To ask why people celebrate Halloween

[Flippetydip]

This is absolutely not a goady post but I just don't get Halloween at all. It seems like a celebration of everything that is horrible. Why do people do it?

Because it’s fun

Tradition - I grew up in Dublin and used to dress up every year, play silly Halloween games and eat my weight in fruit, nuts and sweets while watching scary movies. Even though my kids will grow up outside of Ireland I still want them to have fun like that. Part of them knowing about where they came from is learning about the Celtic festivals too - not just Samhain, but Imbolc, Beltane, Lughnasa etc.

"why do people celebrate Halloween?"

Is Google broken?

People have been guising in its current form in Scotland since the 19th century.
Yes we used to go guising and would have to do a turn like singing to get sweeties or money. Also remember hollowing out turnips to make a lantern.
Adults dressing up is a bit naff to me.

star I bow before your dedication to tradition. A pumpkin is hard enough! My poor mother produced need lanterns for years, I had no idea how hard it was.

Speaking personally, sometimes I'd much rather post a thread on MN about something I am interested in and engage in a multilayered and dynamic conversation than just googling.

But that's just me.

Turnip here too

stargirl respect I gave up on neeps as soon as pumpkins rocked up, although I miss the smell.

My Dad made one for each us to carry around with a string handle! One is my limit.

Mawbroon, I love it! It's time for a Scotsnet campaign 'Return of the Neep'.

Yep, there's a special way of stringing it so that the lid stays on, but so that you can also remove the lid to relight the candle when the wind inevitably blows it out!

Because it is silly and fun. That's all.

Oh and kids love gore and all things horrid or rude

There's such a lot of snobbery about Halloween. It has a long history in some parts of the UK, so enough of the "it's American" bollocks. The same people who turn their noses up are often happy to stand around a bonfire a few days later, and celebrate the gruesome torture and death of a man who died 400 years ago

It's not American but it has been Americanised and it is begging for sweets. We get kids knock on our door who expect us to have sweets. To avoid them you have to ignore the door but, instead, we buy sweets because we feel we have to, it's bloody annoying. Guising was not the precursor of trick or treating as it is different and was never an English tradition as far as I know. Trick or treating was imported after lots of American 1980s films showed what Americans did for Halloween.

Oh, and I absolutely loathe Bonfire Night as well as I've already explained.

Trick or treating was imported after lots of American 1980s films showed what Americans did for Halloween

Yet you ignore all the people on the threads who did in the 70's... we barely had a TV, certainly didn't go to the cinema to see anything but shitty episode stuff on Saturday morning shows!

Yeah, it's a really great idea encouraging your children to knock on stranger's doors and threaten them.

I'm Irish. Went trick or treating in the 70s, my mother did in it in the 50s, Granny did it in the 30s - you get my drift.

I don't really but I do buy sweeties for the trick or treaters

I'm Irish. Went trick or treating in the 70s, my mother did in it in the 50s, Granny did it in the 30s - you get my drift.
I'm Scottish. Guising wasn't a threatening thing for people. They expected us to turn up. DS thinks I'm an old grump for moaning about adults appropriating Halloween but mehh

It's good to acknowledge the darker side including death and horror as they exist in all our lives.

What a treat....

Well Ive only got a few bags left out of 50 I made up, and strangely havent been threatened all night, its been great seeing the kids enjoying themselves. Thanks goodness its over though for another year - not Halloween itself but the moaning about it being begging and Americanised.

It’s FUN

We make it a week long event, we have made scary teas, hot chocolate, scary movies, made loads of Halloween treats, bobbed for apples, been to 3 parties, decorated the house and just had fun.

I'm Irish- lived in Dublin all my life.
We went out 'collecting' back in the late 60's / early 70's.
We dressed up in old clothes- no fancy dress outfits. We were happy to get nuts, fruit and sweets. Money was great to get
There was no 'trick or treat' but you did have to 'perform' at the door- a song or a poem or rather stand there embarrassed and being urged to do something. Eventually they gave up the persuasion and you got your nuts/ sweets or whatever.
It's an old Irish tradition brought over to the US by Irish emigrants and the Americans took it over and made it bigger ( and better?).
It's a pagan festival. The start of the new year, the end of the old year. Highjacked by the Church and turned into The Eve of All Souls Day.

If you’re a pagan/practice witchcraft it’s a very important holiday. I love everything about it.

Fall is my absolute fav , and the holiday is about the changing season, harvest, respecting and honoring the dead and when the spirit veil is thinnest.
Not much into gore but I love the darker side of things.
Dressing up is fun, haunted houses are fun, graveyard tours are fun..and although I’m into that stuff 365 days a year , this time of year there’s lots more scary movies, creepy decorations, and a consciousness of the darker things.
Frankly I can’t picture a better holiday if I tried. The weather is GORGEOUS where I am. We are all different.

I celebrate because today would have been my nannans birthday. She was very child centric - her children and then her grandchildren meant the world to her, so a huge child friendly celebration giving out sweets and glo bracelets (all those dark outfits make me worry!!!) seems a fitting way to celebrate her day