The Halloween Show – Myths, History, and Tradition

DJ  0:03  

You’re listening to the DJ Doran Show, a Doran Omni Media production. Warning: The DJ Doran Show contains adult language, mature content, cerebral debate and thought-provoking conversation. Listener discretion is advised. Call 312-235-2281 to be a part of the discussion; that’s 312-235-2281. And now, Chicago’s perspicacious host of your sane radio obsession, DJ Doran.

*Monster Mash Plays*

DJ  3:29  

Listen, you’re listening to the DJ Doran show and that was the monster mash. Yep. And this is our Halloween show. So in celebration of that we have, we wanted to play one of my favorites, the Monster Mash. Okay for trivia. I’m here with By the way, my co host today Rachel v. Hi, Rachel. So who sang the monster mash?

Rachel  4:02  

Oh shit. I don’t know.

DJ  4:05  

Really? Ms. uh, musician here and you don’t know that?

Rachel  4:08  

Uh, no. I mean, I’ve heard a billion covers of it. And it’s been played, you know, at any kind of party when I was a kid. So I don’t know, it’s I don’t know, it just, it was one of those songs that kind of just played in the background and I never actually paid attention to it.

DJ  4:20  

Okay, well, here I’ll tell you and you can use it as one of those trivia question things tell you it was sung by Bobby Pickett and the Crypt Kickers.

Rachel  4:29  

Ah, I’m glad I know that now. I know.

DJ  4:35  

And do you know when it was released? In 1962 when I was just two years old. But anyway, that’s, that is monster mash. So today on the DJ Doran show, we’re going to talk about Halloween. Yeah, and first of all, we’re gonna talk about the history and the origins of Halloween a little bit and then we’re also going to talk about how The LGBTQ community sort of co-opted Halloween and made it into one of the gay high holy holidays, as they call it, which I think is kind of funny. Yeah, it can be but have you ever been to a Halloween celebration like in the gay community?

Rachel  5:16  

Uh, honestly, I didn’t really understand it until I came here and I started hearing about it this year. Honestly, I never I never tied one to the other only because where I’m from, you know, it didn’t it wasn’t associated. 

DJ  5:29  

Why does anybody live in Jersey? 

Rachel

You tell me I don’t I don’t know. Jeez

DJ

 So at least now you’re in civilization, a civilization.

Rachel  5:37  

I mean, Chicago of all places. Yeah,

DJ  5:39  

yeah. So you know if i, if i by chance lived in, in New Jersey, this would be my daily thing.

*Scream sound cue*

Rachel  5:55  

That was my, my daily thing.

DJ  5:57  

Oh my god. So do you, do you know Anything about, about Halloween, about the origins of Halloween itself?

Rachel  6:04  

Not much. Not Not a whole lot.

DJ  6:08  

Well, I originally wanted to have one of my friends is a high priest, thank you for reminding me, a high priest of a coven in Salem, Massachusetts, which everyone equates you know, Halloween with Salem, Massachusetts. But he was working in unfortunately, we didn’t have enough time to coordinate him to call into the show, so we could talk to him. But we’ll do that another time. Because I think it would be interesting because, that’s because, you know, people think of witches as ugly hags with crooked noses and warts and all of that, but it’s really not like that. It’s a festival of nature, I guess would be a way to describe it.

Rachel  6:48  

But I will say this though. I don’t know a lot about that. That group of people but there are a fair amount inside of the LGBT community. There’s Like anytime I’ve been exposed to anything about witches as always been in that community Yeah, it’s just fascinating.

DJ  7:05  

Well, yeah, I would wonder why I wouldn’t know why but I would be that’d be interesting. Yeah, so Halloween, or Hallo-een is a contraction of Hallows Eve or hallows evening also known as all Halloween or All Hallows Eve, or All Saints Eve, it and it’s a celebration observed in several countries on October 31, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Hallows day and it begins three, like a three day observance of all Hallo tied the time of the lit-, I can never say this word, liturgical year dedicated to remembering the dead including saints. Otherwise hallows, martyrs and all the faithful departed. So that’s kind of the root of it. Right. Okay. And then of course, you know, it’s widely believed that Halloween has, they have their traditions originated from the ancient Celtic harvest festivals. Particularly the Gaelic festival. Samhain. I think I yeah, I think I’m saying that, say that right. Okay. That’s awesome. And those festivals have pagan roots, you know, and Samhain itself was christianized, as Halloween by the early church. At least that’s what some believe. But Halloween began solely as a Christian holiday separate from ancient festivals like Samhain. So it was it kind of a, kind of a split there. So, what do you like to do on Halloween? Did you do anything on Halloween?

Rachel  8:36  

Uh, I mean, a lot of my friends tend to have parties and stuff. So that was always kind of interesting. One thing now that I’m in a city I’m very excited to see would be that I know Chicago has like a Halloween parade, which I do. Yeah, I would love to see that.

DJ  8:51  

Yep. It is very cool. It’s wild, too, as you would as you would imagine,

Rachel  8:56  

Everything, every parade in Chicago gets wild

DJ  8:59  

I know, but the Halloween parade is, is wild. It’s sexy. It’s and then afterwards It’s crazy. But that I’m going to talk about that too. I’m going to talk about how Halloween has now become the, the LGBT-, I, I’m just gonna, for reference, I’m going to use the word gay even though it

Rachel  9:18  

encompasses,

DJ  9:18  

yes, because it’s too hard for me to say LGBTQ+, you know, every time I want to refer to the community that is, that is fine. So I’m just going to use the word gay. So if I offend anyone, I’m sorry if I offend anyone, after I just explained that, tough shit. Okay, so, so Halloween.

DJ  9:39  

I guess it wasn’t really. It wasn’t really celebrated that much, but it kind of became official in 1556. Interesting. So I thought that was that was, I thought that was interesting. Right? So today’s, You know, today’s Halloween is so different from what it was back then because back then, it was celebrating a harvest and you know it had all these other ritualistic routes that tied into everyday living, you know, for blessings and so forth. But I was just reading that Samhain was first and foremost important the one of the most important of the four quarter days and medieval Gaelic calendar and celebrate on the 31st of October through the first of November in Ireland, Scotland and on the Isle of Man. Until then, there are a couple of other festivals but that’s how it all kind of started. And then it’s tied to another festival called Beltane. Have you ever heard that one? and is the Gaelic made a festival most commonly held on May 1, or about halfway between the spring equinox and the summer solstice. And historically it was widely observed throughout Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man and the Irish name for the festival day is Lá Bealtaine, I don’t, I don’t know I can’t really say it. But um Samhain and  Calan Gaeaf mark the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter or the darker half of the year. Yeah, I thought that was kind of I think it I thought that was kind of interesting. But anyway, very I mean, if you if you really, if you really, if you really go back to it, it’s kind of interesting how this festival sort of evolved over the years. Now, of course, it’s completely commercialized. It’s the candy companies run it.

Rachel  11:25  

Yeah, they have for a while to be fair.

DJ  11:28  

So, so I’m just doing some reading, you know, and whatever, you know, trick or treating, and dressing up in costume, as they used to call it guising. Like, I’m assuming it’s a derivative of disguise. Yeah, but guising but it’s the customary celebration for children on Halloween and they go in costume from house to house asking for treats such as candy. Sometimes money with a question Trick or treat the word trick implies a threat to perform mischief on the homeowners or their property of no treat is given. So that’s why I have a taser, but uh, but yeah, so it’s funny how I always think it’s funny how these, these festivals or rituals that are rooted in some sort of religious, religious overtones, they evolve into these into these, What do you call what’s not, I just totally drew a blank, I’m senlie. 

Rachel

Festivities? 

DJ

No what do you call it when you’re not religious? Secular ah okay yeah they they, they they devolve into the so or evolve into the secular things like the like the Easter, like Easter right so Easter is the when Christ rose from the dead and yet somehow we celebrated oversized bunny rabbit delivering candy and Easter eggs.

Rachel  12:54  

In all honesty somebody is going to have to explain that to me because I still never got that.

DJ  12:58  

We should do a show on, on the holidays. You know like Easter and Halloween, Halloween again is was a ritual now it’s a you know to celebrate the harvest and now it’s like just, a let’s let’s dress up as the evil side of things. Yeah and get candy. Yeah right Christmas, Christmas is is not no longer about the birth of Christ as much as it is about Christmas lights, Christmas trees, decorations and presents, think about that you know so anyway, but this show’s about Halloween so we’re gonna talk about that and I don’t know about you but when I was a kid I really liked Halloween. I mean I, I wasn’t ever one to dress up that was never like my comfort zone. But I did like to go like I, I did dress up and I did go trick or treating because my desire for candy was greater than my embarrassment of dressing up.

Rachel  13:53  

I got that. You know I I really wish I came out as trans way earlier because dude costumes for boys when you’re young are stupid, fucking stupid, boring.

DJ  14:04  

I know okay so this is how old I am and now they have cool costumes you know and they people put in different color eye contacts and all that, yeah but when I was when I was a kid you got Casper the ghost the plastic mask with the little stretchy thing in the back that held it onto your head or you know or you got whatever the face was of the character that you wanted, some whatever. Now you know people go all out and some of the costumes that you see are are pretty extravagant yeah and anyway so so I used to love Halloween and I  remember and we they were creepers back then you know but not like today like where people put razor blades in apples and candy and stuff like that, but we would go and we’d fill up our our bag we didn’t have like pumpkins or plastic pumpkins or anything like that we had like a bag. Okay, right. Yeah. And so we would fill it up. And then we go back and go to our bedroom and I remember dumping it on my bed and separating all the good candy from now and put all the good candy and hide it in my dresser drawer. Yeah, and then empty the bag and then go out again and fill it and the goal was to fill it as much as possible because it was the one time of year where we had candy for the whole year.

Rachel  15:22  

That is the fucking truth.

DJ  15:24  

You know, so uh, and because I had so many brothers, you know, you had to hide your stash and everybody would steal like the good candy like the Reese’s and chocolate bars and whatever and then, you know, who would want a granola bar or you know, some of those other things, but we didn’t get too many of those back in the day. But I really enjoyed Halloween for two reasons. One is the candy. Right as a kid, it’s basically going shopping, shopping and you know, they don’t have these anymore, but when I grew up, we had candy stores. 

Rachel

There’s a couple I know in Chicago, but they’re niche Yeah, like a lot of candy stores tend to be very niche. 

DJ

So we would go into the candy store it was basically loaded with mostly candy, had some groceries and then had a counter where you could buy egg creams and sodas and things like that and ice cream and what have you. But, um, but we would go, but Halloween was that, it was about dressing up, it was about hanging out with your friends, like who’d always go with there would be like 10 of us trick or treating. So we’d all go and groups and what have you. And, and then collecting candy and then comparing our loot.

Rachel  16:32  

Yep, I did that too. It’s awesome.

DJ  16:33  

Yeah. And then of course, you know, it was fall. So it was cool. The leaves were turning and it was nice out. Yeah. And the the real cool part was that when my mom would say okay, you can trick or treat till nine o’clock or eight o’clock or whatever it was like after it got dark. So our thing was when the street lights came on, it was time to be home. Yeah. So, so my mom would say okay, you can, you can you can you can trick or treat until an hour after the streetlights come on. And so you saw the streetlights starting to come on and you like racing around see how many houses you could get to. And, and I remember that those that’s what Halloween meant to me it was fun. It was a lot of fun. And then of course you know Halloween was monster movies, and watch monster movies, and you know monster movies are, were like my, my jam they still are. I’m still like a horror movie like, fanatic. Yeah. And watch those. And then the next day back to school. Yeah, normally because I’ll leave very rarely was on a weekend. Yeah, it was like always on a Thursday or something. But occasionally it was on a Friday which was awesome. Because not only could you Trick or treat the day before that night, but then the next day you could hang out at home and I used to watch Godzilla on Saturday and eat candy. And it would be so cool because we’d have all of our candy. Like I’d separate all of my candy to like my favorite, which I would ave for last and then eat up the other stuff first. So that was all right. That’s right. But I was saving that for last. And that was the word Halloween was, and then the best part when your kid for Halloween is what do you think?

Rachel  18:24  

Oh shit. All the things you just said were basically the best parts.

DJ  18:28  

The best part for me after that was now it’s full on towards Christmas. Oh. Right. Yeah. Now in my day, they didn’t start, you know, putting Christmas stuff out until way at like, after Thanksgiving. So the next holiday was literally Thanksgiving and that was, you know, getting ready for that whole thing. And we had a tradition, we would watch The March of the Wooden Soldiers with Laurel and Hardy. Have you ever seen it? 

Rachel

Nope

DJ

You should Well, it’s a, it was a Thanksgiving tradition. And then after dinner, all the kids would be in the living room and we’d watch the Wizard of Oz.

Rachel  19:11  

That’s pretty funny. I like that.

DJ  19:12  

That was our that was our, that’s our Thanksgiving tradition. And, and then and then after Thanksgiving was always Thursday, then it would be Friday and the weekend and then it was full on Christmas planning. Yeah. And I don’t know if you did this, but my parents always made us create a Christmas list of what we wanted. Yeah. And so we I’d write down No, I don’t want that. I don’t want that. And then you start looking at all the, I know this is really weird, but we look at like these toy catalogs and say, I want this and I want that and I want this or I want that. And then we we turn those in and hope for the best.

Rachel  19:53  

No, I definitely didn’t do any of that shit. But I know there’s a lot of people that did that took out the toy catalog and were like “give me the shit.”

DJ  20:02  

It’s amazing that when you’re, when you’re a kid, those things are the most important things. But anyway, so we’re going to talk mainly about Halloween and but so Halloween to me is like it’s like a gateway drug. Right? Halloween is the gateway to Christmas. Gotcha. So once Halloween takes place it’s full power towards Christmas now, which by the way, I was at Home Depot the other day and they already have Christmas trees and Christmas decorations out on display. Right? You showed me? I was like, but I get it. I mean, retailers want to make a jump. But what happens is when they do that you get into the Christmas spirit early. But then by the time Christmas gets here, you’re like, Oh, fuck Christmas. I’m so sick of Christmas music. If I hear Jingle Bells one more time, I’m going to become a serial killer.

Rachel  20:50  

But I don’t think that’s why they do it. They do it because it gets attention, because every time they would put out Christmas decorations early enough people would react so strongly to it. That they will know well then when I need my Christmas stuff, I’ll go there.

DJ  21:05  

That’s a point. But we’re talking about Halloween I refuse to talk about Christmas any further, so shut up. 

Rachel

Alright, alright, alright.

DJ

So we’re, uh, we’re gonna take a break and we’re gonna hear from our friends at Joe Eats World, and Chef Joe Morales is eating and drinking his way around the United States and the world. And, and so hopefully we’re going to have him on the show one day, but he’s a he’s one of our sponsors. So we’ll be right back. You’re listening to the DJ Doran show. I’m your host, DJ Doran. We’ll be right back. 

Break

This episode of the DJ Doran show is brought to you by our friends at Joe Eats world featuring chef Joe Morales as he eats and drinks his way through life sharing recipes, dining experiences and cooking tips. Be sure to follow him at Joeeatsworld.com and on his Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

DJ  22:15  

Alright, well we’re back. We’re back and you’re listening to the DJ Doran show. I’m here with my co host today, Rachel V, and we’re talking about holiday, which is we’re talking about Halloween, which is kind of a bleed into the rest of the holidays, but we’re trying let’s try and stay focused.

Rachel  22:32  

That’s a really good analogy, bleed in. I like that. I love that. Oh,

DJ  22:34  

God. Wait, wait, wait, wait.

*Scream sound cue*

DJ  22:43  

I swear I never get tired of that, I’m such a child.

DJ  22:48  

I love that one. I know and I had this other one too that I wanted to. I wanted to, to add let’s see if I can do it. Let’s see if I can do it right now. 

Rachel  23:02  

it didn’t work. 

DJ

It didn’t work. Why not? Why? Why? Why?

Rachel  23:07  

Oh well.

DJ  23:11  

you know why? Because I think it’s because we’re actually doing the show and I don’t think you can upload sound bites.

Rachel  23:19  

Yeah, I guess I make sense

DJ  23:21  

It’s not letting me not letting me do it. I’ll try it one more time, open sesame. Nope, unable to load but we had to wait I wonder if I can do it here. I don’t know. What do you think? I’ll try it? 

Rachel

I don’t know what you’re doing. 

DJ

Oh, I hit the crickets by mistake. Get away. Get out of here crickets. Okay, let’s now let’s try it. Okay, see if this does it, right. Nope. So that’s something that we learned you can upload sound bites while we’re while we’re broadcasting. So um, do you know why Halloween is like a gay high holy holiday?

Rachel  24:04  

I mean, you can tie a one, you know, one on one together when you start to understand that

DJ  24:09  

what does that make?

Rachel  24:11  

It makes gay Halloween.

Rachel  24:13  

Okay, holiday, that sort of things. Yeah. When you think you know, costumes and creativity and you get to be what you want and masks and stuff and tie that with the gay community, people very fluid and flamboyant.

DJ  24:30  

That was very good. Our audience loves that explanation. I, on the other hand, don’t buy it. So, I just happen to have something here in front of me that will explain about why Halloween is the gay high holiday, holy holiday. So I’m going to read it, do it. I’m going to read it,

Rachel  24:52  

go for it.

DJ  24:53  

What today’s informative moment is why is Halloween a gay high holy holiday

Rachel  25:01  

brought to you by Joe Eats World

DJ  25:05  

Okay, stop plugging him right now.

DJ  25:08  

Okay ready, so I’m just gonna read it. It’s Halloween, witches. Oh my god. I know I love that. Some of us label Halloween is the gay high holy holiday. No it gay high holy day. I can’t speak worth shit. Lesbian poet Judy Grahn called it the Great Gay holiday while others simply have referred to it as our night. Oh, whatever you choose to call it Halloween is deliciously and indelibly part of our gay culture. Those of us that are religious have Christmas, others that celebrate feasting have Thanksgiving. But us queers. We have All Hallows Eve. Over the last 30 years we have embraced and shaped October 31 into a quintessential LGBTQ holiday and it seems to only get gay as time goes on. Our seemingly irrational exuberance for all things Halloween spill over onto the internet. To the #gayhalloween that, that I don’t know the #gayhalloween is primarily used by young men in slutty costumes and the most immaculate drag this side of Pride Parade, but the boys are not the only ones with pronounced enthusiasm for Halloween. queer women also joined in the campy fun. Yeah. So how did Halloween come to be the de facto holiday of queers?

Rachel  26:27  

I don’t know.

DJ  26:31  

hold on one second.

DJ  26:36  

I need, I’m having an issue here. Okay.

DJ  26:51  

I totally just lost my place on something and now I, well thank God for editing. We’re not live so I can edit this. So how did Halloween come to be de facto holiday for queers? What is it about Halloween that the LGBTQ community find so bewitching? And when exactly did Halloween become the biggest gay thing since Sunday brunch? Halloween, Halloween wasn’t born this way we had to convert it by turning Halloween gay was his, turning Halloween gay was as easy as taking candy from a baby nice. Before the Castro district in San Francisco became a famous gayborhood, it hosted an annual kids costume contest and it is at clips variety store in 1948. However, during the mid 50s, the Castro underwent a transformation as an abundance of single men moved in, displacing the families that had previously populated the district. Not surprisingly, these gay men started coming out of the closet in the 70s and by the end of the 90s drag queens were now openly entering the costume contest at Cliff’s. Unfortunately by 1979 the owners of Cliff’s decided to stop the costume contest due to the shifting demographics of the Castro. But the lingering spirit of Castro Halloween as it as it was known continue to live on under the leadership of the drag performance group, the Sisters of perpetual indulgence. That’s a cool name I think. The San Francisco gay community partied in the Castro almost every Halloween in the 80s 90s and early 2000s until the annual party was shut down after a tragic shooting. Always good shit gets fucked up by people that are stupid. Yep. Giving Halloween a queer makeover was a bicoastal effort, though. As costume drag queens continued invading the Castro in San Francisco, New York puppeteer named Ralph Lee kicked off the first Greenwich Village Halloween parade in the early 70s. Oh shit. I know. I think I know that celebration has since become the largest Halloween parade in the world. And it still tracks most elaborate homemade costumes that you can find in New York City. Chicago has a great Halloween parade, may not be as big as New York, but it’s pretty, pretty cool. No, but by the 1970s Halloween invited closeted queer people out of the closet into the streets during the height of the AIDS crisis, right Halloween offered a much needed night of revelry and for some a poignant evening of contemplation and reflection. The marriage between Halloween and the gay community seems like a natural fit to a holiday perfectly suited for queer culture. Like it was just made for us. Kind of true kind of true. Halloween is the one night a year when all people regardless of sexual orientation can participate in the campiness that permeates so much of queer culture. Camp is a complex term that typically is used to describe certain artificial affected and exaggerated styles of behavior that fuses elements of Queens and pop stars alike to the same level playing field of hyper feminine gestures and mannerisms. Being campy has always been one way that we could digest straight culture and make it our own.

Rachel  29:57  

Wait. You lost me there, I think. That was a little confusing, explaining what camp is?

DJ  30:05  

camp? Yeah, is a complex term that’s typically used to describe certain artificial affected or exaggerated styles of behavior, that fuse element of Queens and pop stars like to the same level playing field of hyper feminine gestures and mannerisms.

Rachel  30:24  

That’s, that’s fairly interesting that I’ve never heard it in those terms before.

DJ  30:27  

Well think about that is, is basically saying, men dressing up as women in over exaggerated costumes and over hyper exaggerated feminine movements as part of their performance or what have you. That’s how I take it, interesting. Blah, blah, blah, blah drag queens, for example, are classic camp because they often reduce queens and pop Oh, I already did that. Part of being campy has always been one way that we could digest straight culture and make it our own. When people mock and impersonate members of the LGBT community camp can be a double edged sword. We’re oftentimes criticized for being loud, demure, oftenly effeminate, hyper masculine, too colorful or just plain too much. However, Halloween changes everything. On this one night everyone embraces the essence of camp. People shed their inhibitions, dress up in ridiculous outfits and join us queers in the celebratory discussion, dissection of pop culture that we tend to find so sustaining. Halloween is the only night of the year when everyone’s feeling campy and we don’t stick out as much. But Halloween is cultural significance in the queer community exceeds its campiness. It’s not only a night where we have the freedom to express ourselves. It’s a time where everyone can be anyone on Halloween. You can express yourself, your gender, and your sexuality in a way that you see fit and nobody really cares. every October 31, the burden of being a queer in the straight world is lifted in for a brief time. during Halloween, we can proudly stick out without fear, although it’s certainly true that you can be anyone. Your imagination can conjure on Halloween. Perhaps the most important person you can be on Halloween is yourself. Oh, I thought that was that was so nice.

DJ  32:17  

Yeah, that was a that was awesome. So I guess like I kind of understand that. Did you get the last part?

Rachel  32:22  

I did. I didn’t like it though. It felt weird. They were explained the writer was explaining how, in daily life, you know, straight culture tends to, to, you know, poke fun at our community, which is true, but drag pokes fun at my community just a bit. It-

DJ  32:45  

the article is basically saying is that straight people poke fun at the gay community, right in general because of, of whatever the way they dress, the way they the way they behave, the way they move the way they whatever. Yeah, but during Halloween, everybody sort of is equal because everybody is dressing up. Everybody is exaggerating something. So

Rachel  33:09  

I like that part of it. I do understand that, but it’s like, I don’t know, it made me feel as if we can do this on this night because we have nothing to fear at this point in the year. But I mean, you know, for the rest of the time.

DJ  33:21  

Well, that’s like, that’s the point. That’s why Halloween is, I think, has been adopted as a gay high, holy day, because, because for that one day, you can be yourself and it is it’s not standing out. Like for instance, if you’re transgender. Sure, right. And you dress as, as your gender as a, let’s say a woman. And yes, and you dress like that. Yes, normally someone may look and give you a second look or what have you, right? I’m sure. Okay, now you may not care. I’m just telling you, this is what happens. And I know this for a fact because when I walked through the streets of Boys Town, With my friend Winnie Hmm. Right, every person we shouldn’t ever almost a lot of, strike that a lot of people that we passed, gave him a second look. Gotcha. Right. But on Halloween, nobody would give him even a side glance. Interesting. That’s what, that’s what the article is trying to say. So for that one day, you can be yourself and nobody will even give you a side glance.

Rachel  34:27  

Okay. Okay. I’m with you.

DJ  34:28  

So it does, whereas, and I think that that is a real. I mean, I think that’s real. That’s the way the world is. See, we live in our own world, and we have safe spaces that we create with the people that surround us. But there’s a real world that’s out there that doesn’t always conform to the way we think things should be. Now you may not care, and you may be able to handle it, but it doesn’t alter the fact that there are people that will do that. That is true, and that’s what the article was trying to say is that That, I think one of the comfort zones for Halloween is that so that one day you can be you, whatever you is, if I wanted to be a masculine, straight acting gay guy, and blah, blah, blah, blah, I can do that on Halloween and no one will judge me. No one will give me a second glance. If you want it to be Cinderella, nobody would judge you or give you a second glance. That’s the point of the article. Anyway, so that’s kind of why I’m Halloween has been, has been sort of adopted as a gay high holy day, and I get it. Now if we could just do that for 364 more days. I mean, that would be, that’d be ideal. So without that was kind of a I don’t wanna say a political side of Halloween, but an explanation of why gays love Halloween, but let’s talk about Halloween in general, like, like, what is your favorite? What’s your favorite candy?

Rachel  35:56  

My favorite candy, which I feel like we’ve talked about before. Yeah, it’s definitely Almond Joys.

DJ  36:01  

we talked about it but not on air.

DJ  36:03  

Yeah, that’s true. Almond joys and definitely Twizzlers, cuz my teeth can handle it.

DJ  36:09  

I, I’d love anything. I actually, I have a horrible sweet tooth and you know that I have a horrible I love dessert. I love candy and everything, but I have chocolate and peanut butter combo is really good. So there are these candies. You probably never heard of them, but one of them was a Clark bar. And Zagnut. It’s like a chico stick. Oh man. But uh, I love those things and anything with chocolate like I love Almond Joy. I love mounds Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.

DJ  36:45  

Oh, I like a bit of, oh not bit o honey, what do you call it? Oh, Lord, the yellow one. 

Rachel

Yeah, I think I know what you’re talking about. But I don’t I don’t remember the name either. 

DJ  36:56  

I don’t know. I can’t be any. I like them all. I like pretty Every candy The only I don’t I don’t really like his black licorice. Ah, I don’t like it. Yeah, yeah, I’ll eat it in a pinch. You know, I mean, I’m not gonna let it go to waste. But it’s not my it’s not my favorite

Rachel  37:12  

since you asked me I never actually asked you back. So nowadays What do you do for Halloween?

DJ  37:18  

I mean, you won’t be here for Halloween But no, then we can talk about that too. So I’m going to Mexico tomorrow. Yeah, as you know, and we go almost every year to hang out with my husband’s parents. 

Rachel

Oh they live down there?

DJ

They go there every year for their wedding anniversary and so this year, it’s their 50th wedding anniversary. Okay, so we go down there at the end of October because it’s the end of the rainy season and the beginning of the high touristy season. So it’s the in between season so it’s not really crowded yet, but you may not have all sunny days either. But who cares? It’s 85 degrees and sunny. I mean it’s 85 degrees and you can go swim in the pool. They have like pools in the, in the at the resort, so, um, but the Mexicans celebrate Dia de los Muertos, which is the day of the dead. Are you familiar with it? 

Rachel

a little bit.

DJ 

Okay. So it’s, it’s kind of an interesting way to celebrate Halloween. So what they do is they go to cemeteries and they go to the grave sites of their elders, and they have food and they light candles and they celebrate their life and, you know, whatever. It’s really sweet. Yeah, it’s very touching to to watch in, in general, and I’ve seen it a few times and I’m always respectful of their, of their ceremonies and their traditions. But that’s another thing is, but their Halloween, their Los Muertos or Dia de los Muertos celebrations is really festive. Yeah, downtown, especially in Puerto Vallarta where we’re going, and I think we’re going to I think this year though, we’re going to be in Guadalajara, which I’ve never experienced the Day of the Dead celebrations there, but it’s very festive. And have you seen the movie Coco? Yeah, it’s kind of like that. Lots of music and, and celebration and food and everything. And the one thing that I kind of, I kind of always noticed we’ve been going there for many years is that the the kids that they go trick or treating at the Malecon or, you know, in the downtown area, they’re so polite, and they’re so thankful for whatever you give them. It’s not like, here where it’s like, what you don’t have a Clark bar. Screw you, let’s egg this house. It’s not like that very, the, it’s just totally culturally different. And that’s one of the things that I love about Mexico and there are so many things I do love about, about Mexico and, and the Hispanic culture, but that’s one of them is they is the respect of the family dynamic and the respect of the elders within that family dynamic.

Rachel  39:51  

Yeah, I know that.

DJ  39:54  

So I’m looking forward to it. I’m pretty excited. I’m pretty excited to go to see the celebrations down there. So. So that’s what we do at Halloween. We don’t do it every year when we’re not going to Mexico. I really enjoy, I really enjoy, I really enjoy handing out candy to the kids. And when we had a house, when the kids would come by the little kids in their costumes, it would be so much fun. We’d sit out front and I’d have this huge pot filled with candy. And I gotta tell you a funny story. One year I had a nice Bigfoot costume that the neighbor had. And I wore it and I stood on the front lawn and pretended I was a decoration. Oh my god. And then and then when the kids came up, I would move and they would scream and and everything. That was a lot of fun. I had so much fun. That’s the part of Halloween that I love. Now, as a kid. It was all about harvesting as much candy as I possibly could.

Rachel  40:55  

Yeah, all the stuff you said before

DJ  40:56  

Yeah and now, but as an adult, it’s more About You know, watching all the little kids.

Rachel  41:02  

Yeah, as an adult for me, I think my favorite part is definitely just the festivities, man. I just love seeing the costumes. I love the music and the, you know, the festiveness of it.

DJ  41:14  

Do you? I don’t believe I know. A lot of people equate Halloween with evil and stuff, but I don’t. I don’t equate it to that I equated it as just a big block party. Yeah, same, you know, and I think that yes, you can dress up as whatever, but I don’t equate it as evil. Like I don’t I just don’t equate the holiday is evil. I equate it more as a pagan holiday for harvesting like for things like that. I don’t equate it to demonic or satanic or anything like that. Now, I know that that’s out there. And I know that, that people do that stuff, but that’s not how I equate it. Yeah, you know, I don’t equate that

Rachel  41:57  

and I never did either.

DJ  41:59  

So my Um, you know, my thought is my thought is, is Halloween is should be a fun time, a celebratory time and a renewing time. You know, the evil stuff people can always make evil like I saw they had evil Christmas stuff too. So yeah, you know, so I mean anybody can pervert it into, into evilness, but, but for me, I’m just saying for me personally, it’s about dressing up. It’s about trick or treating. It’s about doing, you know, healthy mischievous things that kids do. Yeah, you know, and, and as long as it stays in that realm, I will always enjoy Halloween. Now from a gay standpoint. Halloween, for me is almost voyeuristic. I like to watch everyone else that go all out and dress up but Joe is not a big Halloween. Like he he’s not a big fan of it, like the commercialization of it and all that the partying of it. So we don’t really do anything for Halloween except just watch. Yeah, you know, but but the gay community I mean goes all out. I mean, they have taken this holiday and they have run with it and made it their own and so it can be pretty, pretty fun. You know, if you want to participate,

Rachel  43:18  

the biggest thing that’s gonna bum me out is that I’ll be traveling on Halloween

DJ  43:21  

on Halloween day?

Rachel  43:22  

I’m going to Jersey god damn it, so no, I can’t I can’t catch anything that’s gonna happen in Chicago. Oh, man. I know. I was so mad. But I have to go for a wedding. But I’m just like, Damn, I was looking really looking forward to this.

DJ  43:37  

Well, next year’s always next year. Yeah, there’s always next year but you should see the Halloween parade.

Rachel  43:44  

Yeah, maybe they’ll televise it or something. Yeah,

DJ  43:45  

we’re gonna go to Mexico this year, but mostly most likely not next year. So we’ll probably be here for that, for that for the festivities. And I you know, I like to have Halloween parties. I, before I met Joe, I had this huge Halloween party at our house. house and it took me and the guy that I was dating at the time. This was 15, no more than that because Joe and I have been together 17 years it was like 20 years ago.

DJ  44:13  

Two weeks to get the house ready.

Rachel  44:15  

Wow. I like that.

DJ  44:17  

Yeah. So we decorated we had I’ve made the front yard look like a cemetery, going back we had laser lights. We had fog machines on the roof of the house. That it was just unbelievable. Crazy. But it went off and it was fun. And I was the devil that year. I’ll never forget you know, I know because I was red. I had the pointy ears. And I ordered this long coat that was super cool with buttons on it and everything. And I looked cool. I was a sexy vampire. Right? But the the problem with that is the makeup made me sweat and the coat was super heavy. So I, the whole night I was soaking wet. It was live and learn. But it was, it was a lot of fun. I do like that. I do like to have a Halloween party. But if you can’t have a Halloween party with the space for dancing, then just don’t do it. Well, it’s hard because then people just standing there in their costumes drinking and eating, you know what I mean? That’s true. So part of the fun thing was like dancing to the monster mash and to thriller. And all these other you know, cool, you know, just cool music. So, so that’s kind of what I like to do for Halloween. Because after Halloween, it’s all about Christmas because you blend in Thanksgiving with Christmas. Basically, Thanksgiving is like the big dinner before Christmas.

Rachel  45:43  

Well, now Yeah, that’s sort of true. I know a lot of other people look at Christmas and Thanksgiving differently. But for me, the height of the year is October. And everything after especially all the holidays is just burying yourself for all the crap you gotta take from family.

DJ  45:58  

Yes. So to me It, is from November to, from thanksgiving to, I’m going to say December 1, second, third, fourth, is, is getting ready for Christmas. But after like the first week in December, as you can ask Joe this, I don’t work. I don’t like to work. You know what I like to do? I like to go and window shop and have a peppermint mocha from Starbucks. sit there and listen to the Christmas music, enjoy the decorations. I really don’t stress at all. I just don’t. I don’t know. And I always say to Joe, I said, I’m not going to let anybody take this from me. Two weeks out of the year. It’s just, I have nothing going on. 

Rachel  46:47  

So December is your, your time.

DJ  46:48  

Yeah, now I’ll do the podcast. I will do the podcast in December. And I will you know and all of that because I don’t think this is work. This is more fun than anything else. But I mean, I don’t I don’t go I don’t get stressful about work. Okay, and I don’t, I don’t begin any big initiatives or anything like that. And by the way, I have about $5,000 worth of Christmas decorations. And last year,

DJ  47:17  

I decorated the apartment so much you couldn’t even move. So, I like it and I like to look at it and I’d like the festivities of it, like I would come home back then Joe was working, but I come home and I have all the Christmas lights on. And I’d sit on the couch with a cup of hot peppermint cocoa and, and just sit there and just revel in that time, you know, and that’s what Christmas to me is about. It’s not about stress. And, and so, so I’m looking forward to that part. But I never every year after Christmas, I say, Oh, I’m gonna plan better next year. Never happened. It doesn’t ever work. I’m telling you right now. Don’t even try it. It never worked. 

Rachel  47:59  

always have this plan for October. I’m just like, you know, I’m trying to get in the same mentality you do. And then every frickin year like no next year will be my time.

DJ  48:08  

yeah. I always say, oh, next year, I’m gonna go Christmas shopping early. I’m gonna mail everything out early. I’m gonna save up separate money from my regular bill paying money, and it’s just going to be for Christmas. And every fucking year, it is the same thing. I work like a dog. And then I’m exhausted. Yeah. And so. So anyway, so that’s kind of, that’s kind of my thing. So I’m looking forward to Halloween because we’ll be in Mexico for Halloween. It’s really a different experience there. And then coming back on November 11, and then it’ll be in full on Christmas. Because will be a week or two from Thanksgiving. That’s true. So what are you doing for Thanksgiving? What are your plans? 

Rachel  48:52  

Oh fuck, I don’t know, because I’ll be away at the beginning of November so I won’t really be able to leave for Thanksgiving again. I have some family here, but I don’t really like him that much. So I might just hang out at home. 

DJ  49:04  

I don’t know. Well, you can come have Thanksgiving here. We’re gonna have some people here. So if you don’t have any other plans, you come and eat, eat turkey and or whatever, we can make you a vegetarian. vegetarian. I’m gonna put a picture of a turkey on your player and say, Here you go, here’s two chickpeas and a sprig of thyme. You’re good to go. Just a picture of it. I just a picture of it. That’s it. Oh my god. I am gonna. I have a turkey hat. I totally do. I have a turkey hat. And if I had the time to get up from the couch, dig out from the studio to get it. I would get it and show it to you. It’s a tradition. I wear it every year for Thanksgiving. We’ve had it for years. It’s a turkey with the two legs sticking up. You think I’m lying. I’m not lying. And by the way, ladies and gentlemen. I will take a picture of it because I have no shame and I’ll post it on our website. 

Rachel

Do you have to be wearing it? 

DJ

Yeah, I will. I have a picture of me wearing it.  So check it out on the DJ Doran show website. djdoran.com. Yeah. Anyway. So uh, so I like to have fun at Christmas. I like to decorate I go the extra miles. You know, when we had a house, we had this big old Craftsman house I think was like 5000 square feet. It was humongous. And I would decorate the outside of the house in phases. I’d say okay, Phase One is the base layer of lights. And then phase two is this and phase three is that and then I spent the money and I bought this thing that you plug all the lights in, and then it plays music and then the light blink according to the music.

Rachel  50:45  

To the tempo and everything? That’s really cool. 

DJ  50:47  

And so I did all that and, and I would stand in the middle of the street, of our street and look at the house and Joe would be coming out of the stand on the porch. He’s like, What the hell are you doing? It’s 10 o’clock at night. You can’t be playing this he goes, they can see these fucking lights on Mars.

DJ  51:11  

That’s how excessive I get. And you know, because I’m a perfectionist, every light has to be right. And, and so one day I was putting the lights up on this on the house. It was freezing cold. This was in Vancouver, Washington. So it was freezing cold. It was a freezing rain. So it was like wet rain, but it had a little bit of ice in it. And I’m on a steel, sorry an aluminum ladder, climbing on the roof of our house putting all the lights on and everything. And I’m freezing and I climb up the ladder. And you know what side lights are? On the front door. So side lights are two long glass panels on either side of the door. Okay, I’m sure you’ve seen them. Yeah, but anyway, there’s Joe and my and our daughter Courtney standing there holding a nice hot cup of hot cocoa watching the freeze to death. But you know, but, but in the end the lights looked amazing. It was totally worth it. And, but like you would see all our neighbors, they’d have the lights, little lights, little lights, and then there would be this beacon of light that you can see from three towns over. That was our house. And of course I don’t throw anything away. So we hauled those lights all over. So now I have some of them here, but I literally have, I’m going to say five huge, big plastic tubs filled with lights. 

DJ  52:41  

That doesn’t include all the decorations. Just lights, that doesn’t include the decorations. That doesn’t include the, you know, the big Santa Clauses that you stand up. So Joe collects Oh, so we have like six of those. And then I have like little houses that have that whole ledge out there in the, in the Living Room. I put that fake snow down and I put all the houses in I put lights inside. And then I have garland and just all sorts of stuff. So I go all out for for Christmas now. And I would even go out for Halloween I would decorate the house for Halloween with purple lights and orange lights, but I love those. Yeah, I love those too, but it’s too close. Now. It’s like I don’t want to put them up and then like take them down right away. I know. So I don’t do it.

Rachel  53:28  

I was I was under I was feeling that too. Like my boyfriend decided that he wanted to decorate the apartment and I’m like, over a week away now. I mean, just it’s not gonna.

DJ  53:38  

Yes. So I kind of have kind of skipped decorating. But I do see for Halloween. I do see a lot of people. Chicago does go all out for decorating for Halloween. Yeah. And as a Uber driver when I drive around everywhere. I’m amazed at all the effort and even the expense that people go through to decorate the houses for Halloween. It’s just it’s cool now to watch other people do it. Yeah, but where I tend, I want to focus is right after Halloween, I will slowly start getting ready for Christmas decorating. I try not to decorate, I try not to decorate for Christmas until after Thanksgiving. And the reason is what I told you earlier, if you decorate too early, then by the time Christmas comes around, you’re like, I’m sick of this, you know exactly. I like to decorate right after Thanksgiving and I leave it up until after new years or so. And then to me, it’s that’s when winter begins up until the end. If it snows, it’s cold. It doesn’t matter because it looks beautiful with the lights and what have you. But after you take the lights down and it’s the middle of January, then it’s fucking winter. And it’s miserable.

Rachel  54:47  

Yup. And everybody escapes 

DJ  54:49  

everybody tries to escape those of us that can afford it.

DJ  54:52  

Yeah, right. Everybody’s hibernating, Chicago is asleep for a long time.

DJ  54:57  

Yep. And so, So that’s kind of where we are. But

Rachel  55:04  

I like the dude, Chicago fall in Chicago is amazing. Oh, it’s funny. It’s so much better than on East Coast because it’s like, over there. The weather shifts like insanity. But here, it’s been beautiful.

DJ  55:17  

It’s been beautiful. It’s gonna be beautiful tomorrow. The leaves are now starting to really turn. Although I did see some trees on Lakeshore drive down but closer to downtown where the wind blew the leaves off the trees and so the trees are like half bare. So that is like okay, I know what’s coming. 

Rachel  55:36  

The wind was intense. The other day, it’s just making me feel like oh shit, winter’s coming.

DJ  55:39  

and you know when you when, in the studio. our listeners can’t see this but we have two huge windows on the 14th floor overlooking Lake Michigan and overlooking the park. Right. And so you can see the tops of the trees and they’re mostly green but if you look out you can see a couple of trees over here that are red and orange, And they’re starting to turn. But what it what a view it is when the leaves really turn and I looked down and I see a blanket of colors. Yeah, I totally love that people like to trash on Chicago all the time and say it’s expensive and this and that. And it is. There are lots of problems in Chicago, but it is such a beautiful city. And I sit here and I think about, man, I’m a lucky dude. I live in a nice place and a nice part of town with a spectacular view. I got it good. And I am grateful for that. And that’s one thing that I always do at the end of the year. I don’t know what, what anybody else does. But I take stock. Okay, I take stock of what I have and who, what’s happening in my life. Do you do that?

Rachel  56:47  

Yeah, I’ve done that a couple times at the end of the year, but mostly I’m just so focused on what’s coming next, so

DJ  56:53  

like, I know that you take stock in you’re like, Oh my god, I’m so grateful that I found DJ and I’m part of this show now. It’s amazing. I am I literally and I totally get it. I feel you.

Rachel  57:07  

Good. I’m glad.

DJ  57:08  

And, and, but i do that i do i in all seriousness, I take stock of the people around me, the the, the blessings that I have in my life, you know, because I know you don’t drive around much anymore because your car is broken, but but I drive around I see a lot of people in really difficult, tough situations and I think I am so lucky. I am so lucky. And because especially the older people, so I take stock of what I have I, I try to be grateful for what I have. And I try and I try and recognize that you know, I’m very fortunate because but to the grace of circumstances, I could be in that situation and still can be quite frankly. I mean, I mean all of us are few months way from that, from that kind of thing. 

Rachel

I completely agree. 

DJ

Which is another reason why I work so hard is because I just never I never want to, I never want to be in that situation never. so so that’s what the holidays mean for me so Halloween is a, is like to me is like the fall holiday that’s the in my mind I visualize orange and brown and yellow and red leaves and cool evenings and windy nights and and you know sometimes during the day is sunny so it’s nice but it still has that crisp air and I don’t know about you but fall air smells so different. 

Rachel

I agree. I completely agree. 

DJ

It just the whole thing smells different. And I I know this is kind of weird, but I love the smell of fall and leaves.

Rachel  58:55  

Yeah, I did no, I do too.

DJ  58:57  

And I think I think I do that because I equate it to a time when we were growing up when I was growing up, where, you know, you’d see all the piles of leaves at the end, then we will jump in, and then you play in the pile of leaves. So I have happy memories that are triggered by those sights and smells and so forth and so on. And, and one thing that I, I sort of seen, like I really try to fight against and that is taking for granted what is around you. So I remember when we lived in Vancouver, Washington, we would have to cross the I-5 bridge to go into Portland, Oregon, and I always look over down you look straight down the Columbia River and you can see Mount Hood in the, on the horizon. And it was like a postcard. But when I first got there is like, oh, how beautiful. Oh, how beautiful. And then you live there and it’s like, oh, yeah, I see it. I see it every day. You know what I mean? Yeah, and I really try to. I really try to not let myself get that way here. That’s why I get up early and I take pictures of the sunrise and post them on Instagram. And if you guys want to follow you go to the DJ Doran show Instagram you’ll see all my sunrise photos because some of them are so spectacular. I don’t think the camera does it justice. Yeah. The colors and and how beautiful It’s like waking up and seeing a different portrait of the sky every morning.

Rachel  1:00:20  

and I’m actually with you on that one. Because like ever since moving here, I always hated being being in a city it would always irritate me but then I moved to Chicago and something’s different man and I would walk through the streets and I would enjoy myself and I would take in everything and I would, I especially in the fall the Fall is amazing incident in Halloween because you know stores like to get weird. And I love that and I would see everybody, how they’re dressed and how they like what their mood is and how stores reflect the holiday that is coming and it always, man every time every time I walk through this month, as has been really really nice, especially in like the popular areas around here. Like, kind of getting off the Belmont stop and walking here. It’s amazing. I love it.

DJ  1:01:08  

Yeah, so that’s kind of my thing. That’s what all the holidays mean to me and at the end of the year, it’s Guess what? But you get to start over, say, Okay, I did okay this year, but this is a brand new year and I really do my best to try and leave that baggage behind me. So I’m excited for that.

Rachel  1:01:29  

You know, I will add in one last thing, though, that the like, Halloween for me always feels like it’s a giant party where you get to shake off anything that happened in the rest of the year. Because it feels like man, whatever weird shit that happened in the summer, and whatever you had to do to thaw out from the winter. You get to just shake all of that off of your shoulders for a whole you know, whatever feels like Halloween to you. It doesn’t even have to be at night, but for most of October to me. I just get to shake off all this crap and all the hectic pieces of me moving here of how intense Chicago winters are and everything. And then I’m like, All right, I’m here. Let’s have a gigantic party, man. That’s what it’s always felt like to me.

DJ  1:02:16  

Yep, I agree. And, you know, you’re young. But as I’ve gotten older, I think my worldview, my things that are important to me is more about a quality of life. And I’m living a good life.

Rachel  1:02:30  

Yeah, I think I am too.

DJ  1:02:33  

So, on that note, we’re, um, we’re closing our show. We’re getting ready to end the show for today. So you’ve been listening to the DJ Doran show and you notice we didn’t talk about politics or news or anything today. 

Rachel

Look at that.

DJ

I didn’t want to it there was so much going on. I was like I’m exhausted by it. You know, I’m getting ready to go to Mexico tomorrow. I just didn’t want to. I didn’t want to deal with it. No one needs, there’s so much going on but we will be covering a lot of stuff because There’s oh my god every time I think that we’ve reached the crazy fill point. Yeah, it gets crazier. It gets crazier. It gets absolutely crazier. The thing with Ukraine is so crazy. It’s, I’m like I can’t even then the republicans today I’m just going to talk about this for two seconds, but the republicans today stormed the impeachment hearings. And I’m thinking to myself, it’s a grown men acting like they’re in fucking High School. And all of us regular people are, are suffering, you know, and it’s like, this is what they think is important. This is what they think is important. Get a fucking life. Don’t even get me started. I see. I don’t even want to go there. But anyway, 

Rachel

The blood pressure is rising.

DJ

Already already. I just want to scream about it. So you’ve been listening to the DJ Doran show you can find us on and I had some big news. I’m going to share how Yeah, you can find us on on spreaker, podomatic, Spotify SoundCloud, stitcher, stitcher and a whole bunch of others and now drumroll Mr. drummer, Miss drummer. We are on iHeartRadio.

Rachel  1:04:11  

We made it we’re on iHeartRadio.

DJ  1:04:23  

I’m assuming that you know it’s going to take a while for people to find us but we qualified and, and the DJ Doran show is now officially on iHeartRadio. Hell yeah. So I hope you keep listening. We’re each show is getting better and better. We’re having more fun doing it and, and be patient. And we’re soon to be when I get back from Mexico, probably by the by December we’re going to actually have a call in feature where people will call in and you can call in, and you’ll be able to message us you’ll be able to talk to us through Skype and everything.

Rachel  1:05:00  

It’s gonna be exciting. We can’t wait to you know, have that open line of communication with the audience, man.

DJ  1:05:06  

I know I’m so excited. I’m so excited. So, anyway, stick with us and, and we’ll see you next week. So until then, it’s been great. Have a wonderful evening. Good night, Rachel.

Rachel

Goodnight, DJ.

DJ  1:05:21  

Goodnight everyone else. Bye 

Rachel

bye bye