To be sick of how "big" a thing Halloween is now?

[BlancheBlue]

When I was little which wasn't SO long ago, Halloween was a bit of apple bobbing and a few teenagers with coats pulled over their head asking for change and some egg throwing. Supermarkets were stuffed with tacky shite and Halloween wasn't seen as a massive night out for people to get pissed and having a Halloween party was quite rare.

This interpretation of Halloween is a pure American import. Whats next ffs UK thanksgiving or something.

prepared buckets of water for trick or treaters

Ignore it if you don't like it.

I don't 'do' Halloween, but I couldn't give a shit if people make it a big thing. It doesn't effect me even a little bit.

When I was a child telephones were plugged into a wall and you couldn't use them to read Facebook while on the toilet. Times move on.

I am more sick of the moaning about Halloween on MN.

My DP absolutely LOVES Halloween. It's his Christmas, so we will be making a very big deal of it. We've got DS a cute little costume, and we'll be going to Birmingham to meet up with his friends.

I, on the other hand, cannot see the big deal about Halloween either, or understand why it's a big deal :D

I like it. I have Seasonal Affective Disorder so I dread the changing of the clocks. It really helps to have something to look forward to between the August bank holiday and Christmas. It's quite big in my city now, and there are lots of great things on - not just parties but cultural events of various kinds for all ages. And it's great to see everyone dressed up - some people are so creative and clever!

Also, I love pumpkins and the increasing trend towards decorating houses. When I was in Philadelphia, I saw some beautiful stuff on people's front doors -with loads of lovely coloured corn cobs, gourds, etc. that looked fabulous for days before and after.

Aww one of the things I liked the most about living in the states was how seriously they take seasonal festivals other than Christmas. Valentine's Day, Easter, 4th July, pumpkins and squash outside in Fall, Halloween decorations, thanksgiving... It is a nice way to mark the different seasons - I think that in the UK we miss out by only really taking Christmas seriously. Also, the advantage of the approach in the States is that the celebrations for festivals are a lot shorter -- Halloween stuff appears in the shops later, Christmas is only December and doesn't start practically at the start of November as in the UK. Basically YABU, I like the American approach.

I also like how in the states, the goards and squash that are used for Fall/harvest decorations prepare the way for the Halloween pumpkins. It somehow makes Halloween make more sense -- like it marks the end of the autumn season or something.

Not particularly an American import, either (and I'm not talking about origins in Scotland and Ireland, though there is that, too) - but the interpretation here is very far from what it is in America. Yes, it's a big thing there, but it's very different - it's a fun holiday, doesn't have the dark and evil undertones that it does here. People dress up to disguise themselves, as anything and everything, and loads of people take part. Trick or treating sometimes includes having to do a 'trick'. Not seen as begging. Things like eggs and flour being thrown by teenagers aren't commonplace the way they are here. It doesn't scare people and people don't feel inimidated in the same way as here. In fact parties tend to start because it's the children/parents who feel worried that people might have put something in the candy, not just to make an even bigger deal of it. The supermarkets are full of candy - but small sizes of things, and reasonably priced, so that everyone is likely to take part, children or not, and it's set up for giving out as treats, no worries like here of people having to find something to give out, whatever they have on hand. Sometimes apples were traditionally given, so it's not just/only about candy. Sometimes children collect for charity, too (Unicef was the main one when I was a child, and houses would be prepared with a bowl of change to give out as well). It's something that small children do, probably up to about age 12, not teenagers like it is here, and the shops aren't nearly as full of gory, bloody, zombie like costumes.

So it might be being made a bigger and bigger thing here lately, but the good bits of the holiday haven't been imported, and that's not the Americans fault!

I love decorating the house, carving pumpkins and watching spooky films etc but I feckin hate cheeky bastards knocking on my door asking for sweets. We deliberately have no decorations at the front of the house yet they still come, with their little darlings, knocking on my door, looking up expectantly. Fuck off. I don't share my sweets with anyone, my kids may get a few if they are lucky

My mum says stuff like this but the way I see it is you don't have to join in there's no pressure . I will prob buy some Halloween themed buns for dc and that'll be about it this year due to other plans . But for those who do want to make a big fuss have a party etc then they can do . Any excuse for having fun with friends and family is surely a good thing ?!

Oooh cross post usual

You just have to not buy into it.

Back in the 70s as a child we did apple bobbing and sometimes had family fancy dress parties combining Guy Fawkes and Halloween. It was never commercial though, always costumes put together at home and a bonfire in back garden. I still like this I just hate all the TAT in the shops.

I love it as do my dcs, its the first wintery event of the season. We won't be having or gping to a party. We live on estate where 95% people take part, its lovely to see all the big and little dcs dressed up and having fun. Egg throwing? Thats plain not nice.

We have bough a fair bit of tat to decorate the house, dcs and the dog!

I'm close to 40 and in Scotland and Halloween was massive when I was younger all that's change is costumes are more widely available than making your own and more decorations imo

Like others said you don't have to do anything about it

Oh, boo to you. I'm not a fan of Halloween, but I really don't care if some people want to use it as an excuse for some fun and games. There are lots of things I don't want to be involved with but can happily igore.

Miserable Arses! Long live Halloween!!

Its bonfire night next

Estate where 95% of people take part! Glad I'm not there then I think some people feel like they are forced to have stuff to give out on the door now regardless of whether they want to or not.

gettingit don't mind a few fireworks and a bit of penny for the guy!

I love Halloween BUT I don't live on a housing estate, I live off the road and other houses on the road are occupied by elderly people so we don't get inundated with trick or treaters, in fact we never get any.

When the kids were small they were disappointed by the lack of visitors and when they were older they would trick or treat with their Auntie because she lived on a huge new build estate where every house had kids and took part.

I guess these are reasons why I like Halloween.

We live in a small village and it's lovely to see the children get so excited about dressing up and decorating their houses. As a general rule, if you don't have a pumpkin outside your door, no one will knock for trick or treat.

I had the inspired idea to leave a bucket of sweets on the doorstep last year with a "help yourself" sign so I didn't have to answer the door every 5 minutes.
Unfortunately just ten minutes later, someone had taken the whole bucket and all the sweets .

Halloween has always been big since I can remember. I'm 30 and living in Ireland. We always did trick or treating, Halloween parties and games.
Now when I was a child I dressed up every year as a witch with a black plastic bin bag for a costume and a hat made in school or a white sheet with holes cut out for a ghost
We also generally got apples, oranges, popcorn and a few sweets not like now the children get bags and bags of sweets!
I love Halloween and am having a Halloween party and also having Halloween days out. I like to celebrate every event, life is to short!