Elise Wennberg—Staff Writer

HALLOWEEN. FREAKING. SLAPS. OKAY?

No matter what age, gender, or how swamped with schoolwork you are, there is always time to get free candy. 

Okay, maybe that isn’t true. But who doesn’t want free candy, an excuse to watch some scary movies, and a reason to dress up, whether it be letting out your inner closet nerd, you’re not-so-hidden nerd, or just throwing on a jersey and calling yourself a hockey player?

Halloween is a holiday for all ages, be it for children who are excited to dress up as their favorite superhero, teenagers who want to dress up as their favorite superhero, and adults who, yes, want to dress up as their favorite superhero. Sometimes the elderly will even flex their muscles and pull out their Superman costume…though not everyone wants to see that. 

When I was six years old, my family of five took a trip to Disney World. I don’t remember it well (at all), but I do remember wearing a Belle dress from Beauty and the Beast. I was obsessed with her. 

I think my obsession was because the princess didn’t fit into the “maiden in distress” trope. Whatever the reason, I loved that dress and meeting Belle was the highlight of my trip. 

I don’t know if it was the dress or actually meeting Belle, but I felt powerful. 

I wore that costume the upcoming Halloween, displaying my tiara and fake gold shoes. I was walking royalty.

Halloween gets a bad rep when it comes to the Reformed Church. I was shocked to learn that people in Sioux Center do not celebrate Halloween. It seems like such as loss for kids. 

There is concern regarding Halloween because it originates from the pagan Celtic religion and druidic priests. However, most people view this as mere folklore or long past dead traditions that people do not practice anymore. 

October 31 is also known as All Hallow’s Eve, which is known as the night before All Saint’s Day (November 1st), which takes place the day before All Soul’s Day on November 2. The word Halloween actually means “hallowed eve,” and is celebrated as a holy evening by the Catholic Church. 

It is important to note that these holidays and events are not the same of Halloween but share similar practices and gave birth to what Halloween is today.

There are people in the world who see Halloween as a way to praise Satan and celebrate darkness, but those who love Halloween for its Westernized traditions are purely there for the entertainment values.

Halloween also brings a sense of nostalgia. Naturally, dressing up and running around with friends is a huge part of the holiday, but a lot of the fun came after the tricking and treating: the Great Candy Exchange. 

Once everyone settled, stripped some of their layers off to cool down, and chugged a glass of water, bags of candy dumped into piles on the floor commenced the trading frenzy. Sometimes this process proved more difficult depending on who I was trading with…especially when it comes to my brother, who shares a similar taste in candy. 

“I’ll give you three of my Twix’s if you give me two of your Reese’s!” 

“…Okay. I’ll give you another Reese’s if you give me your blue raspberry Airhead.” 

“What?! No way! I only got one!” 

“Do you want my banana Laffy Taffy?” 

“No, give them to dad,” (my dad has a weird love of banana flavored candies, especially the banana Runts).

But all rules were off when it came to parents. They had free reign over all the candy, which made me take out my favorites and hide them. I learned pretty quickly that all was fair in candy and war. 

The lesser wanted candy was then put in a community bowl for the whole family to eat. I tried to make my candy last for at least a month or two, although with my intense sweet tooth, it sometimes proved a difficult feat.

The stigma that follows Halloween should have long since passed, as it is not a day of evil, but of fun, maybe some mischief, and enjoying time with friends and neighbors. 

It’s a commercialized holiday giving people a reason to dress up, express themselves, decorate the yard with giant blow-up pumpkins, carve real pumpkins, or have skeletons pulled out the closet and onto the porch — all while pigging out on candy. 

So, in conclusion: candy slaps, dressing up slaps, and being with friends slaps, meaning Halloween freaking slaps.