Scary Stuff

As my Spanish friend whom I give English lessons to told me, "Halloween" as a fun celebration didn't become a thing here until about 5 years ago. Halloween here is still very different than in the United States---it's actually about being scared. Imagine that. I have tried to explain to a few Spaniards that people in the US usually dress up in funny, silly, sexy or just plain stupid costumes. These Spaniards were very confused when I used a banana suit as an example of a common American costume. Even little kids in the US don't usually dress scary. Instead they are princesses or their favorite cartoon superhero. But here, in Spain, it's scary, or nada.

Despite this difference, my friends and I still wanted to use this semi-holiday as a good excuse to drink. We were motivated to dress up because the local cafe/bar was offering a pint of beer for one euro to anyone who dressed up. We painted our faces like the Dia de los Muertos masks and called it a night. That is a standard, easy costume in the US but it hasn't hit Spain yet. Most people were confused or slightly intrigued by our painted faces.

As I mentioned, Halloween in Spain is about being scared and is still mostly a kid or young teenager holiday (drunken college Halloween parties are just starting to pop up here). One of my private English lessons (clases particulares) is a 15-year-old-vampire-fantasy-loving girl. One time I asked her if she could open her own restaurant what would it be named and she replied "Restaurant of the Dead."After thinking that she would make an awful businesswoman she informed me that all of the waiters would be vampires but it would be a vegetarian restaurant (clever girl!). During the lesson we had before Halloween we practiced talking about our fears. I asked her if she was afraid of death and she answered (in all seriousness) that she was but if she would die by means of a vampire bite that would be a okay by her. hahaha, oh geez. Also, during this lesson we read a "spooky" Halloween tale called "The Vampire Hermit" (http://americanfolklore.net/halloween.html). I thought this story was really silly and ridiculous but when we read it together she actually got scared! I actually felt bad because she had previously told me she had been having scary dreams lately. Woops.

Well there you have it. In Spain Halloween is supposed to be scary. Hmmm...