Growing up, I loved Halloween. I didn’t have great costumes but I still got to partake in the fun. That was the glory of Halloween. Plus, my mom loved Halloween for all its spooky possibilities. She loved pranks and she loved horror films.  The movie Halloween was a home staple. Overall, Halloween was her thing. I truly have fond memories of those Halloween celebrations.

Fast forward a few decades and here I have a most awesome son who loves Halloween. He has been giddy for weeks with Halloween anticipation. Yesterday, we went all dressed up to a Dia de los Muertos (day of the dead) celebration. I looked a bit out of place in my Mad Hatter costume. However, my son was dressed up as Slenderman and got kudos at every turn.

While we have had fun dressing up, we also decorated the front of our house as my son wants to “jumpscare” people.  To him, Halloween is about jumping backwards from fear. You can’t just have a momentary scary feeling or thought. You have to be frightened to the point your body jerks. I like that my nine year old has defined what qualifies as frightful.
In that vein, we went looking around certain neighborhoods hoping to catch glimpses of wildly decorated houses. However, we didn’t come across many. We have been wondering where is the Halloween spirit.

When I lived in Washington, DC, we would go to many neighborhoods to catch the Halloween shows neighbors would put on. The displays were awesome. Here, in Los Angeles I have been underwhelmed by the Halloween spirit. I will admit though, I have huge candy bags by the doorway in grand anticipation. Let’s see what frightening things pop up today.