With Halloween 2010 only days away, excitement is reaching a fever pitch over the hippest costumes. With the emergence of many pop and reality stars over the last year, there are some ridiculous new possibilities.
The most popular, however, is Jersey Shore, and an army of Snookis and Situations is about to hit the streets this weekend all over the nation. But are these hot trends true to the original spirit of the holiday?
Traditional Halloween imagery features themes of evil and horror, inspired by Gothic literature. This is a very accurate way to describe the Shore-themed line of official costumes, which portray a modern-day breed of witches and monsters clad in tight dresses and lifted tank-tops with fake 6-pack muscle chest plates.
The similarities, however, go even deeper. Halloween is widely believed to have come from the Celtic tradition of Samhain, a cleansing ritual signifying the end of the harvest season. It was characterized by lighting large bonfires which were believed to dispel invading evil spirits.
This is likely what The Situation was trying to accomplish when he started a large fire inside the house during the recent Déjà Vu All Over Again episode. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem to ward off the skanky spirits that were haunting him, as they returned almost immediately to area bars and the shore house hot tub.
A special type of turnip (actually the precursor to today’s pumpkins) was also used in ancient times to fend off evil spirits. As a result, masses of Halloween party-goers are currently assembling turnips for the upcoming weekend to hopefully shoo away the pack of Jersey Shore hoes and meatheads at their Halloween parties.
Jersey Shore Halloween Costumes, you are tickle city!
on October 27th, 2010 at 3:02 pm
Thanks for bringing up the Celtic significance of Halloween. But then again if people want to party in bad make-up, then it is OK with me. The idea here is to have fun, but also reflect on the year before us and the year after. After all, during this time, the veil between the physical world and the spiritual world becomes too thin. But then again, everyone should be included-even Kylie Minogue fans.
Walsh Reply:
November 13th, 2010 at 9:26 pm
Great comment, I completely agree.
on November 13th, 2010 at 1:36 pm
I’m secretly obsessed with this show. Although I think it’s funny you can dress up for Halloween as a group of people who wear these “Halloween costumes” every day of their lives not as a costume…
Walsh Reply:
November 13th, 2010 at 9:29 pm
Yeah, every day is pretty much a dress-up holiday for this group.
I think there are a lot of people out there with a pretty serious closet obsession with Jersey Shore. I haven’t watched all of the new season yet, but when I do it usually turns into an epic session where I watch all the episodes in one sitting.