How did Halloween get so bloody? Do we need an escape from the horrors of reality? | Kelly

Bullets and bombs are flying again in the Middle East. Congress can’t stop fighting its own wars. Another mass shooting has left another American community — this time in Maine — in tears and wondering how to protect itself. And, of course, there are Trump, Hunter, MAGA and the “Squad” — to name just a few people and issues dominating our news.

Today’s column, however, explores an entirely overlooked social problem facing our nation:

How did Halloween get so bloody?

Just take a drive through almost any neighborhood. From cities to suburbs, it’s as if America has fallen in love with gore.

Lawns are now graveyards, replete with “RIP” tombstones. Fake severed arms and legs litter flower gardens. Smiling pumpkins compete for space with grim skulls. Witches have been replaced by bloody zombies.

And remember that smiling face of Casper, the “friendly ghost”? Well, say hello to that hockey-masked mass murderer, Jason — one of America's most popular costumes. For true believers, Halloween celebrants who dress up in Jason masks often also brandish some sort of blood-smeared sword or machete.

You get the picture.

Once upon a time, children roamed streets, calling out “trick or treat” as they knocked on doors. Maybe they dressed as doctors or astronauts — boys and girls alike. Or football players and princesses. Or pirates and hobos or Raggedy Ann or Andy dolls. Or soldiers and rock stars and such heroes as Abraham Lincoln and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr and Queen Elizabeth.

Now?

Consider the recent instructions from a New Jersey mall about a children’s Halloween “parade.”

“Costumes should be family-friendly,” the mall announced. In other words, no mass murderers or victims of beheadings, to name a few gory possibilities. Another instruction noted that “all props must be fake and non-working” and that “real weapons, fire or sharp objects are prohibited.” Translation: Leave your guns, knives, chainsaws and blowtorches at home.

Our map will guide you: Want to explore North Jersey's best Halloween displays? Where they are

When did Halloween go full horror?

Once upon a time, we did not have to be reminded of such cautions. Indeed, once upon a time, Halloween often made us laugh. Costumes and decorations often had a sense of humor. Remember those Richard Nixon masks?

I am hardly an expert about celebrating Halloween. Years ago, while attending a Halloween party, my costume — if you can call it that — was voted the “worst.”

My competition, of course, included artists and others far more creatively dressed than me. One woman, who not only took time to design a costume but had the talent to pull it off, came dressed as a box of McDonald’s french fries — with yellow foam strips resembling the fries.

I arrived in a last-minute, thrown-together “cat” costume that I dreamed up. I wore a rugby shirt with what I thought were feline-like stripes. I penciled whiskers on my cheeks and fashioned some sort of cardboard ears atop my head. I devoted all of 30 minutes or so to what I thought was a creative “look.”

No one was impressed. In fact, I knew I had problems when far too many people asked: “Why didn’t you wear a costume?” or, worse, “What exactly are you trying to be?”

Fast-forward to now.

Serious hosts of Halloween parties are often trekking first to the local Home Depot to purchase one of the nation’s hottest-selling scary items: a 12-foot skeleton. The price tag of $299 has apparently not dissuaded potential buyers. The skeletons are mostly sold out.

As for costumes, any trip to a Halloween store is like stepping into a hospital emergency room after a multicar crash on the highway.

You want a severed head? Or perhaps a severed hand, arm or leg? A gouged-out eye? A bag of fake blood? Or fake brains?

No problem.

Never fear!: There are over 100 scary Halloween things to do, read and see in North Jersey

Understanding the holiday's Celtic roots

How did we get here?

Halloween’s roots date back 2,000 years — to what is now Ireland. (Yes, we can blame those rowdy Celts.)

Just before winter arrived, many pagan Celtic communities participated in a ritual known as “Samhain” that was meant to commemorate the passing of summer to winter — from light to darkness.

People customarily lit bonfires, gave away sweets and dressed up in costumes to scare off the evil spirits that they believed roamed the land. The ancient Celts felt that during this time of year, when the summer’s light faded and darkness began to dominate, a “veil” between the worlds of the living and the dead was at its thinnest.

During the Middle Ages, this scare-the-evil-spirits evolved into a remembrance of the dead, as Christian leaders tried to convince people to stop practicing pagan rituals.  Nov. 1 became All Saints Day to commemorate Christian martyrs and holy saints. Nov. 2 became All Souls Day to remember other faithfully departed folks.

Meanwhile, All Hallows Day — the precursor of Halloween — was celebrated on Oct. 31, and a curious custom took hold. As a prelude to the commemoration of the dead on Nov. 1 and 2, poor families would knock on doors, asking for food in exchange for a promise to pray for homeowners’ deceased relatives. This new ritual, while seemingly serious, eventually came to be dominated by children, who visited homes and offered to perform some sort of “trick” in return for a “treat” of nuts, fruits or coins.

Irish immigrants reportedly brought the trick-or-treat custom to the United States in the mid-1800s, and the notion of joyous Halloween candy giveaways turned into a regular custom, not to mention a boon for the nation's candy makers.

New Jersey's goriest displays: Visit Halloween homes in North Jersey to see outrageous and dastardly decorations

$8.4 billion on Halloween

Today, America reportedly spends some more than $8.4 billion on Halloween. One survey found that 16% of Halloween celebrants dress up as a pet and that nearly three-quarters of parents “steal” candy from their children’s bags after they return from trick-or-treating.

The Irish were not alone in their focus on darkness and death. During the same time frame, Mexico celebrated “Dia de los Muertos” — “Day of the Dead” — which draws attention to the connection between the living and the dead while also highlighting the belief in the afterlife.

The love affair with gore seems to have emerged in the late 1970s. Many observers blame the 1978 slasher film “Halloween,” directed by John Carpenter, which depicts a masked murderer who stalks victims. Later, such television shows as “The Walking Dead” and “Game of Thrones” reportedly enhanced the notion of fantasy-like decorations, scary costumes and blood-letting.

Soon, blood-and-gore became big business. Several years ago, stores and websites were criticized for selling something called “bloody roadkill,” which consisted of a latex depiction of a dead dog. In one community, police were summoned when a homeowner turned his driveway into a depiction of a blood-spattered mass execution site.

My neighborhood is now home to at least one statue of a knife-wielding killer, a dozen or so full skeletons, another dozen severed heads, not to mention all manner of discarded bodies and scythe-wielding grim reapers.  One of my otherwise soft-spoken, intelligent neighbors has hung two miniature skeletons from a dogwood tree.

So it goes.

Once a year, America embraces its inner gore.

For a day, at least, we can forget about the real gore in the world.

Mike Kelly is an award-winning columnist for NorthJersey.com, part of the USA TODAY Network, as well as the author of three critically acclaimed nonfiction books and a podcast and documentary film producer. To get unlimited access to his insightful thoughts on how we live life in the Northeast, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: kellym@northjersey.com

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Halloween 2023: Is violence an escape from today's horrors?