Halloween - it's German for Halloween

Last night I got to experience one of my favorite American holidays in Germany. I was going to try to explain the glory that is the American Halloween, but I thought Mean Girls did it much better. 

Of course, Halloween isn't just for the Slutty Pumpkins of the world, a lot of people get very creative and witty - which is generally my favorite part. 

Halloween in Germany, however, is a fairly new phenomenon. And you can definitely tell it is 100% American import from movies and TV and what have you. Unlike Christmas and New Years that have their own German flare, Halloween is just a toned-down, American knock-off. It's like the equivalent of having Oktoberfest in the States. It gets the job done, but there's something that just isn't quite right. 

The most notable difference is, of course, that only about 20% of the people actually dress up. I was honestly surprised to see that many. I thought me and my puny devil horns would stick out like a sore thumb, but I fit in quite nicely among the zombies and demons. 

Which brings me to my next point. When Halloween made it across the Atlantic, it forgot to mention it wasn't just about being scary anymore. Sure, that's how it's supposed to be, but in reality people either go for the previously mentioned Mean Girls approach or a costume with some sort of witty commentary. Scary costumes, while obviously still accepted, are not at all the standard for an American Halloween. In Germany, however, it was scary or nothing. If you were nurse, you were a zombie nurse; if you were a puppet, you were a bloody puppet. I've never seen so much fake scars and blood on Halloween. 

But, I'm glad to see Halloween is slowly making it's way, and I definitely enjoyed my German Halloween!

And now it's off to Forchheim until Sunday!