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We have entered what late stage capitalism calls the “Spooky Season”. It’s that period between September and November 1st that used to be just called “autumn,” but now it’s all about selling you as much candy and as many kids’ Halloween costumes as Amazon can ship.
A generation ago, Halloween was a fun, day-long event. Maybe the kids would wear their Halloween costumes to school on trick-or-treating day, but the whole affair only lasted 24 hours. Today, Holiday Creep (the process by which the holidays become increasingly involved and intense) has transformed Halloween into an eight-week affair that takes over our pantries, our closets, and our decor. As a mother and as a human being, I am exhausted by everything!
So, who benefits from a fun, one-day vacation and a long-awaited marathon? I do know some Halloween enthusiasts who are only too happy to participate in the extended festivities. And I love that for them! I love that these Halloween happy people decorate their houses with skeletons on September 1st and watch horror movies until November. What I don’t like is how our consumer culture pushes me, someone who isn’t obsessed with Halloween, to do the same.
In this country, the so-called “fear economy” (which refers to all aspects of Halloween-related spending) is huge! Statistics Canada tells us Canadians will now spend $1.8 billion dollars celebrating Halloween in 2024. In fact, Canadians are now outspending Americans on our Spooky Season spending per capita. That’s a lot of costumes, candy, and pumpkins we buy!
To see these spending statistics in action, just visit your local Dollarama. As you peruse the aisles, notice how many bloody hands you can buy to decorate your front porch and the cornucopia of Halloween candy you can choose from. From the time you see the length of a wall dedicated to Halloween accessories for pets, you will realize that no one likes to consume Halloween products like a Canadian!
So, is all this Halloween-themed loot really necessary? The answer is no… and yes! Anecdotally, I can tell you that my child has attended “extra” trick-or-treating nights hosted by our community since she was a baby. Additionally, my daughter has been asked to wear a Halloween costume to school, to soccer, to her co-curricular drama classes, and to a children’s party at our downtown Toronto condo building.
For friends of ours in the suburbs, Halloween is even more challenging! They are called to parking lots the weekend before Halloween for “Trunk or Treat” events, where kids literally pick candy from the trunk of a car. Halloween has become so much bigger than one night, and Canadian consumers spend to accommodate that extra celebration!
Last year I had to buy a second Halloween costume for my kid because I know from experience that a single Jack Skellington ensemble from a Spirit Halloween pop-up can’t withstand the wear and tear of half a dozen Halloween feet. And of course, when your kids’ friends decorate their houses with more spiderwebs than there are in the catacombs of Paris, it’s hard to resist the allure of buying your own holiday decor.
But who really benefits from this extra spending (and the extra spending)? Sure, kids have fun fishing a Mars bar out of the trunk of a random person’s Toyota, but is this the kind of magic that makes long-lasting childhood memories? I have my doubts. But what I am positive is this: the ultimate winner of Halloween holiday creep is consumer culture. Every year we spend more and more money on cheap costumes and plastic pumpkins that are sure to end up in landfill because many of these items are not built to last! Sure, all this consumption is in the name of throwing a fun Halloween, but it’s also obscene.
I’m not sure how to put the proverbial lightning back in the bottle where Spooky Season is concerned; However, I believe in my bones that this day was more special when it was, well, a day. A single day when the world felt a little scary (in a fun way), and kids ran the streets as little superheroes and fairy tale characters for one night only.
Let’s reclaim the calendar and make Halloween the short festival it was always meant to be. Say no to all the extras – they’ll just end up in your local landfill!
The post Late-stage capitalism ruins Halloween in Canada appeared first on rabble.ca.
