A man rounded the corner at a local big box store browsing the summer shorts and nearly crashed head on into a seven-foot-tall, animated wolf with teeth, eyes and claws far more menacing than any Grimm fairy tale could conjure.
Summerween is Now a Thing
Across the aisle, rows and rows of Halloween costumes hung near the pineapples.
“What’s with all the Halloween stuff already?” the man asked an employee.
“Oh, we start displaying this stuff in early July,” she replied.
Halloween in the summer?
You bet; Halloween is bigger and bigger business every year, with many retailers selling everything from the silly and fun to the seriously disturbing earlier and earlier.
There’s even a name for it: “Summerween.”
Halloween by the Numbers
In 2023, Americans spent an all-time high of $12.2 billion on Halloween costumes, candy, food, decorations and more, including those 12-foot-tall skeletons that tower in yards all year long, donning Santa hats, Easter bunny ears and all manner of holiday wear.
Last year, moviegoers spent nearly $800 million on horror movies, with a considerable uptick leading up to Halloween.
This year, overall Halloween expenditures stand to decrease, due to inflation and economic uncertainty, but the spirit of Halloween is still alive and well…or, should we say, dead and haunting?
In My Day…
What was historically a religious day (All Hallow’s Eve, the night before All Saints’ Day), Halloween has changed considerably over the years.
Some of us are old enough to remember when scores of children raced from home to home trick-or-treating in the 1950s, covering huge swaths of territory from the moment school let out to well past dark. Nowadays, however, concerns about safety have diminished the number of trick-or-treaters.
Put up in October, decorations consisted of a few paper skeletons with movable joints and simply carved jack-o-lanterns with eyes, a nose and a few missing teeth. Today, pumpkins are true works of art created with all manner of precise patterns and tools.
Few, if any, of our neighbors’ homes and yards were decked out like the veritable haunted houses we see today, featuring genuinely terrifying animatronics (complete with strobes, blacklights, groans, screams and plenty of gore), some of which attract spectators from all over town. Parents, take note: such displays may be too frightening for younger children.
What’s the Appeal?
On the surface, it may seem strange that so many of us love a holiday that “celebrates” such ghoulishness. But underneath the masks and costumes, Halloween is scary good fun for several reasons:
- It’s a Safe Rush. Psychologists say that people love to be scared when they know they’re not really in danger. We love the adrenaline rush of being afraid without the fear of real harm. It’s also socially affirming to experience an emotionally charged situation with others. This goes a long way to explain why people willingly shell out their hard-earned dollars to be creeped out of their skin!
It Brings Us Together. In addition to the haunted houses, scary movies and other spine-chilling things that jump scare us into each other’s arms (or laps!), Halloween is a time rife with parties, whimsical treats (check these out), festivals and myriad activities that bring people together in the name of funky fun.- It’s Nostalgic. The history of Halloween is an interesting one rooted in religion and European traditions, but few of us alive today remember when it wasn’t a time for children to go about the neighborhood asking for candy and dressing up in various disguises. For many older adults, Halloween is an opportunity to bond with grandchildren or younger generations by sharing what October 31 was like when they were kids – and be a kid again themselves.
- It’s Fun to Be Someone – or Something– Else. In post WWII America, the most popular Halloween costumes were ghosts, cowboys, clowns, witches and vampires. (And those string-backed plastic masks that filled with sweaty steam at every breath!) Nowadays, the imagination is the limit, offering people of all ages the unique opportunity to explore an intriguing alternate identity, if even for a day. Deciding who or what to be for Halloween gets our creative juices flowing, and whether we opt for silly, funny, famous, cute, scary or macabre, dressing up is a socially acceptable way to express ourselves in ways we rarely can. Important note about Halloween costumes: 1) Avoid gory or frightening costumes around younger or more vulnerable people (and pets!); 2) do not culturally appropriate by adopting or exploiting other customs, races, genders, clothing, hair, etc. Read more about cultural appropriation and why it matters here.
- It’s a Most Wonderful Time of the Year. Even though merchandise sales begin mid-summer, actual Halloween falls at the perfect time of year. Autumn leaves are still boasting the last of their dazzling hues, the sky is a brilliant blue, summer’s heat and humidity has given way to cooler, crisper days, football (America’s favorite sport by 41%) has returned, a new school year is in full swing, and thoughts of the Thanksgiving harvest are on our minds.
Halloween at Collington
As a community, Collington celebrates with festivities for everyone. As individuals, residents love to express their creativity by dressing up themselves as well as their apartments, cottages and yards. More than anything, they enjoy the opportunity to have a devilish good time with family, friends and one another.
