Homecoming As Seen On TV, The Movies, The Internet & Books

The leaves are turning bronze and gold, and the breeze is crisp and cool. Fall is in the air, and If you are a high school or college student that means it’s time for the biggest event of the season- homecoming! Former students return for reunions, the team plays at home again, and everyone is gearing up for the culmination of the week’s events, the famous homecoming dance.

The boys have it pretty easy, they put on a nice shirt, slacks, and a tie, but girls are faced with a very important decision – what dress to wear? It’s not easy to choose, albeit most girls would go ahead and choose from the 2023 pink homecoming dresses from Peaches Boutique and other dress shops in their city. Go for stores that are known for great service and offer an incredible selection; they would have a staff ready to help you to ensure your homecoming will be picture-perfect.

Homecoming is a cherished tradition, so of course it has made its mark on popular culture, and maybe popular culture has changed our view of it. Let’s take a look at how homecoming has been portrayed in our media.

Books

Surprisingly, homecoming doesn’t make much of an appearance in print, but we did find one novel centered on it: Homecoming Queen by John Hall is a YA suspense thriller set in a small town infamous for the historical murder of a homecoming queen. Now the current contestants are becoming the victims of suspicious and horrible ‘accidents’. The brave young heroine, a modern take on Nancy Drew, puts herself in harm’s way to discover who is really behind the murder and mayhem. Interestingly, the only novel about such a happy time is a murder mystery, perhaps the bright nature of homecoming makes the horror of the tale look all that much darker.

Cinema

A search for the phrase ‘homecoming dance’ nets us a list of film titles – The Virgin Suicides,

Freaky, Goosebumps, Thriller. As unbelievable as it may seem, the common theme is obvious! There are killers on the loose and they are showing up at homecoming! Is it because it’s so close to Halloween? Maybe we better see what’s on TV!

Television

We shouldn’t be surprised, but here is a list of modern TV shows that include ‘homecoming dance’ in their keywords – Lab Rats Episode: The Haunting of Mission Creek High, School Spirits Episode: The Twilight End Zone, Yellowjackets Episode: Doomcoming, I Am Not Okay with This Episode: Deepest, Darkest Secret. Wow! Dark. Secret. Haunting. Doom… This is all a bit unexpected! Sure, people love a good scare, but homecoming is a beloved tradition, it seems strange to find it has become such a popular backdrop for thrillers and murder mysteries. As with movies, it must be something about the juxtaposition of a happy occasion with the darker side of society that fascinates. In any case, it’s time to look online!

The Internet

At last, here we find a lot more than scary stories. An Internet search brings up a wide variety of pages and articles devoted to our dear old homecoming, and the vast majority of them are positive. Shared experiences, shopping advice, photos and video of happy homecomings – at last, we have the joyous side of one of the school year’s most anticipated events. It does come as something of a relief that homecoming on the web isn’t the sole domain of ghosts and killers!

Perhaps we shouldn’t be too surprised at homecoming being the scene of the disaster in so much of pop culture media. It doesn’t seem to have dampened our homecoming spirit as evidenced by its overwhelmingly positive portrayal on the Internet. And, if it’s scarier you are looking for, just search for ‘prom’!