Scared to Death, With Peace of Mind

Even in the best of times, Halloween is a strange holiday.

Think about it. You dress the little ones up as witches, vampires or Power Rangers and send them off to threaten the neighbors: Trick or treat!

Then, instead of admonishing the kids to watch their manners, neighbors and even worse, complete strangers, respond to this ultimatum by loading the kids up with enough candy corn and other goodies to ensure the wealth of the local dentist for the next generation.

What an evening--and kids love it.

But like most things, Halloween is not what it used to be. The holiday lost some of its innocence when the first razor blade showed up in an apple. These days, most parents don’t feel safe allowing their children to walk the streets in broad daylight--too many real monsters and ghouls--let alone in the dark of night. Trick-or-treating is sometimes allowed in an abbreviated version, only the neighbors we kno w. Of course, that might only be three or four homes.

Before we bemoan the death of yet another slice of Americana, consider the invention borne of this loss: the safe alternatives.

These are the Halloween festivals, parties, carnivals, haunted houses and other supervised, usually indoor, activities. Everybody gets into it, from churches to community centers.

At the Granada Hills Recreation Center, a couple of hundred kids are expected to show up for the Halloween festival. Last year the event was canceled because of the earthquake, so kids have lots to look forward to this time around. There’ll be a moon bounce, a costume contest, a skeleton toss and pie-eating contests.

“This gives them an opportunity to dress up, play games, have hot dogs, and we also give out candy,” said Barbara Gervasi, senior recreation director. “Our main motivation is to have a safe environment for children.”

So concerned are they about safety that city officials are throwing some kind of Halloween event at every city recreation center, said Gervasi.

In true Hollywood fashion, some of these alternatives are huge production numbers. None of this rubber-spider-and-white-sheet stuff. We’re talking serious scary.

Take the haunted house at the National Guard Armory on Victory Boulevard. For the third year the West San Fernando Valley Rotary Club has taken over part of the armory and turned it into “Frightmare Castle.”

This haunted house is more like a stage play, with the audience walking (more like running) from room to scene-filled room. The story line is built on the plight of Reva Doom, a dead guy, who is livid because some production company has taken over his castle.

Reva’s ghost returns and wreaks all sorts of havoc on cast members who are simply trying to do their job, albeit inside his house, said Pauline Tallent, a Rotary Club member who helped organize the event.

Guests first meet Reva Doom, a cantankerous man with a booming voice, sitting in a red, high-backed chair in a gray, creepy room. Then they move on to the hallways and rooms of his castle. There’s a very believable jungle room complete with live plants, spitting snakes and a Mayan tomb motif.

Then there’s a “space encounter” room with flashing lights and aliens mingling with the crowd. In one room, a game show is being filmed with three unlucky contestants. An incorrect answer yields bizarre and horrible consequences.

The rooms are connected by hallways that feature caged gorillas and psychedelic dots. The apes have been known to get out from time to time.

“It’s one way to get people to move,” said Tallent, who expects thousands will have viewed the house by the time Halloween season is over.

To be certain, this one is not for the very young or the faint of heart.

“This is more of a teen-ager type thing,” Tallent said. “We’ve had a lot of little kids. They scream and run out and don’t want any part of it. It’s the teen-agers we cater to.”

The producer, Ron Prejean, the actors and actresses and an army of volunteers began working on this production in June, Tallent said. Because everything is donated, all proceeds go to local charities.

In 1993 the West Valley Rotary Club raised $7,000. Those who bring canned food to the event get $1 off the $6 admission price.

“It’s become a big family event,” Tallent said. “We put on a very professional show.”

The Halloween Spooky House on Friar Street near Victory Boulevard is scary, too. But around dusk the house will be “less scary” for small children.

“All the fun without the fright,” said Bob Koritzke, president of the Woodland Hills Youth Club.

For those who fret for the future of Halloween and wax nostalgic for the days when the streets were full of trick-or-treaters, consider these statistics from Linda Fewell, a spokeswoman for Hallmark Cards:

* Halloween will account for about $1.5 billion in retail sales this year, according to industry estimates. The figures for candy sales and the number rises to $2 billion.

* About 28.5 million Halloween cards will be exchanged this year, and $60 million to $70 million will be spent on Halloween decorations and party accessories.

* Halloween is the third-most-popular adult party occasion, second to the Super Bowl and New Year’s Eve.

* About 90% of all families with children 12 and under will take part in Halloween celebrations somehow, whether it’s trick-or-treating or parties.

“It just grows and grows,” said Fewell.

Halloween is not dying, it’s just moving inside. Something about dressing up and pretending to be somebody you’re not really appeals to Americans. We’re finding ways to keep the holiday and the kids safe.

And when you think about it, Halloween in this country has never been commemorated exactly the way the early celebrants did.

Edythe Preet, a culinary historian, seems to know just about all there is to know about the holiday.

“Indeed, all of the things that we recognize as Halloween are Irish,” she said.

Halloween began as a three-day harvest moon celebration called Samhain.

“The Celts, like most agricultural people, honored the equinox--the winter solstice,” Preet said.

Back then, the Celts had a lot to be afraid of. This was the time of year, the Celts believed, when the spirits walked the Earth causing trouble. Fairy-type creatures were roaming around too, looking for folks to take back to the fairy world, Preet said.

With all that going on, what’s an ancient Celt to do?

“They didn’t want the spooks to recognize them, so they wore disguises if they had to go out that night,” she said.

They also built huge bonfires to keep the spirits at bay, and they left treats called “soul cakes” on the hearth to appease those spirits.

Trick-or-treating started when the Celts began going to neighbors’ houses in their get-ups. They would say something like, “Give us a treat or we will tie your cows together or turn over an outhouse.”

They had jack-o’-lanterns then too, except that in Ireland, they didn’t use pumpkins. They carved out huge turnips, Preet said. Later, the Christian church melded its holidays, such as All Hallows Eve, with the Celts’ three-day event, giving us Halloween as we know it. Irish immigrants brought the tradition with them when they came to America.

“We are creatures of habit,” Preet said. “Most people have gotten completely out of touch with the habit. They have no idea why they do what they do.”

Which makes it perfectly acceptable to make a change here or there, such as keeping the kids indoors. The ancient Celts probably wouldn’t mind. And who knows? Maybe the children of today’s children will straighten this mess out, and kids will once again be able to walk the streets to trick-or-treat. Until then, inside may be the best place to be.