes up all of October, but I'm not feeling like anybody else cares anymore. I guess if I went back to watching the Disney channel, I could get a little more out of the Halloweentown movies (Kalabar's Revenge was the best), but there will still be an emptiness in my heart where apple cider aromas and zombies chasing me through parking lots after Thriller should be. Friends: Save me from falling deeper into the pit of despair. Show me there is still Halloween spirit around. And listen to this kickass version of the Nightmare Before Christmas song.

You might need to turn up the volume