Halloween briefly distracts Americans from scary politics

October 31, is the day for celebrating the annual All Hallow’s Eve, Feast of the Saints, All Soul’s Day, or what has been referred to as Halloween since the 16th century.

It offers the nation a chance to temporarily shift gears from a year’s worth of contentious political campaigning by Republicans, Democrats and Independents.

To most Halloween enthusiasts, it means costume parties, carving pumpkins and decorating. It means watching vampire, witch and zombie movies. It means eating caramel apples, dried pumpkin seeds, spiced cakes and lots and lots of candy.

Ghoulish ornaments are found everywhere: vampires, spiders, headless scarecrows, bloody body parts, dead rats and anything else that imaginations-of-horror can conjure up.

Cultural fascination with vampires, werewolves and the walking dead has historical been a cyclical thing.

In recent years, American audiences have been captivated once again by the genre.

The popularity of “Twilight” movie sequels and small-screen offerings, including “Vampire Diaries,” “Grimm” and “The Walking Dead” indicates that horror has reemerged.

Halloween is enjoyed by adults and kids, but politics aren’t completely blocked out by the festivities. Masks of famous presidents and officials have been part of the costume menu for decades.

Furthermore, Spirit Costumes, a chain with 1,000 stores, has predicted the outcome of elections with 100 percent accuracy since 1996.

This year, the store has sold more Barack Obama masks than Mitt Romney masks, with a 60-40 margin in favor of Obama to win the presidency.

"A lot of people are going out and supporting their candidate by wearing their masks," said Lisa Barr, senior director of marketing for Spirit Halloween.

Big Bird costumes have also been very popular this year.

The store’s sale of political Halloween masks accurately predicted that Obama would beat John McCain; Bill Clinton would beat George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush would win over John Kerry.

Both sides of the spectrum believe the other party’s candidate would be the most frightening choice for county’s most hotly contested presidential top spot.

Some feel that Obama would further derail the fragile economy, while others feel Romney’s foreign policies would be the scariest choice.

Meanwhile, kids are oblivious to the political rancor in America and only care about how cool their costumes will be, how much candy they will get and whether their parents will let them eat as much of it as they want.

Yes, Halloween represents a ubiquitous presence of ghastly and terrifying tradition—but unlike presidential influences, it only lasts for 24 hours every year.

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