Guilty pleasures: Halloween scares
Jill Leth
Issue date: 10/26/06 Section: Arts & Entertainment
When we first decided to do the column of guilty pleasures, everyone's first thought was chocolate. This column is geared toward the arts and entertainment, and chocolate has a very limited amount of entertainment. However, holidays, such as Halloween, can be a source of entertainment. And with Halloween, there is also chocolate.
When I was little, I loved to go trick or treating because I got candy, and was able to stay up past my bed time. That was the extent of the enjoyment. Now that I am older, I enjoy the holiday so much more, probably a little more than I should. It is not about the chocolate or staying up late, but those are added bonuses.
I also loved to watch Halloween movies when I was little. "Hocus Pocus," starring Sarah Jessica Parker, Bette Midler and Kathy Najimy was my favorite. I own it on VHS and it is now ruined from being overplayed.
The greatest pleasure for me about Halloween is the fear that is associated with it. One of my greatest Halloween memories is standing in line at a haunted house. There was a dead man with a baseball bat circling me, while a clown, like Stephen King's, "It," stared me down. My nerves were on end, and I felt a sense of accomplishment when I completed the haunted house. The fear that I had standing in that line gave me such an exhilarating thrill.
Halloween is often thought of as a holiday for children to dress up as their favorite superheroes and knock on neighborhood doors asking for treats. I am sure many children grow out of the stage in life where they loved Halloween. Not me, as I have grown up, I have grown more in love with the holiday. My enjoyment has nothing to do with the pleasure of dressing up or eating candy. Oddly enough, my favorite part is the terror associated with it.
When I was little, I loved to go trick or treating because I got candy, and was able to stay up past my bed time. That was the extent of the enjoyment. Now that I am older, I enjoy the holiday so much more, probably a little more than I should. It is not about the chocolate or staying up late, but those are added bonuses.
I also loved to watch Halloween movies when I was little. "Hocus Pocus," starring Sarah Jessica Parker, Bette Midler and Kathy Najimy was my favorite. I own it on VHS and it is now ruined from being overplayed.
The greatest pleasure for me about Halloween is the fear that is associated with it. One of my greatest Halloween memories is standing in line at a haunted house. There was a dead man with a baseball bat circling me, while a clown, like Stephen King's, "It," stared me down. My nerves were on end, and I felt a sense of accomplishment when I completed the haunted house. The fear that I had standing in that line gave me such an exhilarating thrill.
Halloween is often thought of as a holiday for children to dress up as their favorite superheroes and knock on neighborhood doors asking for treats. I am sure many children grow out of the stage in life where they loved Halloween. Not me, as I have grown up, I have grown more in love with the holiday. My enjoyment has nothing to do with the pleasure of dressing up or eating candy. Oddly enough, my favorite part is the terror associated with it.
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