To be a bit annoyed about all the fuss about halloween?

[Karlakitten1]

I've had childrn at school asking why they have to go to school on Halloween. I think this is ridiculous and although it's all a bit of fun on the day, I just don't see the need for a big fuss and think going trick or treating is like begging IMHO. Am I a miserable git?

*dies trick or treat, not dies!

DOES!

I love Halloween. I used to get dressed up and go to the pub but I don't now, I make a pumpkin and put it on my porch but I hide in the house with the lights off because the kids round my way aren't very nice and want fivers/tenners rather than sweets and if you say no they throw things in your house so they can all sod off now lol.

I don't really get why the Americans dress up as fairies and famous tv characters/singers that aren't scary on Halloween - I thought the whole point was that it was supposed to be scary??

You American bashers do know that the US is populated by over 300m people with goodness knows how many different ethnicities? They're not a homogenous mass any more than MN is. So blaming 'Americans' or asking why 'Americans' do such and such is ludicrous. But every year in the run up to Halloween 'Americans' get blamed for everything.

YANBU. We always do something big for Halloween but only because it's a big thing in Bulgaria where our DCs are from and their grandparents usually visit. It's usually a halloween party and scary stories but this year we're taking them and their GPs to a local farm where they run a horror maze which is terrifying. DS2 might not come if there are clowns involved, which there aren't apparently.

Oh and no, it's not an American thing. It started in Britain.

You don't need to knock on peoples' doors and ask for food in order to talk to them, especially when it's your 5 year old standing there awkwardly. I could probably think of other ways to meet your neighbours

Yes, I am not sure how to frame it in a simple way for you.

Its not like that but I don't think you want to understand its not like that. You dont want to understand or perhaps you cant. ?

Halloween used to make me very anxious when i lived back in London. I would worry about it for weeks before. It was an excuse for gangs of yobs to roam the streets from 7 till 11 damaging property. Bins turned out over lawns, paint ect chucked at doors. No costumes, money demanded at the door. No good will at all. I was on my own and used to have to put my little ones to bed, turn all the lights off and literally hide all evening. But lights on or off, house decorated or not, door answered or not my property still got damaged every year for 8 years. Or something horrible to clear up in the morning. Neighbors too.

When i moved to this area (village, rural) it was so much nicer. Little children (parents lurking by the gate) in costume knocking and accepting a few sweets with a chorus of ''thank yoooo'' and it's all over by 7.30. No trick or treaters knocking older than 10 or 11 ish. If you don't decorate no one knocks.( My elderly mum can't get up and down out of her chair easily and doesn't want them knocking and they don't). My kids have gown up loving Halloween.

Mind you I've lived here 16 years now and i still get an anxious twinge about Halloween! Amazing how these feelings stick with you.

Halloween comes from an old celtic tradition believed to have originated in ireland, from the samhain celebrations. Its probably an amalgamation of lots of old harvest/autumn festivals. I much prefer it to Christmas, i can decorate the house, dress the kids up, eat lots of crap, but i don't have to worry about buying presents or spending a shed load of money. Kids are off for a week here, so happy days.

What Laiste said explains why many people have legitimate concerns about Halloween. Yes, it can be fun and wonderful if done right. In America, I believe, people follow a certain etiquette, ie little children in costume only and don't knock at undecorated houses and it's all finished by 7:30. But where I live, I get intimidating older teenagers banging on the door until late, even if my house is undecorated. So I usually escape by going out that night and not returning home until past midnight!

Everyone should have the opportunity to opt out of Halloween. However, some people don't respect this. Hence the Halloween backlash . . .

Wishing all the nice, considerate people a fun Halloween!

October is miserable. It's dark, cold, Christmas is still ages away, no holidays to look forward to, and the summer feels like a distant memory. I think Halloween is quite a fun way to break things up, it feels autumnal and embraces the dark evenings as well as the seasonal colours and produce.

Of course there are always the anti-social yobs who spoil it but they'd probably be misbehaving regardless.

Trick or treating isn't obligatory, nor is any other part of Halloween. It's just fun. Kids thinking they should have the day off just need to be reminded that it's not a national holiday and there are plenty of other 'events' that you don't get time off school for - birthdays, Valentine's Day, Bonfire Night, Mothers/Fathers Day, etc.

As I am Pagan like a previous poster I celebrate as Samhain. My DS loves it and we enjoy it. We don't expect a day off, as it falls on a Monday I will be working as normal.

DS doesn't do trick or treat as it's not the sort of neighbourhood that you can do it in really. we tend to go to an organised Halloween party at a soft play. It's great fun and the children love dressing up and so do many of the grown ups.

Fine if you don't enjoy it but have tolerance for those who do and do keep it as a tradition.

I got a bit of a different perspective on festivals from a Spanish student I was tutoring. She was a bit at the enormous hoohah we make about Christmas, and for how loooong we seem to drag out the Christmas period, the huge levels of expectation and massive consumerism.

She reckoned that it's because we don't have enough festivals! She said that having little (national and also local) festivals spread throughout the year is lovely, gives people regular, varied little things to celebrate and look forward to and avoids the total hysteria of expressing all your festive feelings in one massive rush.

If she's right, which I think maybe she is, we should perhaps stop being po-faced about Halloween and find more things to celebrate and to mark the passing of the seasons.

My DH comes from Portugal and they too have lots of little festivals mainly to celebrate saints days but also Dia de Camoes and Day of the Revolution. It doesn't need to be commercialised which I think is what a lot of people have grown to hate about Halloween. When I was a child it was much more low key, we did bobbing for apples and just dressing up in homemade outfits. I think the stores saw it as a licence to print money.

I reckon there's probably something in that, Eolian. Christmas is ridiculous in this country, I don't think anywhere else goes at OTT over it to the extent that we do, even much-maligned 'consumerist, commercialist' America.

But where I live, I get intimidating older teenagers banging on the door until late, even if my house is undecorated

I decorate I get ready for trick or treaters however I was not happy one year when loads of teenagers came out with masks on - its really intimidating and stupid really. I dont see it for older teenagers but for little kids and their families.

I think Halloween is quite a fun way to break things up, it feels autumnal and embraces the dark evenings as well as the seasonal colours and produce.

^^ This is how I feel, a real mark in the change of season, weather, clocks going forward or back etc.
I have lots of lovely halloween decs, I adore crows, pumpkins, cute witches and cats..

Yep - more celebrating and fun, less buying stuff. Sounds good.

I'm not keen, I never encouraged my dc to participate but will give out sweets if people call.

I must admit, I enjoy Halloween as well. I'm a huge horror nut and I love things like witches, crows and cats. Plus I get to make Pumpkin Pie and dress as Magenta from Rocky Horror, whilst DP goes as Riff Raff, so it's not all bad. (I have yet to convince him to go as Frank-N-Furter!)

I'm glad to see all the 'it's just begging' has now started in earnest.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzz.........................

American trash!! Hahahha! Please tell that to my mum who was doing Halloween way back when! God, there are some right bum faced twats on this thread. I am happy I live in the US now and can look out to my porch of my Victorian bedecked with pumpkins and spiderwebs. Roll on October 31st!

I think maybe for older kids if they had halloween parties or film nights laid on it would take the emphasis off trick or treat. Bathsua, what do older kids do in America? Are there parties etc?

Yanbu. I don't like it. Roll on 1 November.

Erm, I'm not sure why people keep repeating this myth that "Americans" don't dress up as anything scary?

I was in a supermarket yesterday (Southern USA) it was loaded with blood soaked zombie costumes, (with matching battery operated pretend chainsaw) ghouls, vampires and witches.

The decorations for your home are amazing and certainly "scary".

Our church is having a full on Halloween party too.