Well, here it comes, stumbling menacingly toward us like a drunken zombie…

Halloween—the one night a year when it’s socially acceptable to dress like a vampire, gorge on candy, and terrify small children (and wimpy adults, for that matter). What began as an ancient Celtic festival marking the end of the harvest has now turned into an extravagant excuse for people to make or buy ridiculous costumes, decorate their homes with plastic skeletons, and indulge in pumpkin-flavoured everything. If you think Halloween is just for kids, think again. It’s no longer just about trick-or-treating—Halloween has infiltrated every corner of pop culture like a persistent horror movie villain who just won’t stay dead. It is the number 3 ranked holiday in North America with consumers spending approximately $11 billion on costumes, decorations, candy, and parties. 

The “Scary” Impact on Film and TV

Halloween has become Hollywood’s favorite excuse to crank out horror movies, with mixed results. For every Halloween (the classic 1978 slasher that turned Michael Myers into a household name), we get a dozen subpar knock-offs (Halloween 2 and the Rob Zombie Halloween films being notable exceptions) because clearly, nothing screams creativity like the 27th sequel where people keep walking into dark basements despite knowing there’s a killer on the loose. It’s become a rule: if you’re in a Halloween-themed movie, you’re either going to die or you’re going to make shockingly poor decisions that make the audience root for Michael Myers. The same holds true for the Friday the 13th series.

And let’s not forget TV. Every sitcom, drama, and animated show feels the need to drop a Halloween episode. Whether it’s The Simpsons and its “Treehouse of Horror” marathon or your favourite sitcom characters awkwardly attending costume parties, Halloween is a pop culture moment everyone milks for all it’s worth. Even your favourite crime shows might take a break from gritty realism to throw in an unsolved ghost story.

Music: The Soundtrack of Spooky Season

Creating a Halloween party playlist can be quite a challenge. Naturally, Thriller by Michael Jackson is a must, as Vincent Price’s eerie laugh is impossible to resist. The Monster Mash, featuring Boris Karloff’s iconic voice, continues to be a crowd favourite, along with Edgar Winter’s instrumental rock hit Frankenstein. And, of course, Ray Parker Jr.’s Ghostbusters always delights both kids and adults alike.

For something darker and more atmospheric, classic film soundtracks provide the perfect eerie backdrop. Jerry Goldsmith’s score for The Omen, Mike Oldfield’s haunting Tubular Bells from The Exorcist, and several tracks by Italian rock group Goblin stand out. Goblin’s scores for Dario Argento’s horror films, Suspiria and Profondo Rosso, are particularly unforgettable. And these are but a few.

Fashion: Because Who Doesn’t Love Dressing Up as a Hot Dog?

Halloween is the one night when the fashion rules don’t apply. Need an excuse to dress like your favourite pop culture character? Halloween’s got you covered. Want to spend an absurd amount of money on a costume you’ll wear for four hours, tops? Of course you do! It’s Halloween. From the iconic (vampires, witches, superheroes) to the downright confusing (sexy avocado, anyone?), the world of Halloween costumes has no limits.

And thanks to social media, your half-baked attempts at creativity are now fully public. If your costume doesn’t go viral, did you even try? Every October, Instagram and TikTok are flooded with people competing for the title of “most original costume,” which, spoiler alert, is usually just a slightly different take on the same pop culture reference everyone else is doing. Sure, you might think your “sexy Baby Yoda” is groundbreaking, but by the time Halloween rolls around, there will be hundreds of others just like you. Welcome to the internet, where nothing is original.

Conclusion: A Cultural Phenomenon We Can’t Escape

In conclusion, Halloween has done to pop culture what candy corn does to your teeth: it’s embedded itself, for better or worse. We’ve turned a once-spiritual holiday into a bizarre mashup of horror, commercialism, and social media-induced costume anxiety. Love it or hate it, Halloween isn’t going anywhere. So, grab your plastic vampire fangs, put on Thriller for the hundredth time, and embrace the madness. After all, Halloween only comes once a year—unless, of course, you’re a retail store, in which case it’s been “spooky season” since July.

by Rob Herholz