Halloween is changing costume?

[dropcap]W[/dropcap]e’ve all been to one of those Halloween parties where the slutty nurse ends up throwing up on the pavement and SpongeBob is passed out on the bathroom floor.

It’s that time of the year when you consciously buy too much candy because the offers are just “too good to pass.” It’s also the perfect occasion to purchase low quality costumes for exuberant prices (probably the same one as your ex’s new girlfriend) that you will only wear once. Halloween is now a 300 million pounds business and while the commercialism of this popular holiday is a relatively new phenomenon in the UK, it has been going on in the United States for a while now.

Indeed, Halloween is lived very differently nowadays than it was by past generations.

The American cultural influence, through movies and TV shows, has certainly a lot to do with it. Even the classic Halloween traditions such as pumpkin carving and apple-bobbing are drastically changing, the latter even being transformed into a drinking game “Alcohol Apple-Bobbing” where the apples float in an alcoholic punch instead of in water. This change can also be detected in the kinds of costumes we wear. Being scary doesn’t seem as important anymore and an increasing number of people tend to go for sexy of funny outfits.

However, even if the practices have changed, Halloween is still one of the most exciting and popular holidays of the year. Children look forward to all the candy, the dressing up, the scary stories and all the fun and games. Even their parents regain some of their childhood while participating in the festivities. Also, with the emergence of “Halloween Parties” young adults enjoy more than they did 20 years ago. For one night, we all get to play dress up without looking inappropriate.

On Warwick University’s campus, for example, you can hear Halloween’s plan being made exhaustive arguments of about who should go as Scooby-Doo and who should go as Shaggy (I assure you).

The only difference would be the kind of “treats” we consume: Mars Bars and gummy bears being replaced by tequila shots and Jägerbombs.

And rather than walking through the streets looking for candy, we’re looking for that lost friend who’s had one to many vodka cranberries.