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I love spooky season. As soon as we hit the beginning of fall, my Halloween decorations come out. I even put up lights outside on my deck in addition to my many indoor lights and decorations. Fall and Halloween-season just makes me so happy. I know that not everyone goes all out like I do. As it turns out, the Scream Queen herself, Jamie Lee Curtis, doesn’t do anything to celebrate the holiday anymore. In a recent interview with People, Jamie Lee confessed that now that her children are grown, her days of decorating are over, as there’s no more “pressure to go all out.”
While speaking exclusively to PEOPLE at the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles 2024 Gala on Saturday, Oct. 5, Curtis — known for starring as Laurie Strode for more than four decades in the Halloween movies — insisted she “no longer” feels the “pressure to go all out” on Oct. 31 despite her iconic role.
“I have retired my pumpkins. I have hung up my butcher knives. I have stepped away from the vehicle. I am bowing gently to others who are taking up the mantle,” Curtis, 65, said.
The Freaky Friday star isn’t even planning on decorating her house for the holiday this year.
“Nothing. Zip,” she insisted, adding that “Nobody comes by our house except my neighbor and we do that at like three o’clock,” so she won’t feel the pressure to answer the door to anybody.
“My children are old enough now that they don’t want me to decorate for them. So no, I’m just gently stepping into the darkness,” Curtis jokingly told PEOPLE, referencing her two daughters Ruby, 28, and Annie, 37; whom she shares with screenwriter husband Christopher Guest, 76.
The actress first appeared on screens as Laurie in the original Halloween flick back in 1978. She made her final appearance in 2022’s Halloween Ends. The John Carpenter classic famously introduced horror fans to Michael Myers (a.k.a. “The Shape”), with the original movie spawning 12 additional films; many of which Curtis starred in. The franchise has made more than $1 billion through the years and counting.
Despite the franchise’s success, Curtis doesn’t celebrate Halloween by watching herself in the movies. “No, what kind of life do you think I have?” she joked to PEOPLE.
Curtis’ comments come after she spoke about being known for her Halloween role in a PEOPLE essay in 2022.
“You call me the Scream Queen. I don’t call myself that, but I get it. Not the queen part. The scream part. But what you may not know about me is that I scare easily — and often,” she insisted at the time.
I respect Jamie Lee’s reasoning for no longer decorating for Halloween. A lot of people get to a point where don’t feel the need to go all out for holidays anymore. That said, I don’t decorate for my kids, I decorate for me! No, seriously, they love it, but I think I genuinely love decorating for Halloween more than they do. I decorated for years before they were born and I’ll be putting out my spooky candelabras, pumpkins, spiderwebs, and outdoor lights well after they move out, haha. They’re here for all of the Christmas decorations, though.
I have a confession, though. I’ve never seen any of the Halloween movies beyond the first first one. I don’t mind horror flicks, but I haven’t really sought them out since my college days. I did watch a really fun one last year called Totally Killer, which starred Kiernan Shipka, Julie Bowen, and Olivia Holt. It’s basically Scream meets Back to the Future. I totally recommend it if you’re looking for a fun Halloween movie to watch.
Photos credit: Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency/Avalon, Derek Ross / Avalon, Look Press Agency/Look Press / Avalon
