Halloween!

[Mythopoet]

Halloween seems to have become much bigger as a cultural phenomenon since the advent of the internet. When I was young, my family rarely did anything for Halloween and I didn't really care about it. And most people seemed to consider trick or treating as just a little kiddie activity. But now Halloween is HUGE! Even if trick or treating is still mostly a kid activity (yay for those of us who have kids) everyone seems to get excited about it these days. Far more so than I recall when I was young.

So how about you? Do you get excited for Halloween? Do you do anything to celebrate? Do you dress up or go trick or treating?

Personally, I never cared about it until I had kids old enough to trick or treat. Now, with 5 kids, Halloween is a MAJOR EVENT in our house. My kids love to dress up and they love to go trick or treating. And this year my 6-year-old started asking for a Halloween party so we had a small one with family members. No doubt he'll want it to get bigger and better each year. The 6-year-old is one of those kids who is obsessed with Halloween all year round. He loves Halloween monsters and creepy movies and such, especially Frankenstein('s monster). (I even got him the classic Frankenstein movie to watch this year.) He's dressed up as Frankenstein('s monster) two years in a row. Sometimes I think my kids like Halloween more than Christmas. lol

 

[Devor]

I think Halloween celebrations are pretty local. Where I grew up we had tons of trick or treaters every year. Now I live in an apartment building which nobody visits, and my kids only trick or treat at the stores on the main road and in the mall. Ugh. They have fun and all, but there's no sense of community and meeting your neighbors.

It's definitely a major event for us. We tend to get a costume or two as "dress up" toys for Christmas, and then at Halloween we make do with what we have (bearing in mind what fits who). This year we have a crime fighting team of Spiderman, Batman, and a Police Officer Baby.... plus a dragon, just because.

 

[Ban]

Halloween is not really a thing in the Netherlands. Sure we have some vaguely related stuff being sold in stores and there are a few large parties here and there, but it is mostly an excuse for students to dress up and drink.

We do have some other holidays that together comprise what halloween is in the US. For trick-or-treating we have "three kings day" which is mostly celebrated in the northern half and "st.Martin's day" which is mostly a southern and flemish event. For dressing up and having fun the southern portion of the country celebrates carnival just like our german neighbours.

 

[CupofJoe]

In the UK Trick or Treat as we have it now can be timed back to the film ET. Before that, and there might be odd event [youth club disco or something] but all that universal. Then Elliot rescued that little hairless alien and everyone under the age of 18 was demanding sweets or your car/house/other expensive item to clean got egged. [Do I sound bitter?]
I know some people that will be lighting a bonfire at dusk and will be keeping it burning all night to keep the spirits at bay and another group who will be holding a seance...

 

[Devor]

Then Elliot rescued that little hairless alien and everyone under the age of 18 was demanding sweets or your car/house/other expensive item to clean got egged. [Do I sound bitter?]

I've never heard an in-real-life story of somebody getting pranked like that on Halloween before... it's usually just in the movies.

 

[CupofJoe]

I've never heard an in-real-life story of somebody getting pranked like that on Halloween before... it's usually just in the movies.

For a few years, if you didn't have something [not so] small to give out to the half dozen teenagers that appeared at your door, you would have eggs thrown at the house, the fence kicked in, the car keyed... the last two happened to people I know who lived in the same street [but might just be coincidental with Halloween], it was just my front windows that got egged on three[?] occasions. It must have been a specific group of kids that grew up and out of it as it hasn't happened for the last ten years.

 

[Aerielle Max]

What I love about halloween is seeing the people in their most creative costume. I also love watching scary movies.

 

[Sheilawisz]

Halloween and the weeks that surround it are some of my favorite times of the year.

The traditions and symbolism of Halloween are not really strong where I live, but there are some Halloween gatherings and the shops sell a considerable variety of Halloween merchandise anyway. The sales of pumpkins are high too, especially regarding this variety of very hard pumpkins that are strikingly different to those regular pumpkins from the U.S.

I have some Halloween decorations in my place, but to me Halloween is a spiritual event more than a party thing.

It would be great to wear a werewolf costume and go out there in the night to have fun, but that's not a tradition here and people would think of me as a total and probably dangerous freak. Instead, I just enjoy the Halloween atmosphere and I celebrate with my own little personal traditions, which I am not going to describe in this thread.

My love for Halloween has been reflected in some of my stories.

In Alice into Darkness, the country of Wander's Land celebrates a tradition called Hallewayn. This is celebrated every December the 16th, and it's a really important thing in every Wandellian town and city. Hallewayn started as a spiritual tradition during the most distant Pagan times, in which a variety of rituals were practiced in order to protect everyone from Magic and evil spirits in general.

In times of the Church, Hallewayn is more of a party thing comparable in many ways to our Halloween. Still the spiritual aspect has survived almost intact into modern day, and the families celebrate a special breakfast or dinner in which they ask God for protection against the very same dark forces that the people from Pagan times feared so much.

 

[Rkcapps]

Halloween is gaining momentum in Australia. There are still those who say, "you're Australian not American " but I lived in Boston for a short time around Halloween and Christmas. Living in America rubbed off because I love it.

My older two kids weren't interested this year but my 10 year old was. We had a Halloween party and did the whole decorating thing. Next year he'll probably be over it too but I'll still decorate!

 

[ThinkerX]

I built and moved into my house almost exactly seventeen years ago. One side directly abuts a large subdivision (though there is no road connection) and my driveway passes through another cluster of dwellings. I have yet to receive any visitors on Halloween. (I believe my house has 'that reputation' amongst the local youth.)

Don't really celebrate Halloween; tonight's plans include judging the current batch of 'Top Scribe' entries and maybe watching an old movie about a strange train ride. (Elvis's ghost makes an appearance, according to the trailer). There was a...disturbing...event at work today, though info is scant and I hope for a sane, mundane explanation.

As to pumpkins, well they seem to do pretty good here in Alaska: Check out the 1,469-pound pumpkin that just broke the Alaska State Fair record

I grew up in Nikiski.

 

[DragonOfTheAerie]

I just freaking love candy. I have younger siblings to steal from.

 

[Rkcapps]

Now that's a pumpkin!