Is Halloween Getting Annoying, Part III? Blame it on Rising Popularity



October 10, 2024 — The most repeated response I’m receiving to this “Is Halloween Getting Annoying?” series so far (besides “no”, god love you guys) is, “Who cares? Let people enjoy things.” And that’s valid. Of course, the equally valid riposte is, “I’m not stopping anybody from enjoying anything. I’m just writing thoughts.” I’m one of those people who can’t stop examining what he enjoys. It’s part of how I enjoy. Or how I find value in what I enjoy. Technically, everything can be enjoyed, so why do I enjoy this? Or That? Why do I enjoy Halloween?

But even the “who cares” folks cannot ignore the fact the holiday is getting bigger and bigger every year. Last year, spending on Halloween hit a record $13.2 billion dollars, which is the highest amount we spend on any holiday in this country save Christmas. It’s getting so big and valuable that even Ireland wants Halloween back:

 

Great, right? The more the scarier.

Wait. I meant that as a throwaway pun, but I might mean it literally.

Sure, popularity has its upside. More demand for Halloween means more supply of Halloween. More spooky merchandise, more scary events, more of everything black and orange. Like what’s happened with Marvel. We can certainly Marvelize Halloween.

But popularity has its downsides. Three come to my mind immediately (and it has to come to my mind immediately, because I’m writing these pieces on the fly), only one of which matters to me.

First, popularity dumbs down the thing, dilutes it, takes the risk out of it. That’s because as more people show interest, you’ve got to appeal to that widening group of tastes and ideas and desires. All your favorite pop stars are trapped in creating and performing what sells. You don’t think they want to take real artistic risk? Do something substantially different? They can’t. When it comes to Halloween, that’s how we get half-assed spooky pop-up shops and restaurants, pastel decor, and disingenuous social media content. You're looking to appeal to as many people as possible.

Popularity also brings commoditization. We become an audience segment to be targeted by modern marketing. Also retargeted. And dropped into a funnel. And plotted on a buyer’s journey. Every business and entrepreneur starts making t-shirts and buying licenses like we’re all marks. Throw a skull on something and we’ll buy it. They’re right, of course, but I hate that they’re right. Instead of kids innocently holding out trick-or-treat bags for candy its businesses greedily holding out wares for us to snatch up and fill our houses with. When oil is struck, it gets fracked hard, regardless of the damage. Halloween can get fracked, too. Frack that Halloween, man.

The third thing that happens is that popularity normalizes the thing. This one’s the rough one for me. The other two are whatever. But this one bothers me.

I’ve spent my life looking for the odd and the strange. By definition, the odd and the strange are not normal. That’s what attracts me to them. And I think that my love of Halloween is part of that love of the strange. But if everyone loves Halloween, if it’s widely accepted, that makes it normal, right? It’s a normal thing?

You could say Halloween was normalized long ago, of course. It’s been celebrated across the country for like a hundred years. And the dude who carves faces into turnips to scare off monsters during the Dark Ages would definitely say that we’ve already normalized it.

But there’s a difference between a fun party and the party where the fire marshal shows up. The concert where everybody’s dancing in the pit and the one where everybody’s getting crushed to death against the stage.

And I don’t want to gatekeep. At least in the modern sense of the term. Gatekeeping to protect something can be necessary and good. We should protect things. Even though, as I’ve said again and again, Halloween isn’t fragile. But that doesn’t mean it’s not breakable.

How do you protect Halloween from popularity? I don’t know. If I knew I wouldn’t be writing this series. Maybe keep to the fundamentals? The small moments? The intimate ones? The ones you don’t always post online or buy tickets for? Try to find new ways to celebrate that are in that spirit. Don’t always fall for the companies. Or the influencers. Or at least choose carefully among your companies and influencers.

Remember, Halloween is a celebration of death, and we all die alone, no matter how many family and friends your official press release claims are gathered around your bedside when the moment happens.

I really just need Halloween to be weird.

Part IV: Blame it on Spirit Halloween