First off and most importantly, Happy 11th Anniversary Linda! We got married on Halloween (I dressed as a Groom, I can’t remember her costume exactly — oh yeah! “Beautiful Lady in a White Dress”). Now we very much appreciate that kids get free candy and that people dress up on our special day. You guys are great! Also, I love all costumes, including the scary ones. The New York Times recently showed us parents and school districts who disagree. To me this is offensive. Oh, and also how this relates to video games.

I love Halloween. I love the horror, the terror, the chance to be handy and clever and most of all, I like the fantasy. I don’t write childrens books because I want to be a child or even what I would have wanted to read as a child, I write them because there’s a lot more freedom for fantasy and creativity in that marketplace. Simplify the plot, keep the writing tight and let your keyboard/brain connection go. I love Halloween because it’s all about the fantasy.

That’s not for everyone, I guess.

Guns, daggers and other toy weapons have long been excisedfrom costumes at many school celebrations on Halloween. But in some classrooms across the country, the interpretation of what is too scary — or offensive, gross or saddening — is now also leading to an abundance of caution and some prohibitions.

In a school district in Illinois, students are being encouraged to dress up as historical characters or delicious food items rather than vampires or zombies. In Texas, a school has issued suggestions for “positive costumes” for the annual Halloween dance.

At Riverside Drive, a Los Angeles public school in the San Fernando Valley, the Halloween parade is being defanged right down to its jagged fingertips.

A memo about costume appropriateness sent home recently by Riverside Drive’s principal made the following points:

¶They should not depict gangs or horror characters, or be scary.

¶Masks are allowed only during the parade.

¶Costumes may not demean any race, religion, nationality, handicapped condition or gender.

¶No fake fingernails.

¶No weapons, even fake ones.

¶Shoes must be worn.

1. Almost all make sense I think. Fake guns and knives don’t bother me and there are sad Jedi for sure and I think we can all agree with the not making fun of handicapped people, no gangs, and sure, shoes are a must! That’s all cool. I have no problem banning any Catholic hispanic females with fake fingernails and wielding a plastic knife while dressed as the wolfman wearing Cripps colors and wearing a Sarah Palin mask. That’s just not “postivc” and I agree with that much.
2. But nothing “scary?” Really? What day is this supposed to be again? Come on! No mummies (cheap costume), Jokers, werewolves, Mr. Hide… no vampires? In this era of Twilight and time of Dracula? No Frankenstein!!!  I can see why they’d ban zombie and gore stuff, we’re talking Elementary School – but but but nothing scary? That sucks.
3. Being a fruit or a veggie is all well and good – I can see that working out nice at an adult party “We’re Local Organic Produce!” – and I admire well done costumes of all kinds (my wife was once the Schoolhouse Rock Bill, while I was Conjunction Junction) – but nothing scary? Ridiculous!

My daughter Maggie agrees. After a string of cuteness, she’s finally – sigh – growing up. Panda Bear – Clown – Little Red Riding Hood – Dorthy – Sandy from Grease (chaste version) – Princess Peach (so cool) – and now? Scary Vampire. Yep, she wants to be a really scary vampire this year. Linda’s made the costume, I’m on make-up, I like our chances. My point is that her tastes became scarier the older she got. Things that gave her nightmares, things that were too much when she was young are becoming an acquired taste as she gets older. She’s learning to face her fears and to make, subvert, or experience them safely.

That’s what I get from Virtual Horror and Violence anyway. Halloween isn’t really a religious holiday. It’s also not anti-religious. It’s something that probably dates back to Cave Man time. A day to ritualize fear and death, to experience it safely and at the end of the night to sleep and wake up to November’s killing frost.

That’s why people play video games. Violence and death can be controlled if experienced virtually. It’s all fake. This is why even the most hardened gamer doesn’t want to hear details about my chest surgery. Most violent gamers are squeamish. That’s what we get from it.

Parents, please. It’s one day a year! Let the kids be scary. Let them be horrifying. Let them be monsters. Let Them Be!!!

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