Halloween: Expectations vs. Reality
As much as we love Halloween, a perfect night always feels just slightly out of reach.
Whether your costume doesn't get as many compliments as you hoped, or your plans fall apart at the last minute, your Halloween evening always seems to fall a little bit short of your ideal vision.
Before you head out for a night of spooky tricks and delicious treats, take a look at the optimistic expectations and disappointing realities of Halloween.
Picking a Costume
Expectation: You've spent the weeks leading up to Halloween methodically researching your perfect costume. Finally, you've found it. It's the ideal combination of cute and clever, and you just know that you're going to be showered with compliments all night long.
Reality: You really wanted to research the perfect outfit, but somehow time got away from you. Now, it's the day before Halloween and you have no idea what you want to wear. You rummage through your closet, tossing on elements of last year's costume or you throw on a pair of animal ears and call it a day. You won't win any costume contests, but at least you tried, right? Oh well, there's always next year.
Wearing the Costume
Expectation: Not only is your costume charming, inventive and basically perfect in every way, it's also probably the most comfortable thing you've ever put on your body. All of the elements fit together seamlessly without restricting your range of motion, and you don't have to worry about pieces of your costume being left behind on your nighttime adventures.
Reality: Why did you choose to wear this again? It's itchy and annoying, and you can basically only stand in one position or various pieces of your costume start falling apart. It seemed so clever, but now you're struggling to fit through doorways and you're gradually removing various accessories because they are just too troublesome.
The Treats
Expectation: You can't wait to go house-to-house collecting all of your favorite sugary treats. Your plan of attack involves gathering enough candy to last you until Christmas, maybe even longer if it's a particularly successful Halloween. You even bring an extra large pillowcase to store your edible treasures because you just know your bag with be overflowing with all your favorite goodies.
Reality: By the time you got to the houses in your neighborhood, half of them were out of candy. You were so upset by this lack of sugar supply that you overindulged on your meager intake of sweets and basically ate everything. Not only do you now have a stomachache, but your hopes of hoarding candy until Christmas are as empty as the wrappers that are strewn across your bed.
The Party
Expectation: You've spent weeks planning the perfect Halloween party, and everything's finally fallen into place. You have the perfect music, the scariest decorations and the spookiest snacks. The guest list includes all your besties, and you're ready to dance the night away in your perfectly comfortable costume.
Reality: The party didn't come together quite as easily as you hoped. Turns out, creating Pinterest-level spooky snacks is not nearly as doable as the directions make it sound. On top of that, DIY decorations take time—more time than you had to spare. Plus, you're not quite sure who will show up, since only a few people actually responded to your Facebook invite.
The Haunted House
Expectation: As someone who loves the scary elements of Halloween, you are fully prepared to be absolutely terrified at this year's haunted house experience. Your daydreams have been filled with all the possibilities that await you this Halloween evening, and you're ready for a chilling experience that is sure to make your skin crawl.
Reality: Unfortunately, the biggest chunk of your Halloween evening was spent waiting in line to enter the haunted house. Then, after a five-minute walk through a less-than-terrifying maze of characters, it's time to head home. You're left feeling less scared and exhilarated and more annoyed and tired.
The Scary Movie
Expectation: Because you know you can't have Halloween without watching a scary movie, you've factored your movie time into your evening plans. You've spent time picking a movie with great reviews that assure you it will be the perfect balance between entertaining and horrifying. Plus, you'll have all your friends gathered around to share the experience together. If you're lucky, you might even be able to grab your crush's hand in a moment of pure terror.
Reality: Your friends didn't agree with your initial movie choice, so they popped in another movie that could only be described as disappointing. The scary parts were cheesy and predictable, and your friends talked through the whole thing anyway so you could barely hear what was actually happening. Plus, your crush didn't even show up, so any daydreams of falling in love to the tune of a horror film went down the drain.
If your Halloween isn't everything you thought it would be, you're not alone! Click HERE for 9 Halloween struggles we've all experienced!