Why I've hated Halloween since childhood

Stephan Lütolf

27.10.2022

Translation: machine translated

Support: Luca Fontana

Pictures: Stephan Lütolf

Halloween left me with an early childhood trauma. But it wasn't monsters, mummies or ghoulishly carved pumpkins that disturbed me. It was my disguise.

Ghosts are prowling. Zombies shuffle along the pavements. Vampires crave blood. In return, they get lots of sweets. What's going on? Clearly: Halloween. Only I still associate it with a trauma. After all, I actually had to go from door to door as a cardboard box with pine cones on it when I wanted to earn my sweets... while Batman and Darth Vader stood next to me.

Warum ich Halloween hasse? Weil alle anderen Kinder die viel tolleren Verkleidungen als ich hatten.
Source: Stephan Lütolf

Behind the dressing up was probably my mother's strong do-it-yourself spirit.
Instead of commerce and buying, the rule was: make the disguise yourself. Just like in the "We have it already at home" memes. What was I supposed to represent as a cardboard pine cone child? I have no idea. I can't really remember anyway (repression!). But there's the proof on Super 8 film.

However, you can celebrate Halloween even if you are like me (traumatised and therefore) Halloween lazy: