Peace On That

A very religious friend of mine once said that there was a spirit in everything, Music, movies, traditions and motives all had a spirit. We got into this when we were talking about me going to a haunted house. For him, Halloween represented a Pagan celebration and Christians should have nothing to do with it. To him, Halloween had the spirit of the devil associated with it. He said the same thing about horror movies and movies that had witchcraft in them. He is the type that would never see Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings.

Now, speaking as someone that loves a good horror flick, I find it hard to give up Halloween. As a child, I couldn’t wait to see Dracula or the Werewolf. I love Harry Potter and I thought Lord of the Rings was the best trilogy ever made. So what does that say about me – someone that does believe in God?

I’m not sure if it says anything. I find horror movies to be a good source of mindless entertainment. As a kid, Halloween was a good source of candy and an excuse to dress up like Speed Racer. Most kids couldn’t care less about historical or religious aspects to Halloween. I’m sure there is a biblical scholar out there somewhere that could find a reason why we shouldn’t celebrate Halloween, but I wouldn’t buy it.

I recall as a child that my grandmother was not that crazy about Halloween. But it never stopped us from handing out candy and going to collect a few bags of it from our neighbors. And a haunted house – is there anything more thrilling than a good haunted house? Maybe a good rollercoaster, but that’s about it.

Now, since I have a three year old in the house, I can’t dress up as the hunchback of Notre Dame, but there will be a jack-o-lantern in the house and I’m going to find a good haunted house. At some point this month, I’m going to do a top ten on the best Halloween monster. I don’t know much about the history of Halloween. But my history tells me that Halloween means trick or treating, costumes, black cats, bats, haunted houses and a two-day bellyache. Now, outside of Christmas, what holiday is more fun that Halloween?