Halloween unmasked

Halloween is almost here and you are wondering what demon this is that appears once a year then goes into hiding until the next.

You have probably heard about Halloween in movies or western TV shows. If you still think the 'scary' festival is only a Western-affair then you are in for a rude shock because we, Africans, have joined the bandwagon and now the 'spine-chilling' fun is next door.

For starters, Halloween is an annual festival celebrated on 31st October by western Christians and non-Christians from other parts of the world. The day is also known as All Hallows Eve or All Saints' Eve.

The festival is set at the time of the year dedicated to remembering the dead, such as, saints, martyrs and the faithful departed. This is a practice among western Christians but in other cultures, such as, Africa, the event is majorly a secular activity.

Halloween is believed to have originated from ancient Celtic harvest festivals that had pagan roots. One such festival was known as Samhain.

This was later Christianised as 'Halloween’. Some believe that it was a separate Christian holiday and not a festival by the pagans.

The festival is characterized by church services, lighting candles on the graves of the dead and night vigils in western culture. This is a time of the year that precedes All Hallows day. Interestingly, this doesn’t apply to other parts of the world, Kenya included. In these parts, the day has turned out be commercial and secular.

In Kenya, clubs and hotels hold Halloween-themed parties for their clueless patrons. It is commonly known in Kenya as ‘a night of horror involving mask-wearing people and ghosts'. People regard it as a dreadful night where the evil spirits hover around and the dead wake up from the graves.

SKELETONS, WITCHES, VAMPIRES, MONSTERS AND GHOSTS

Over the past, established entertainment joints have turned the event into a milking venture from urbane Kenyans. This is not only unique to Kenya but European and Asian countries. Halloween film events and TV specials are the order of the day.

The event is marked by wearing flamboyant costumes, a face mask being the most popular. The costumes are traditionally modelled after supernatural figures, such as, devils, skeletons, witches, vampires, monsters and ghosts. Because we live in a creatively evolving world, people have resorted to wearing costumes modelled after celebrities. In the United States, an organization is selling 'Harvey Weinstein Producer mask’, a mask resembling facial features of the Hollywood mogul who has been in the spotlight recently for sexual harassment claims levelled against him. It is reported that many people want to wear his mask for Halloween events. Such is the height of creativity and madness that comes with celebrating this annual festival.

I am sure you are familiar with wearing face masks on Halloween night but this is not the only activity performed by adherents. On this night, people hold costume parties where bonfires are lit and visit haunted attractions. Carving pumpkins into jack-o' lanterns carried during in the night is a common sight. If that’s not scary enough, playing pranks, telling stories and watching horror films is part of the script. One of the peculiar practices during the All Hallows Eve is ‘trick or treating'.

'Trick or treating' refers to the customary celebration for children on Halloween. The children wear costumes going house to house asking for treats, candy or money. The trick in the word implies a threat to the household that mischief is done when no treat is given.

This annual event is not popular in Kenya but trust me, the bourgeoisie Kenyans have always celebrated the holiday by attending Halloween-themed parties in gothic makeup, masks and scary costumes. To cash in on the blood-curdling part of it, Kenyan cinemas always screen horror films. This year will be no different.

To the adherents, it’s another time of the year to fish out your masks and scare your neighbour. To the western Christians, have a happy All Hallows day. As Vincent Price puts it,

Source: nation