“It’s the most wonderful time of the year” may be a Christmas song for you, but for me, it’s all about Halloween. You may think, “How can it be the greatest day of the year, I mean, we don’t even get school off for it.” Regardless of how you feel, Halloween is hands down the best holiday of the year, and this is why.

Halloween had always been my favorite holiday for as long as I can remember. There is something so amazing about dressing up as any character you want for a day, getting a ton of free candy, and watching numerous monster movies late into the night.

My family has always been huge advocates of getting into the Halloween spirit. I’m pretty sure I would be disowned if I did not dress up in a costume for Halloween, or if I didn’t help with our most important project, our house.

My house on Halloween is famously known as the Batman house. Every year, we decorate our house for this Batman theme. The catch, though, is that the main decoration is only available on Halloween; that decoration: my dad. He can be seen, standing on our roof, dressed up in a full Batman suit that he has spent quite a pretty penny on. He likes to pretend that he is guarding Gotham City for that one night, becoming his childhood hero for this one day of the year. Even though my dad is forty-five years old, he doesn’t let his age stop him from celebrating his favorite holiday.

Since we go all out for Halloween, our house is usually mobbed with people–both parents and kids–fangirling over the caped crusader. But why bring up all of this already obvious pop culture?

The most simple answer comes to mind: no one celebrates anymore, and it breaks my heart.

Sean Berleman, an English teacher at Palatine High School, stated, “I don’t plan on dressing up or really decorating my house for Halloween. My decorations will probably be a two on a scale of ten.”

In 2011, only approximately 49.5% of people decorated their houses for Halloween, according to thomasnet.com. I think that number today might be down to about 40% based on a walk around my neighborhood.

Another sad percentage is that only an estimated 33% of parents took their kids trick or treating in 2011, and that number has definitely decreased.

Palatine resident, Rachel Bertrand, also voiced her opinion about Halloween, “We don’t really decorate our house (other than with pumpkins) because my kids think that the decorations are too scary. I will most likely just dress up as a mom, but I fully plan on taking my kids trick-or-treating.”

The lack of decorations and trick-or-treaters is taking a huge toll on the holiday itself, because it is dis-encouraging people from celebrating. Weather had played a big role in Halloween turnout, though, since last year it poured rain all day on Halloween. That is really the only good excuse that someone should have, and it still is not even that good of one.

Our society has become so accustomed to closed doors and privacy, that we don’t even take a few hours out of our day to get into the holiday spirit. People will spend five hours trying to beat a level on Candy Crush, but they won’t spend ten seconds to thoughtfully pick out some candy while they are at the grocery store. And the excuse that Halloween is “too expensive” is ridiculous. You could easily make some cute paper ghosts and buy a few strings of lights to spice up your home, instead of not celebrating the holiday.

Maybe I do have an unfair bias against those who don’t want to participate in these festivities, but I think I am being completely reasonable. Halloween should be simpler. Families decorate. Kids dress up. Parents distribute candy. And everyone can have one night of complete magic. I encourage every single one of you to try to see the fun in Halloween. It doesn’t matter if you are six, sixteen or sixty, because Halloween is meant for all ages.

So if you are courageous enough to put on some cat ears and venture around the neighborhood, just remember that you are always welcome at the crazy Batman house.