by Peggy Robin
Halloween has been one of my favorite holidays since I was a little kid (even though it scared me then!). I still decorate the house with pumpkin lights, flying bats, and spiders, and I rush to the door to greet each little trick-or-treater with candy and effusive praise of their costumes -- even those I can't make head or tails of. I love them all.
And you know what else I love? Complaining! And if there's anything to find fault with about this holiday, I'm on it. So here's my pet peeve for this coming Halloween: too many over-used monikers. If I see one more Halloween party called "Spook-tacular" I will scream! Well, screaming is what you are supposed to do for Halloween, isn't it? So on top of the scream, let me add a Bronx cheer.
Are pets involved in the party? I guess it must be called Howl-o-ween. But really, can't anyone come up with anything else?
Having the kids over to decorate pumpkins? So you must be having a Pumpkin-Palooza -- but wouldn't it seem more special if you could come up with a fun, new name?
I could go on, but you get the idea. Everyone in America by now has gotten the idea. I'm by no means the first to point out how overworked these terms are. In such an august publication as The Atlantic, a journalist took the matter seriously enough to seek out the earliest appearance in print of "spook-tacular"...and he came up with a venerable date: 1897. That's several decades before the term "trick-or-treating" came into common use (1927). Read it for yourself:
Want even more useless facts about Halloween words and customs? Here's an up-to-the-minute piece (10/1/2024) from the marketing blog, DriveResearch, about what's popular this Halloween and how it compares to Halloweens past: 15+ Fun-Sized Halloween Statistics [2024]
Here are a few of the more intriguing factoids from the article:
- Up to 97% of Americans will be giving out Halloween candy.
- Up to 94% of Americans are planning to celebrate Halloween in 2024
- 47% of people wear costumes to celebrate the day
- Spending for Halloween 2024 is expected to reach $11.6 billion dollars.
- Spirit Halloween will open 1,525 new locations this fall.
About that last statistic... If you don't already know, Spirit Halloween is the largest of the seasonal stores that pop-up about six weeks before October 31st and vanish as if by magic in the first week of November. It's one of the fastest growing businesses in America, usually found in one of the otherwise vacant spaces that once was a big-box stores, bringing the location back to life, if only for a while. For a deep dive -- and an entertaining and seasonally appropriate one -- into the world of Spirit Halloween, I recommend the latest episode of the podcast 99 Percent Invisible, all about Spirit Halloween explosion:
Definitely worth a listen. Added bonus: If there's ever a vote on who has the greatest voice in radio, the winner by rights should be the 99% Invisible host Roman Mars (and he should win some kind of award for the magnificent name, too!)
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Still Life with Robin is published on the Cleveland Park Listserv and on All Life Is Local on Saturdays.
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