To Not "Get" Halloween ?

[dottiedodah]

Dont get me wrong here .I dont have a problem with Trick /Treat people at the door ,and have some chocolates ready for them . Its just the whole tackiness of it . Lurid coloured tacky sweets ,Children dressed as Zombies ! Horror films on all week! .AIBU here or does anyone else feel the same way?

Someone’s already beat you to this thread

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/3727840-To-find-Halloween-utterly-tedious

It's a fun day for kids. I enjoy seeing mine dressed up and having fun.

The clocks have gone back, it's going to be a long winter, the weather's getting colder. It's a bit of a distraction until Christmas along with Bonfire Night.

I can never get my head around the fact that god-fearing Americans love and adore a holiday which celebrates and promotes the occult.

And then they ban Harry Potter from school libraries

I'm not fussed about it either way, but YABU to claim not to 'get' it. Do you genuinely find it incomprehensible that children would like dressing up, going to parties, getting sweets, and spooky stuff? If you mean that you don't get why adults like it... most of them don't particularly, they just do it for the kids. Some adults like it because lots of people like harking back to childhood stuff, and enjoy seeing their own dc enjoy it.

Feel free to not like Halloween, but it's not really rocket science to 'get' it.

Yes some misery guts felt the same way last night too.

What is hard to understand?

Most children and many adults love spooky entertainment.
Look at the sucess of the Harry Potter movies, Sabrina series, the whole macabre, gothic, scary theme is popular with many.
Kids often love to dress up and most love the sweets and treats,

Why are you not "getting it"? It may not be to your taste but what is preventing you from undserstanding the appeal?

I personally have zero interest in sport, but I understand the reasons why some people love it.

I love it.

I also love the occasional woo threads that pop up on here.

I don't believe any of it, but I like the hair standing up on the back of my neck & the spine-tingles: it makes me feel like a child again.

YANBU to not get it. YABU if this is an attempt to sneer.

Can’t stand Halloween. Encouraging children to knock on random people’s doors asking for sweets, putting up ridiculous decorations and trying to scare people. Not my cup of tea. My DD will be allowed to go to Halloween parties / host one if she wants when she’s older but she will never be going Trick or Treating. I get sweets in but always things that DH and I like so that we can eat them afterwards. We never decorate our house and the smell of pumpkins is revolting so we don’t get many Trick or Treaters.

YABU. Its just a bit of fun and IMO far less offensive and annoying than Bonfire night with its burning of Catholic effergies on bonfires and endless loud and bangs and expolsions that cause distress to animals, the elderly, ex service people etc.

It’s too over the top now

Encouraging children to knock on random people’s doors asking for sweets,

In RL this actually means people decorating their houses, lighting a pumpkin and inviting children to knock, then shock, horror offering them a sweet when they do...

My DC's think it's the best of all the festival's because of the huge haul of sweets the get trick or treating. I, on the other hand, agree with you.

You won’t persuade me to think it’s ok Sparklingbrook. As I said, we don’t decorate our house at all but still get some knock on the door. The reason they are ‘offered’ sweets is because there is the ‘threat’ of a trick if they don’t. Just buy your child sweets if that’s what you want. Don’t accept them from random people. You wouldn’t do it on the street so why would you do it just because it’s Halloween.

why would you do it just because it’s Halloween?*

Ive never ever heard of someone having their house targetted for not giving trick or treaters 'treats'. Most of the trick or treaters around here are young children out with their parents or older siblings. If you don't want to engage just dont answer the door, they will move on.

It works well in our area @BeingATwatItsABingThing, they aren't random people they are our neighbours. No tricks and no knocking at undecorated houses. Judging by previous threads on MN that's how it works in most places. But I guess it depends on the neighbourhood.

That said my two are all grown up so they just do the offering of sweets to the people knocking now. It's one evening.

I hate it and find it really inappropriate.

Why don’t you go read up on the origins of the festival rather than post ignorant threads on here about not ‘getting it’?

well I can understand finding bonfire night inappropriate collision, what with burning effigies of catholics and all, but what’s inappropriate about Halloween?

Love the original pagan celebration of Samhain....celebrating the ancestors or Mexican day of the dead in the same vein.....the American stuff can f off.

Collision why is it "innapropriate"?

It's a long standing Scottish tradition which continues to be celebrated today.

You dress up in a disguise to ward off evil spirits. Children go out guising in these disguises.

Neighbours who wish to take part decorate their houses to let everyone know that Guisers are welcome.

Children perform a party piece and in return get a sweetie.

Halloween parties will also take place with traditional games like apple dooking.

It's not American. It's not begging. It's our cultural heritage and it's fun.

The reason they are ‘offered’ sweets is because there is the ‘threat’ of a trick if they don’t.

I don’t know anywhere were this is a real threat. Everyone I know decorates their house if they are happy to receive treaters and don’t if they aren’t. It works beautifully.

Yawn.