Is Halloween spooky?

[LostKelp]

Now obviously, yes, Halloween is spooky, it's the spooky month with the spooky season where all the ghosts and ghouls come out to spook y'all and Crypt TV releases their 24-hour horror binge special and we all get to enjoy the horror shlock. But is halloween only spooky. In my expieneces with Halloween, which is sparse, 90% of costumes are stuff like cowboys or sexy chickens or background dancers in one direction songs or Jesus (I have had very specific experiences with Halloween) - None of this is remotely spooky, but it is Halloween. But if you made a special for Halloween where all your characters were dressed as cowboys Is that Halloween?

[Lensing]

I never understood that about Halloween in the USA.
When you look at the celtic origin of Halloween you see that it has to do with ghosts.
Karneval/carnival where you dress up whatever you want is a different celebration.
Karneval is more common in europe and since some years Halloween is celebrated too
but only the spooky stuff

[ShidoDraws]

My family immigrated from southeast Asia to live in the US. And I can say Halloween is weird but we were poor then so I guess it's free candies for the kids.

I'm an adult now and even though it was fun it was never scary. I think it's cause you're always in groups and we would discuss about fighting strangers if we had to. It was funny to think about then but the whole idea about meeting suspicious strangers is a lot scarier to me now. Yeah, costumes aren't scary.

Speaking about Halloween I do remember the clown event, I don't remember what year it was but I think that was the only year my family didn't celebrate Halloween. I think that was the first time I was genuinely scared of Halloween. Oh yeah, can't forget covid, that year was the second year we didn't celebrate Halloween.

[LostKelp]

Traditions tend to get boiled down to their most sanitized self for marketing and merged with other traditions to create a wider demographic. I doubt Halloween is only based on karneval, it has too much of a Dios de Los Muertos smell to it.

I think the shift from "dress up as a monster to convince the dead your one of them" to "dress up as iron man or Harley Quinn or insert character trademark here " feels a little bit corporate motivated, not to mention the whole industry around plastic lawn decorations and tuning everything under the sun into a Halloween costume.

[Lensing]

Halloween isn´t based on Karneval at all
It´s 2 different things. Halloween is way older celtic pagan thing and has to with ghosts,
Karneval is a dress up thing from medieval times. They are maybe connected but the original
tradition is Samhaim/Halloween

[TroyVSTheWorld]

Yeah I dunno how dressing up as Fred Flintstone is celebrating Halloween, but gimme the candy or whatever bro, its a holiday and holidays mean nothing in America except for a day off work

[IndigoShirtProd]

Except Halloween is a holiday where people still have to go to work, Like mother's day, father's day, and valentine's day, and st. Patrick's day, and most US holidays outside of Easter and Christmas.

[Iris-Grimoire]

Dressing as sexy something is so last decade. Repurpose that cosplay you have on the wardrobe from the last convention! Save on cash

Since I actually do yearly Halloween art, as long as it's got a spooky mood and fun costumes, I'd say it still is. The origins of dressing up is to scare/mislead evil spirits and intentions, so if you're dressing as something you're not, it kinda does fit...? But again, sexy something is way too basic.

[NickRowler]

So the origin of Halloween is a pagan holiday in which they believe the bridge between the spirit world and living world is open. Thus ghosts will pass through to our world. People wore costumes to hide from the spirits. And you hand out treats to people who come to your door because you don’t know if that person might be a spirit or ghost that will haunt you if you deny them a gift.

Now it’s mostly just a costume holiday. Kids trick or treat and do parades. Adults have parties. People watch scary movies probably due to the origin of the holiday being tied to ghosts and witches. Tho personally, I tend to prefer the more fall festival and cute/kawaii side of the holiday.

Tho unpopular opinion, I don’t understand why aliens get roped into spooky aesthetics. They always look out of place.

[AxemanRifflord]

I need to find some way to celebrate the holiday that isn’t something I already do year round.

[rajillustration]

Yeah, you're overthinking it. Halloween is both. There's the scary side of halloween where we confront our fears and tell spooky tales. Then there's the aesthetic part of halloween where we dress up, carve pumpkins, and sip on apple cider. That part also rocks. We aren't concerned about preserving the history or sanctity of halloween in any sort of way, it's a silly holiday that we know is silly, but we love it.

[Legendofgenii]

The nights are getting longer and the days darker. I live in a valley, so it gets misty in the morning and evenings and all the trees drop their leaves, so it does feel pretty spooky sometimes.

None of the Halloween tat scares me though. 🤡

My villain would be scary dressed in anything I think.

[DokiDokiTsuna]

I'm with @rajillustration on this one. There are lots of ways to celebrate Halloween as we know it today, in or outside of fiction, 'spooky' or not. As long as you have fun, they're all valid.

Personally, I like indulging in scary/creepy things during this season. I like to do that year-round, tbh, but it feels much more special around Halloween. The changing daylight and the cool weather give everything a nostalgic vibe~

[powerplantanimations]

I think when you're walking in a forest then yeh. There's some weirdos who post rituals. Even if they're just a bunch of edgy nerds that you could easily beat-up, the imagery is still scary.

[system]

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