In the midst of the credit crunch and with a recession looming over us, it's fantastic to see good that old fashioned British spirit is untouched and we remain true to tradition, albeit an American one with roots that actually begin with the Irish. This is a yearly habitual occasion that we kind of borrowed for the sake of commercial gain; trying to increase national sales of confectionary, fancy dress costumes, and fake blood.
Walking about the town I see adults leading their fully clad armies of dwarf Devils, midget monsters and vertically-challenged vampires moving from door-to-door. To be knocking on and if answered to, threatening a trick to be played upon the owner of the door should a desired treat fail to be presented. There were also Halloween soldiers that were clearly well into their teens, and with an air of intimidation about them. No parents holding their hands or telling them not to use an elderly gentleman’s vegetable patch as an open-air water closet.
There have been some impressive examples of home owners really getting in the spirit of the night of spookiness. One coating their front garden and windows in some cobweb-looking foam, hanging plastic spiders and rubber bats from the door frame. Surely an obvious target to obtain a large portion of confectionary treats from a generous homestead.
To the best of my knowledge, those that answer the door either have no idea what day of the year it is, or have a large packet of candy ready to hand for the nippers to devour in the sake of All Hallows eve. I’m sure many, like me just refrain from answering the door. This is by no means a demonstration of mean spirit. When you’ve seen some of the 12+ year olds that partake in the festivities, you’ll realise how intimidating it can be opening your front door to a horde of them.
I remember myself once partaking in the 'fun' of Halloween, never disrespectful enough to treat an individual’s property as a latrine. However I do remember one particular dwelling whereby a group of friends and me approached the door of a man of the cloth, which was unbeknown prior to knocking. We are greeted with words so bold and with little meaning to a 13 year old boy, each then presented with a Good News Bible and one penny. So shocked to have this presented to us we stood dumbstruck in silence and reluctantly accepted our little red books, containing selected tales from the Bible together with our not particularly shiny one pence coins.
The copper coin we were each given was taken completely inappropriately and we disregarded them as if money meant so little, together with a lovingly donated book of Biblical stories. The truth is we were ungrateful and had no belief in god almighty. With the best intention in the world this vicar’s effort was wasted on us.
With this in mind; that was a poignant moment from my youth proving to me that very little, if any of the meaning behind Halloween is lost in commercial greed and the desire of a possession craving society to gain something for nothing.
