'Tis the Season....

I love Halloween. It's always a bittersweet time for me. I just don't enjoy it as much as I used to..

I live in Salem, MA, best known for the historic Salem Witch Trails, which this city capitalizes on big time to the point of becoming the "Halloween Capital of the World"

You'd think being in the center of it all, I'd have a great time, right? Used to be I'd make myself a sweet costume, go to a party or two or walk around town in the crowds getting pictures of myself taken by tourists and gawking at all the other costumes, right?

Wrong.

Halloween in Salem has gotten WAY too successful, Way too big..While that's good for the city economy, that's not good for people like me who would like to simply enjoy the holiday.

The crowds are well, crowded, it takes like an hour just to walk a ten -yard distance, the admission price to the best parties has gone up at least fivefold ($100 a person? yeah, RIGHT!!)

not to mention that we're a college town, and that means LOTS of drunken, obnoxious assholes

from all over the place in the mix, which means civility goes flying out the window. The last few years I dared to go out in costume I've been groped, assaulted, and one time, even whipped. Never mind trying to get a cop in a crowd like that.

I just decided that it just wasn't worth the trouble anymore. All the fun had been taken out of it for me. For the past few years, I"ve just gotten out of work before the tourism traffic fouled up the buses and just stayed in my apartment until the following morning. I could always catch the highlights on the news or the Public Access channel later.

Don't let my bad experiences prevent you from having a happy Halloween. Just don't let things get you more than you can handle.

Too much hype.