Home in Halloween

I’m not quite sure where my obsession with Halloween began. I have loved the spooky season as far back as I can remember. The sights, the scents, the scares and more. So many positive memories in my life involve Halloweentime. Maybe it was the witch in Wizard of Oz, maybe it was my love of movies like Beetlejuice at an early age. Whatever the reason, I have no regrets. I truly love Halloween. I’m one of those people who has Halloween decorations up inside my house year round. Our Christmas tree is black and covered in Halloween and Horror ornaments. Yes, I even make Santa’s season a little spooky. I can’t help myself! His shadow is Krampus, after all!

Halloween is a safe space for me. It’s therapeutic everytime fall rolls around and I can truly be myself. Be it skipping through a pumpkin patch, hopping on a hayride or heading to Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios, I’m in my zone. I’m too content in my happy place to be concerned about everyone else and my terrifying social anxiety. The spooks and screams of Halloween pale in comparison to the terror of my own mind. I had a hard time making friends but when it came to Halloween, I could be a social butterfly. Floating house to house echoing trick or treat like the words were made of magic. I loved dumping my treats out with my brother and going through all of our goods, trading and dumping off what we didn’t like on our parents. It was always sad when it was over, and I think that’s why now I try to make Halloween last as long as I can. To me it’s a day of magic and I deserve more than just one day of magic, we all do!

I can look back and think fondly of so many Halloween costumes from tiny toddler black cat to Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz to more recent antics like being Annabelle, the possessed doll. I still go all out every year as if I were still that grade school kid, giddy with absolute excitement. As a kid, I loved showing off my costumes in the school costume parades. As an adult, I’ve showed of my costumes at the WeHo Halloween party/parade/carnaval with the same gusto as my grade school self. Halloween is the time of year when you can be anyone your heart desires. A favorite movie star, a spooky ghost, a zombie, maybe even Mario or Luigi. It doesn’t matter what you choose because it’s Halloween and you can let your imagination go wild. Even as adults, there’s plenty of ways to still have fun and experience the magic of Halloween.

I love to bake in the fall too. Not just spooky cupcakes and cookies but pies and cakes of all sorts. Homemade spiced donuts and apple cider remind me of Halloween growing up. Every Halloween in the afternoon my mom would fry up the most delicious donuts and coat them in cinnamon sugar, warming up cider all day in the crock pot. As an adult, I love to have themed nights where we watch a specific spooky movie and theme the food to it. From spooky pizzas to witch finger pretzels and graveyard brownies, I can’t get enough creativity in the kitchen. Every year I try (and succeed) to outdo myself too. Even when things are tough through the year, I always have Halloween season to look forward to. Every year it creeps in a little sooner, and I’m one of the people who don’t mind at all. In my heart, Halloween is every day any way.