girlfriday:decorations for the criminally insane

Halloween is an excuse for adults to act like children. It is an occasion to be foolish and other and it doesn't do most people any harm. I no longer fear it as a day of the devil, though it's probably exploited in this way here and there.

Undoubtedly the least sinister but most distasteful use of the day is the application of gore in decoration (I use the term loosely).

Jack O' Lanterns, leering and magical, are pleasant, almost nostalgic in nature.

Stuffed bedsheets dangling in nooses from giant oaks, skeletons in varying stages of torture and death, poorly constructed tombstones dotting front yards--are tasteless.

Christmas was the exclusive exterior home-decorating holiday when I was growing up. Never content with anything less than extreme, Americans have taken to displaying every piece of commercialized junk that the nearest dollar store will produce. Halloween dominates.


The unfortunate trend has found its way into the office. Doors are draped in glowing bulbs painted to resemble eyeballs.

Witches are hanging from doorknobs.

Our neighbors even attempted to attach a giant, stuffed, motion-sensitive tarantula to their office door, but gave it up when the blasted spider wouldn't shut up.

Is this beauty? If not, why are we applying it to our walls and homes? For fun. As a diversion.

Yes. But when did fun dissolve into mere tackiness?