To a procrastinating perfectionist like myself, Halloween is a nightmare, and not just because of the tacky decorations resurrected each year in every corner of the country. It’s nothing against plastic spiders and fake blood. I love a good scare, whether it be a horror movie or a good haunted house. What I hate about Halloween has nothing to do with the nature or traditions of the holiday – it’s the planning that the night requires.
As a kid, Halloween stressed me out more than the timed multiplication quizzes we all had to take in elementary school (I know you know the ones I’m talking about). Whether I was dressing up as Alex Russo from Wizards of Waverly Place, complete with a ratty black wig from Walmart, or hand making a devil costume that I would eventually wear to my weekly CCD class, to the horror of my ultra-religious teacher, my costumes had to be perfect. Combining the desire to look as hot as a 10 year old possibly could with the need to be accurate to the character, mixed with my mother’s insistence that we buy costumes a size bigger to layer a jacket underneath on Halloween night leads to pure panic in the eyes of an adolescent.
Now at 20 years old, my mom isn’t dictating my Halloween wardrobe as she once did, although she has a few choice words to say on my costumes now – mainly “yikes” – but the freedom can feel overwhelming. Not only do I have to find the perfect costume for THREE NIGHTS in a row – thanks college culture – but I also have to deal with figuring out what to do on each of those nights. Which friends want to do something each night? Are we planning group costumes? Where are we going? What am I going to wear? As an obsessive planner who prefers to not have to be responsible for everyone’s plans, I get stuck figuring out the logistics all too often.
My proposal for Halloween? Give me a theme to dress up with. Even better, don’t give me an option and force me to dress up as something specific. I simply cannot handle the pressure of choosing a costume out of limitless possibilities. Also, do not judge me for a crappy half assed costume. The idea of Halloween is cool but blowing all my money on costumes I’ll only wear once is not.
In conclusion: someone else can be the head of the Halloween planning committee and I’ll be happy to sit and let everyone else figure it out – just don’t forget to keep me in the loop.