It had barely turned October when, shopping at the drug counter in a chain store, I heard the excited chatter of a group of very young customers, some mere eight-year-olds. They were carefully examining an array of seasonal products displayed under the slogan "Happy Halloween". And already they were discussing what they planned to dress up as.

Because, ladies and gentlemen, Halloween or "All Saints' Eve" (the word derives from "All Hallows Eve") has gradually taken root in Poland since arriving as a commerical transplant from the US in the 1990s and now there is no turning back. Every year, more and more Poles join in the celebrations and the growing popularity of the tradition delights traders across the spectrum of related industries -- from cosmetics, through haberdashery to vegetables, with particular emphasis on pumpkin growers.

Nowadays, should someone prove incapable of carving the scary mouth of a corpse in the pumpkin’s orange shell, they can resort to a templates available on the market. Pumpkin lanterns, lit from the inside, placed at the front door or on the porch of the house, are seen as an indication that the inhabitants of the dwelling share the Halloween spirit and are dressing up. They will not slam the door in the faces of the kids who come to the door demanding sweets in exchange for… not haunting their house.

The spread of the Halloween custom in Poland has a positive impact insofar as it helps integrate local communities, something I consider especially valuable in an era where neighborly contacts are ignored or outright avoided.

And so here comes the approach of evening when all sorts of zombies, vampires, witches and various other-worldly beasts are about to go into action. Please don't be scared. Remember, these are just costumes! But are they really? Well, I for one believe that there are other ghouls hiding in vampires -- those that are taken out of the closet of our everyday lives.

How to get rid of fear by giving a fright

In 1772, Father Jan Bohomolec defined ghosts as "corpses rising from coffins, haunting houses, suffocating people, sucking blood, climbing altars, covering them with blood, breaking candles". Moreover, these phantoms stank because they were slightly rotten. Ladies didn’t want to associate with vampires because of their loathsome appearance so the vampires would force them to provide sexual services. Worst of all, by sucking their victims’ blood, they deprived them of their souls. A corpse animated by the devil was hardly a subject for good PR – it had little appeal to either the masses or to the higher spheres. However, with the passage of time, they have become more attractive. Demonic and bloodsucking creatures, existing between the worlds of the living and the dead, turned out to have great seductive power. And they also carried a considerable symbolic load. They have become especially useful for creators of those disciplines that use ghosts to convey "non-political" overtones.

The career of various phantoms began in the early nineteenth century, in the era of Romanticism [the literary, artistic and intellectual period in Polish culture of the first half of the 19th century]. It is enough to recall ballads written by Adam Mickiewicz or Juliusz Słowacki's poems [two leading Polish poets of the period]. Their works often featured dead men wandering around the world of the living.

A century later, vampires were to storm mass culture using cinema as the springboard of their success, starting with the pioneering era of silent cinematography. Afterwards, it only got better, that is, more terrifying, and for a terrifying amount of money. Bloodsuckers began to turn up in musicals, comics, literary sagas, TV series, computer games, even children's books… and of course the visual arts.

And today? A side effect of the various horrors brought to us by the reality we live in is evidence in an increased interest in the dark world of fiction. Exhibitions evoking old beliefs in "living" skeletons, ghosts, demons, vampires and similar creatures are multiplying. Recently, I wrote about the exhibition of works by Aleksandra Waliszewska entitled "Cruel Tales" at the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw ; and not so long ago, in mid-October, another exhibition on the same subject entitled "Anxiety comes at dusk", featuring a whole range of ghosts, ended at Warsaw’s Zachęta Gallery). Weirdness and magic currently dominate the subjects being explored by young artists. This is no coincidence. Rather it is an outcome of various cultural phenomena. Young people are openly manifesting their reluctance to face the challenges of "adult" life. Instead, they choose to escape into the virtual world, and immerse themselves in esoterics, parapsychology, and paranormal phenomena. There is a reason why Anatoly Kashpirowsky [a Russian psychotherapist of Ukrainian origin who claims to be a hypnotist and a psychic healer] has a loyal following once more having become the protagonist of a recently broadcast TV series and a published book.

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     All of this creates an atmosphere conducive to vampire games. This year's Halloween is bound to have a visually impressive setting. Honestly, young people, and not just them, have reasons to worry about the future nowadays. And one of the easiest way to get rid of such anxiety, when it surfaces at dusk, is by role playing and startling others by giving them a fright.

Ghostly career

The title of the first work by Salvador Dali to be considered surreal was "Honey is sweeter than blood", which was createed in 1928. It was as if Dali wanted to honor the vampires who were already flirting with pop culture. Worth recalling is the fact that one of the first horror films in cinema history was "Symphony of Horror" by Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau (1922). This marked the first appearance of the notorious Nosferatu, the lively vampire, who was to be reborn many times subsequently.

It is impossible to list all the horror and fantasy works in which zombies feature in the lead roles. With time, the old ugly demons, forced to adjust to the demands of the prevailing glamor aesthetics, became prettier, gentler and began to lead a rich emotional life. They got acquainted with fashion trends and took care of their appearance so as not alienate to anyone. In fact, we have even witnessed the advent of vampires who avoid the consumption of human blood (with particular emphasis on virgin blood), who have switched to veganism!

However, the cult nightmares have never been dethroned. After Nosferatu, another immortal corpse took the lead -- Count Dracula, the vampire created by the Irish writer Bram Stoker at the end of the 19th century. Moreover, the demands of the cinema made it necessary that the monster have offspring, hence a daughter (created in 1936) and a son (created in 1943). The Queen of the Damned, Perfect Creature and many other hybrids combining human and supernatural elements were to follow and become idols.

The popular imagination has since been infected by creatures that represent a crossover between tradition and modernity: dancing zombies (with Michael Jackson), strong as steel witches and very handsome witchers. Add to these, a whole crowd of sorceresses, demons, werewolves and lokis.

And one cannot forget the most beautiful vampire who in love, driven by his passionate affection for the girl, was ready to violate his bloodthirsty nature. This love story ignited the imagination of millions of young readers and subsequently viewers of the films from the "Twilight" series.

All these ghosts have appeared on large and small screens alike, images in the convention of real horror, horror amoroso or grotesque horror. Just think of the pale Makarewicz family from the horror comedy "Lullaby"? Or Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride? It's hard not to laugh while watching these films.

Today, they are all vintage works, yet they are far removed from such classic comedy horrors as the "The Rocky Horror Picture Show", a hit musical and film as well.

Real monsters

Once again, we are witnessing "the glorification of vampire activities". However, this time around the cause does not stem from a pop culture hit on the scale of "Twilight". The obsession with vampires seems to resurrect when the world (or parts of it) comes under the rule of real living monsters, as if by losing ourselves in such make-belief games we can laugh off and soften the impact of the terrors that surround us. Needless to say, this time around these consist of the war in Ukraine, Covid and climate change. And there’s also the anxiety the young generation feel about their future, their existence and work.

Let's recall when and how it all started. The first anarchic-nihilistic subculture that promoted horror and shock was called “punk”. Punk grew out of young people’s dissatisfaction with the politics of the day and the feeling that poorer sections of society lacked a life of opportunities and prospects. Thus, the kids who felt “inferior” rejected the norms and principles of the establishment.

Back then, at the end of the 1970s, punk followers created a characteristic look that negated the classic aesthetics. Of course, there were many subgroups in this subculture, each with its own visual code, but they shared some common distinguishing features: pale complexion, heavily mascara’d eyes, lips painted with carmine, purple or black, plus a lot of threatening metal elements, whether nailed to the body as piercings or complementing the outfit (chains, studs, bracelets). Black dominated in clothing -- black leather coats and pants e.g. Heavy Doc Martens boots were the preferred footware. A Mohawk tuft on the head was the signature hairstyle.

This image is still valid, yet has become even more horror-oriented. In the mid-1980s, the emo style grew out of punk. As you can readily guess, it was an attitude that promoted spontaneity and the strong expression of emotions. And again, it was defined by young people who wanted to express their opposition to aggression and the urge to accumulate excess worldly goods. Let us add that the look associated with deviating from traditional elegance always went hand-in-hand with the behavior adopted by a given subculture, in this instance marked by a display of melodramatic gestures reflecting unrequited love and self-destructive tendencies. Interestingly, you can find elements of the romantic philosophy in the attitude of emo people.

Vampire look

There was a time when this styling was a Halloween masquerade, but nowadays one can see it all year round. Models, actors and singers make-up themselves to look like vampires. And so do young people.

It is difficult not to notice them. They wander the streets, mostly in groups, seemingly isolated from their surroundings. They have deadly pale faces, eyes encircled with thick, black mascara, smeared here and there, as if the make-up had been blurred by a tear; bloodshot whites of the eye, pupils white as a blind man's or even phosphorescent green or purple (special lenses); blood-stained mouths, suggesting raw meat freshly eaten; visible fangs in parted lips, sharp and long, like those of a predator; in addition, claw-like nails, pointed ears, matted or curled, always jet black hair.

They often sport spider web tattoos. Girls like to put on stockings with huge flying eyelets and holes, as if they ripped in struggle with some predator.

What is also noteworthy is the aura of eeriness these next generations of Dracula seek to project -- glazed, slow, dreamlike movements, thoughts adrift in the afterlife and a cavernous low voice. Nowadays priests and priestesses of the darkness communicate via the Internet, but their rituals have remained unchanged for centuries: sit in the crypt for a while, stare at the moon, listen to Wave and Gothic music, suffer from emotional disappointment, worry about their wretchedness, their incompatibility with reality.

Of course, the Gothic subculture has also reached us. During rallies, festivals and in Goth clubs, you can learn the theory, get practical tips and draw on the help of specialists in hairstyles, makeup, jewelry and the overall appearance. Then there’s the vampire kitchen. Meat is out of the question, but black ice cream is a dessert delicacy! Such attractions await Polish followers of this subculture at the festival in Bolków in Lower Silesia, where an event called "Castle Party" has been held for years, with a solid dose of Gothic rock.

Juice instead of blood

Vampires must not look identical. After all, they come from different eras and have different characteristics for various reasons Hence, professional sources recommend specialization. There are several types of dead bodies to choose from. There is a phantom from the distant past in faded, moldy costumes from centuries ago. The face, hands, and hair should be covered with dust as befits a creature that has been resting for a long time in the crypt.

Another variant is a half-dead vampire, moving stiffly and with difficulty, like a zombie. This type’s scars and wounds are clearly visible, and there are traces of dry blood on the chin. Gothic demons wear long black coats, latex or leather pants and heavy boots (both sexes), while sexy gloomy ladies wear corsets, lace and veils. There are also everyday vampires, dressed in maxi-black, but without displays of extravagance or great luxuries.

Macabre followers must take care of their makeup. Pale skin and black eyeliner framing the eyes are standard. When it comes to lips, there are more options. They can be invisible, white powdered; black or carmine. For a deadly fatigue effect, the cheekbones can be highlighted with gray.

The height of sophistication is bloody blotches dripping from the lips. What to make them from? Experts recommend ... corn syrup with an admixture of an edible dye. Cheap and safe. Beets are too dark while ketchup is too light and drains too quickly.

Teenagers and kids can dress up as ghouls without risking ridicule. They still have the right to believe in fairy tales. However, for student-age, twenty-somethings this is not befitting anymore. If someone wants to manifest pro-vampire sympathies, best approach it discreetly, and only in the shape of a dark outfit. But there’s no shame reverting during Halloween, a time when you can go crazy and go back to the world of fairy tales.

And in case you come across real demons, I recommend you stock up on garlic and a cross.

- By Monika Małkowska

TVP WEEKLY. Editorial team and journalists

– Translated by Agnieszka Rakoczy