Halloween Raver or Halloween Hater?
By Ali Trachta in Miscellaneous on Oct 28, 2008 8:05PM
In the midst of many Happy Halloweeners scrambling to find last minute costumes and the best deal on fun-size candy, today the Trib outed their crotchety counterparts - the Halloween Scrooges. Sure it's fun to get all gussied up, be someone else for the night and gorge on lots of sugary drinks and chocolately snacks, but sometimes we wonder if it's really all worth it. Isn't it really just a night out, but higher-maintenance? A lot of times Halloween is built up to be one of the most rockin' party nights of the year, but in the end all you have to show for it is a puked-on rental costume you can't return and a hangover. As Trib interviewee Alex DiGiacinto put it, "If you hate Halloween, people take that as an opinion that you hate fun..I like fun. I just don't have it on the 31st." In kicking our various Friday plans around the Chicagoist offices, we determined we have a love/hate relationship with Halloween hullaballoo. Should we get in the spirit and party hardy, or hole up in our darkened houses and whip water balloons at trick-or-treaters? Here's how our decision-making process went:
PRO: A chance to get your friends together and theme yourselves out in group costume.
CON: Being forced to dress as one of the Village People.
PRO: Super cute costume that outshines any party clothes in your closet.
CON: Freezing your ass off in it.
PRO: Your partner makes you dress up as Raggedy Andy.
CON: Your partner dresses up as Slutty Raggedy Ann.
PRO: Slutty Halloween costumes.
CON: Heightened sexual frustration.
PRO: The chance to be really inventive with your costume choice.
CON: Costume contests won by someone stringing single-serving cereal boxes together, dressed as a "cereal killer."
PRO: It's a good night for drinking.
CON: The drinks are usually something "Halloweeny."
PRO: Seeing some really creative costumes.
CON: Drunk people feeling obligated to try to be even funnier.
PRO: Free candy.
CON: Free candy.
PRO: Hiding under a mask for total hook-up anonymity.
CON: Not knowing if the person you're groping is butt-ugly.
The jury's still out.
Photo by fabbio.