There was never really an age where I loved Halloween. I was terrified of anything remotely spooky until maybe age 13, and by that point the novelty of dressing up in costume had long worn off me anyways. I faked being sick on Halloween in 8th grade to get out of dressing up, and I haven't looked back since.
That being said, if there ever is going to be an age where I love Halloween, it is most certainly not 23.
When you're in elementary school, the goal with your costume is to be silly and cute. We were Power Rangers and Harry Potter characters and Buzz Lightyear and it was all endearing. Then you get to high school and college and the goal is to be sexy. The dudes are cops and greasers and basketball players and the girls are cats and devils and cats and everyone is clearly horny at the Halloween party.
But now I'm 23 and we've entered the age of post-modern Halloween costumes. Now the goal is to be clever. You have to think of something funny that doesn't make it seem like you're trying that hard and that nobody else would be unique enough to do and you have to somewhat subvert the idea of what a costume is to the point where every costume needs an explanation. Nothing is self-explanatory anymore. You have to ask everyone what they are because we're digging way too deep into the reference arsenal at this point. It's exhausting.
It's at least better than when you turn 40 and the costume theme becomes, "Genuinely try to traumatize preschoolers."
And I hate the idea of, "This is the night to be silly." I don't need my calendar telling me when to be silly. I'll be silly when I feel like being silly, which is quite often, and not because it's calculated and planned for a year in advance.
And I hate the fact that when you're 23 and it's Halloween you do the same things you do every weekend and go to the same bars and see the same people, except now you have a cowboy hat on, so everything feels different. Except it's not. It's the same cheap beer and crowded dance floor and long bathroom line. You're just in a onesie. I just can't find a way to get myself excited about the sales pitch, "Remember what we did last weekend? Yes, we're going to do that again, but in wigs."
And I really hate the fact that if you're reading this and you like Halloween, then you have been thinking to yourself, "God, this man is such a party pooper," for the last two minutes. We accept that some people just might not enjoy Valentine's Day or St. Patrick's Day or even Fourth of July, but the minute you say you don't like Halloween, the vibe police roll around and lock you up for being anti-fun. Call me crazy for not wanting to spend that time or money or energy brainstorming ideas and pulling together a costume and making it look perfect on the day-of so my friends can see me and go, "Haha, nice."
The age I will love Halloween is probably 32. It will be fun to do all of this with kids. That I can look forward to. Until then, I'll probably make October 31st my laundry day.
Reading this on 2023 Halloween, it's an interesting article. I think I can relate. I didn't prepare costume, but feel it's fun watching my colleagues in costumes. I get slightly embarrassed when I was asked "where is your costume?" --maybe because to me it sounds like asking why are you not fun. I prepared some candies but no kids come by tonight. I feel disappointed, then feel it's unnecessary to feel so- or unnecessary to prepare anything and go through this.