Kids of all ages get to play dress-up once each year
(sub) Kids of all ages get to play dress-up once a year
By Kevin Herrera
Daily Press Staff Writer
HILL STREET — Adam Johnston’s house is haunted. At least that’s what he wants people to believe, and for roughly $5,000, they better.
For the last 13 years, Johnston has gone to the extreme, investing vast amounts of time and money into creating one of the scariest haunted houses in Santa Monica. There are skeletons hanging from the gallows, spiders that jump from the ground and zombies that seem to emerge from nowhere.
Using animatronics, a little smoke and sound effects, Johnston tries to give people a scare to remind them, and himself, how fun Halloween can be. His efforts have paid off. People line up around the block to get a glimpse of his ethereal abode and he plans to host tours on Tuesday and Wednesday nights.
2DC,“I think it all goes back to this ‘Little Rascals’ episode when I was a kid,” said Johnston, a sound editor and drummer in a local rock band. “They had this haunted house and all this gadgetry that was automated, the same with Disney’s Haunted Mansion. Those things really stuck with me and ever since I have tried to capture that feeling I had and try to build on this imagination.
“I just feel that Halloween is a super fun holiday and by hosting a haunted house, I hope that I can reach some young kids and spark their imagination.”
Johnston isn’t alone. For the most part, Santa Monicans are enthusiastic about celebrating Halloween. Old or young, it seems people are ready to dress up and hit the streets in search of treats.
3A2,“I’m going to be an alien,” said Jackson Jones, as he picked out pumpkins at a patch on Wilshire Boulevard with his dad Trent and brother Noah. “We’re trying to make our house really scary.”
Jones and family plan to stay within their neighborhood on Halloween, hitting 24th Street between Carlyle and Margarita avenues. The area is known for being a great place to take kids.
“The neighbors really go all out,” said Trent Jones. “I was kind of surprised by it when we first started going. You see people come from all over the city. It’s really something you have to experience.”
Hey, big spender
It seems more people are going all out this Halloween compared to years past. According to the National Retail Federation’s “Halloween Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey,” consumers are expected to spend $64.82 this Halloween compared to $59.06 in 2006. Total Halloween spending for 2007 is estimated to reach $5.07 billion.
Party-goers, it seems, are bobbing for more than just apples. They’ll also be on the lookout for candy, costumes and decorations. The average person will spend $23.33 on costumes, though young adults will spend far more. According to the survey, 18- to 24-year-olds plan to be the most festive, spending $34.06 on costumes — nearly twice what they’ll spend on candy.
Those findings were apparent this week at Aahs costume store on Wilshire. The parking lot was packed, as were the store’s aisles. Mothers and their daughters looked at princess costumes while young adults seemed smitten by the slutty nurse and cop costumes.
“It has been crazy here for the last few weeks,” said Sanil Chand, manager of Aahs, which sells costumes and accessories, masks and props. “People have been coming in early to make sure they can get the costumes they want. It’s amazing — the young adults especially. They are buying two or three costumes because they are going to multiple parties and don’t want to wear the same thing to each.”
Most people are picking up pirate costumes, Chand said, as well as Spartan warrior costumes like those sported in the movie “300.” For women, nurse outfits are still hot, as are pregnant nuns and sexy cats.
20F,“I have never seen this much spending before,” Chand said.
Back to the beginning
While it may be a day for fun and folly, Halloween wasn’t always so trivial.
Its origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom and northern France, celebrated their new year on Nov. 1. The day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death.
Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On Oct. 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter.
To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities.
During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other’s fortunes. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter.
By A.D. 43, Romans had conquered the majority of Celtic territory. In the course of the 400 years that they ruled the Celtic lands, two festivals of Roman origin were combined with the traditional Celtic celebration of Samhain.
The first was Feralia, a day in late October when the Romans traditionally commemorated the passing of the dead. The second was a day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. The symbol of Pomona is the apple and the incorporation of this celebration into Samhain probably explains the tradition of “bobbing” for apples that is practiced today on Halloween.
By the 800s, the influence of Christianity had spread into Celtic lands. In the 7th century, Pope Boniface IV designated Nov. 1 All Saints’ Day, a time to honor saints and martyrs. It is widely believed today that the pope was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a related, but church-sanctioned holiday. The celebration was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas (from Middle English, “Alholowmesse” meaning All Saints’ Day) and the night before it, the night of Samhain, began to be called All-Hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween.
In A.D. 1000, the church made Nov. 2 All Souls’ Day, a day to honor the dead. It was celebrated similarly to Samhain, with big bonfires, parades and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels and devils. Together, the three celebrations — the eve of All Saints, All Saints’, and All Souls’ — were called Hallowmas.
That was then. Today, it’s really all about ghouls and goblins, pumpkins and candy, slutty nurse outfits and ripped-abs Spartans.
Not a treat for those with four feet
While Halloween is supposed to be fun, it isn’t always so for pets, particularly black cats, who are associated with bad luck and therefore, tend to get a bad rap.
The Santa Monica Animal Shelter and the Los Angeles County Animal Care and Control department remind people to keep pets indoors in a secure and comfortable area with a radio or television playing in the background. Many pets are startled by the noise from trick-or-treaters.
Owners are also told to keep current license and ID tags securely affixed to a pet’s collar since it is the only voice a pet has if he or she becomes lost or stolen.
Do not leave pets unattended. Loud noises frighten pets and they may panic, become confused and can go to great lengths to escape their enclosures. This can include chewing leashes or breaking fences.
Keep pets away from all candy. Chocolate, which contains theobromine, can be poisonous to pets, causing nerve damage and even death. The same goes for candy wrappers. Tin foil and cellophane candy wrappers are tempting treats for pets and can cause them to choke or to have intestinal blocks.
Another important tip is to keep jack-o-lanterns away from pets because they can knock them over, which could result in a fire.
Don’t dress up pets unless they are used to it and enjoy it. Costumes can restrict their movements, vision, hearing or their ability to breathe or bark. Costumes can also have small or dangling accessories that can be swallowed by a pet.
Some adoption agencies will not allow people to adopt black cats in the weeks before Halloween because they are fearful that someone will do harm to the animals as part of some sick prank. Donn Umber, the director of the Santa Monica Animal Shelter, said there is no such policy here, but his staff does keep a close eye on black cats in their care and do not allow just anyone to adopt them.
4C2,“My staff is pretty experienced and savvy enough to spot red flags, like if someone came in and specifically asked for a black cat, if they come in and the first question they ask is how much does it cost to buy a cat, or if they say they want to adopt a cat without spending any time with it,” Umber said. “That really goes for all of our pets. If someone is willing to spend time with the animal and spend the money to have them spayed or neutered and the whole nine yards, then we wouldn’t hesitate.”
The other little ones
Pets aren’t the only ones who need protecting. Young children also need help. They are often out after dark, crossing busy streets and perhaps going to unfamiliar homes.
“It’s definitely a concern, which is why I go with them,” said Sarah Fix, a mother of a 4-year-old who will be dressing up as a firefighter this Halloween. “We pretty much stick to our neighborhood and try to get done before it gets too late. At this age, the kids tend to get tired pretty early on, so there’s really nothing to worry about there. I guess my biggest concern is keeping them away from all the candy before I have a chance to sort through it. You have to hide it or else they’ll eat it all in one night.”
Law enforcement officials are warning drivers to be careful on Halloween. Drive slowly, particularly when driving over a hill or around a curve where visibility is limited. Use high beams to see and be seen.
Trick-or-treaters should always be accompanied by an adult or travel in a group. Children should be told not to eat any unwrapped candy or treats until they return home where their parents can see them. Making sure kids have already eaten before heading out may help.
Parents should incorporate reflective tape in costumes or add bright colors to increase visibility. Make-up rather than masks should be worn to help ensure that children have an unobstructed view of their surroundings.
Kids can get caught up in the excitement and may not be as careful as they should and cross in the middle of a street instead of at the corners. Children should stay on the sidewalk or if none is available, walk facing traffic. They should also carry a flashlight to make themselves more visible.
The alternatives
For those who do not want to hit the streets for trick-or-treating can still get their fix at several locations, such as the Santa Monica Place Mall, Barker Hangar and the Santa Monica Playhouse. Each year, Macerich Co., the owners of Santa Monica Place, open their doors on Halloween and invite youngsters and their parents to come and show off their costumes while individual stores hand out candies. This year, the “Spooktacular Extravaganza” will feature pumpkin decorating on Saturday, Oct. 27, as well as mall-wide trick-or-treating and a costume contest on Oct. 31.
The Police Activities League does something similar, hosting PALoween at Barker Hanger. There, families can trick-or-treat in safety and receive candy donated by various businesses and residents.
“It’s just a safe place where people can bring their kids and have a good time without having to worry about going out on the streets and having to deal with the traffic or the weather,” said SMPD Lt. Alex Padilla.
The Santa Monica Playhouse is presenting the “Halloween Enchanted Lunchtime Theatre” from 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Admissions is $25 per child. Parents are free. Lunch is included. There will be storytelling, sing-alongs, crafts and an enactment of a Halloween-themed fairy tale. There will also be a “Mummy (or daddy) and Me” event for 3- to 5-year-olds.
For the older crowd, there’s nothing like a good house party.
“That’s what I’ll be doing,” said Bethany Cox, a 22-year-old student at Santa Monica College. “When you’re a kid, you really get excited about dressing up and going trick-or-treating, but as you get older, like in high school, you feel like you’re too cool for it, that it’s for little kids. Then when you get out of high school, it all changes and you can’t wait to put on your costume and go party.”
“I just feel that Halloween is a super fun holiday and by hosting a haunted house I hope that I can reach some young kid too and spark their imagination.”
Adam Johnston, owner of a haunted house on Hill Street near 14th.
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Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 27, 2007. Read the original PDF.