Cute Halloween Sucks. Scary Halloween Rules.
Around October 1980, the year my college roommates and I dressed as the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, something insipid crept into my favorite holiday. For the first time, I noticed nauseatingly cute teddy-bear witches and glittery, gentle ghosts for sale, alongside more traditional items like vampire fangs, Frankenstein makeup, and mummy costumes. Disneyland, 2023 The incursion of cutesy dreck and sanitized silliness into the celebration of my favorite holiday has not lessened. Three years ago, I had the misfortune of being at Disneyland during its annual Halloween festivities. Mickey jack-o-lanterns were everywhere. “Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party” was a thing. Even my favorite attraction, the Haunted Mansion, which was the only reason I went in the first place, seemed cutesy upon reevaluation. Before you start humming "The Monster Mash," I want to remind you that Halloween originated as a Celtic celebration, when the ancients lit bonfires and wore costumes to wa...
