The rise of Halloween in the United Kingdom in the last decade, to nearly mirror its popularity in the United States of America, has been remarkable. As a child of the 1980’s and 1990’s, one did mark the 31st October in the home with sweets, supposedly horror themed movies and, if you were lucky, some games including bobbing for apples in the local scout hall. You’d expect one or two groups of trick or treaters in the evening who you may or may not indulge. And that was about it. You’d look forward to 5 days later with greater relish as Bonfire Night came round.
The roots of Halloween are mired in controversy although many strongly believe it is derived from a Celtic pagan festival to welcome the coming of the winter and the dead. This makes sense to some extent given that it stands on the cusp of seasonal change when the trees had shed their leaves and the earth was barren. It also explains the obsession with pumpkins. In the past Christians took the period as a time to abstain from meat in a similar way that Catholics do so on Good Friday and they, in Northern Europe, opted for items like the pumpkin instead.
But, as stated, there was an ambivalence about it in the United Kingdom. Yet somewhere along the line, Halloween has become a far livelier event and a business. One wonders why?
Primarily although not immediately obvious is a change in British cultural attitudes.
Buried deep in previous generations of people in the United Kingdom was a fear of the body corporeal and satanic practices stemming from the country’s traditions as a Christian nation. There was also lower life expectancy so, as a superstitious nation, there was a reluctance to celebrate Halloween which reminded us we are mortal.
Longer life expectancy and a rise in those identifying as atheist or agnostic now means many in British society are not bothered by dressing up as flesh eating Zombies or wryly celebrating mass murderers in Hollywood movies. Halloween trades in fantasy and that is a commodity people increasingly enjoy. There is a line. Recently a bunch of British men were seen on the streets of Amsterdam in late October all having misguidedly dressed themselves up as Jimmy Savile, complete with tracksuits, headbands and cigars.
Maybe it is all about taste but any taboos that might have existed in previous eras have now, like ghosts, vanished back into the night.
That’s perhaps why we have crossed the Rubicone with steady ease in a short space of time. However, there are other practical reasons not exactly hidden in plain sight.
Interestingly, while Halloween used to be perceived to be for children, the adults have definitely now embraced it whole-heartedly. One need only visit a town or city centre on a Saturday or Friday night either on or near Halloween to see that. There’s typically men and women aged from about 18 to 50 dressed as Zombies, ghouls, Vamps and chainsaw murderers.
There is a simplicity about Halloween which means the stress in preparing for it is minimal. You don’t send your friends and family cards or presents as one might at Christmas. It does not involve the planning or the shopping that, if in a romantic relationship, comes up at Valentines nor the sense of disappointment or low self-esteem if one isn’t.
Yes, you might feel honour bound to have a party in your home which takes planning and resources but the trend seems to be for going out instead. So, when it boils down to it, the only real effort would appear to be window dressing and costumes, two things which get our creative juices flowing.
It taps into our sense for the theatrical and our sense of humour. Oh, and there’s copious amounts of alcohol to be consumed.
Yet while not wishing to underestimate the British lust for partying as being a key driver in the phenomenon, are there other societal factors behind this?
During the last decade, there have been three features in society which have been inescapable for the majority.
Firstly, austerity which is more specific to Britain in particular. The very nature of it might not have hit us all in the pocket but it has had a damaging effect on social services. With Brexit coming on the back of it, Britain has become a divided mess and how else could we cope when the clocks are changing and the temperatures dropping? Much like Valentines on the other side of Xmas, Halloween has become an opportunity to embrace a fantasy ideal and not engage with the humdrum existence of day to day life. How else better to avoid thinking about the state of the union than to dress up like a George A. Romero monster?
The second factor that is looming large is the Climate crisis. Ironic given all the plastic tat that is produced for one night only but there is a feeling in ever decreasing sections of society, that some dare not contemplate what lies in our future. Why wouldn’t people take this frivolous free pass for one night off?
Thirdly is the transformative effect that the Internet has had on our lives. Using social media, coordinating a Halloween night out is seamless but look at the selfie obsessed culture that has evolved. Halloween, with all the make-up, the outfits, the props, the lighting and the pumpkins. Instagram was made for an event so visually striking. Yet perhaps the Internet had reinvigorated Halloween in a less obvious way.
Pop culture, courtesy of the Internet, will live forever. All those films of yesteryear, many being cult, were imagined lost or rare to see yet people have uploaded these images and videos to the archives online. Within a few clicks, one can normally summon up a long-forgotten film or television series.
Thirty years ago, the horror genre in the movies was on the back foot. The glory days of British movies starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee were long gone and Hollywood’s brief obsession with post-Modern horror had descended into video nasties. The Horror genre was considered to have become a cheap product.
Yet, courtesy of the likes of Blair Witch, lots of remakes and Asian cinema, it has come back to the fore. That, partnered with a reverence for the older horror movies caught on the Internet has rebooted Halloween.
No other event is so reliant on tales and stories, primarily now movies.
There is a behavioural side to this. Human beings like being thrilled and scared. We embrace regulated fright hence the existence of Thorpe Park and Alton Towers. We want to be intrigued and engaged by fright and excitement much the way we do about sex. The Horror genre in film is the closest to pornography what with Dracula seducing and penetrating young nubile women on a regular basis.
And this is where Halloween has become sexy. Women freely dress up for the occasion to amplify their chests while men happily throw out their own in some scratched Zombie act of theatricality.
So is it essentially about sex and alcohol? About highs that the human condition enjoys?
Well it is. When you think about it beyond the E-number sweets and the paraphernalia. It rose up in a Pagan society and has now risen once again in similar fertile ground because religion is dying and we want to be superficially frightened, drunk, sexy and flamboyant.
Halloween is easy to market – how the heck they’ve marketed Guy Fawkes being hung drawn and quartered for challenging religious genocide as a night to remember is eyebrow raising.
Athon 