When a person hits a certain age and October 31 rolls around, they are inevitably told that “they’re too old for trick-or-treating,” or they are pressured by societal norms, making trick-or-treating simply not cool anymore. Those people usually end up turning to Halloween parties, whether it’s in a friend’s basement or at a Halloween event at a club. That is how the adults celebrate Halloween, right? Wrong. Why do we have societal norms for a holiday that was meant to be celebrated with fun games, tricks and candy? Throw it all out the window, get rid of those Halloween societal norms and just do what you want on Halloween.
Do you remember when you were little on Halloween and you could not wait to get home and put on your costume just so you could race out and start collecting as much candy as possible? What a great feeling, and there is no reason to rid yourself of that feeling. My mother used to speak about other parents in the neighborhood complaining about college students trick-or-treating in their neighborhood, but my parents would always give those college students candy with the mindset of “Who cares, they’re having fun!” The idea that just because those college students are older, all of a sudden they don’t like free candy is ridiculous. I do not care how old the person is, if someone comes to my door on Halloween in a costume, they are getting candy.
To be fair, however, Halloween parties can get crazy fun too. The first Halloween party I attended was my freshman year of high school and it is a night I will never forget. The feeling of walking into a dark room filled with smoke and skulls hanging from the ceiling sent a spooky feeling down my spine that was impossible to recreate any other time of year. Getting together with a group of people all decked out in their scariest costumes and just having some fun for a night can be a great time, so if your invited to a party, then go for it.
Moral of the story: Halloween is a day to celebrate, so do whatever you want. There is no need to listen to those societal norms about age and Halloween. If you have fun trick-or-treating, do it. If you have fun going to a party, then do that. So wear a costume, have fun, and soak in the Halloween spirit no matter what anyone says.
Written: Rick Esner
Photo: M. Poole
