Halloween All Around

Halloween, which is an approaching holiday, stems from a Celtic festival to ward off evil spirits. The Celts believed that during this time, the boundaries between the world of the living and that of the dead often got blurred. That is why they celebrated the festival because they believed that the ghosts of the dead came back to earth. However, now we celebrate Halloween by dressing up and going trick-or-treating. While some of us may still dress up, we also attend parties with dancing and singing. 

Furthermore, ghosts were not welcome, and people used to dance around large fires to scare them away. Now we dress up as ghosts and watch scary movies. Our most popular Halloween movie is Hocus Pocus; yet our most popular Halloween candy is M&Ms.  

Every year we love binge watching scary movies and gorging on candy, but it is also a dangerous time of year. Across America, crime rates increase during Halloween. There is an increase in drug and alcohol abuse and domestic violence. 

On a brighter note, our schools here in Calloway County do an annual door decorating, and teachers truly go all out. Many teachers highlight the importance of staying safe, while others highlight the joys and fun of this exciting holiday. Many teachers take their own time and money to decorate their rooms and make it a fun and festive environment for all students who enter. Some teachers take a colorful and happy approach to their decorating, and some take a darker spookier approach. All of which are festive and fun to put up. 

However, as quickly as it comes Halloween soon leaves. All decorations get put away and the candy is no longer around. The cool and colorful scenery soon turns colder and white, so we enjoy the color while we can. We go from a spooky season full of laughter and screams to being thankful and caring. As fall changes to winter we welcome in the Christmas decorations and the thoughtful gifts to follow.