To hate Halloween

[TheBoxontopofthewardrobe]

I hate Halloween and especially trick or treating. I’m not especially grumpy or grinchy and quite a nice sociable person normally but this event, that is now being thrown out of all proportion, makes me really cross.

I don’t have a single Halloween decoration and the lights are off but still the local kids knock!

Grrrrr tips needed to get over myself!

This. I’m loving learning about our ancient British traditions of Samhain/Hallow’s Eve and how our ancestors marked/celebrated this time of year ie the coming of the winter/darkness, the dying off of nature and how that pertains to honouring our deceased ancestors (bit like Day of The Dead in Mexico). That’s the true meaning of Halloween.
Yes it’s a shame that the shops sell too much plastic crap and that too much sugar is consumed now but it’s such a fun and interesting time in our seasonal calendar.

It’d be sad to let all our cultural traditions die out.

For anyone interested have a look at ‘The Wheel of The Year’ and it’s connections to our ancient pagan traditions.

I loathe Halloween. I did what I absolutely had to when my sons were young, but even they don’t like Halloween.

Halloween was very likely brought to England by Irish immigrants well before ET. It was always a thing in Scotland as well as Ireland. Not so much the pumpkins, but carving of turnips, walking from door to door with lanterns to light the way, disguised faces, begging food/ treats, and a bonfire were always part of the traditions associated with Halloween. These traditions were brought to the US by millions of Scottish and Irish immigrants, with turnips stopped for pumpkins, which are much easier to carve.

Aww the first Halloween hate thread of the season.

Soon to be followed by the outrage at calling the big man Santa threads.

I hate it. It actually scares me and I think the tick or treating thing is ridiculous.

for those that dont prefer halloween could you lock or bolt your gates ?

I don't hate it but don't love it, I buy sweets and answer the door but I feel sorry for the parents traipsing round with their DC on a miserable cold evening. Maybe I am joyless but what exactly is the 'fun' in dressing your DC up to get a few free sweets?
I never took my DS trick or treating, instead gave him £5 to buy sweets and stay at home .

ACG presumably not everyone lives in houses with gates .... We live on an open plan development .. absolutely no gates anywhere .. fortunately the local trick or treaters seem very well behaved and respect the etiquette.

Just do what my old boss did. Put a sign on the door with "Fuck Off" written on it.

Everyone stays away from him now.

That sounds like what my old boss (best I ever had btw) would do! 😆

Wasn't it brought over here by the film ET?

🤣 No, it was over here way before that.

He was responsible for pissing off a lot of parents who thought they'd finally got rid of their kids, as he kept telling everyone to "Phone Home". 🤷‍♂️

The so called 'Americanisation' is a direct descendant of the many customs of Ireland and Scotland associated with Halloween. Ireland and Scotland are the places where the ancient feast of Samhain was observed. The guising and begging from door-to-door are innate to Halloween and are age old traditions.

I am not doubting the Celtic origins of the tradition but nonetheless in England, where I grew up in the sixties and seventies, it was never celebrated, ever! My parents had never heard of it for sure. We literally didn’t know of its existence when I was young. Bonfire night was a big thing though.

And Halloween’s relatively recent resurgence, in England anyway, is largely down to supermarket chains pushing a commercial opportunity surely?

A bunch of Hull Pagans revived the Souling tradition several years ago and the adults dress up very spookily and sing the Souling dirge “ please good missus, a Soul Cake” as they go round the Avenues, to selected houses (that have previously indicated they're up for it)
It is quite a sight and much better that trick or treat.

I agree as Halloween is just too scary for me, especially some of the very realistic masks and decorations. It also gets in the way of looking forward to Christmas!

GrimGrinningGhosts · Yesterday 23:04

I was a kid in the 70s and have fond memories of plastic neon witch masks...

Are you in England and if so, which region? I was at primary in the 70s and don't remember any of that. In junior school, we did apple bobbing a couple of times and had a go at making turnip lanterns.

I was rather surprised about 15 years ago, when there was a knock at the door. I scurried round to get some sweets and then hardly any more came!

I’m in the midlands. Thread are the type of masks we had, would have been 77/78 time. They came from either the toy shop in the market or the bargain shop in town which was also the place that sold witch brooms. The masks were thin plastic with extremely bright neon paint. From memory there were Frankenstein type ones too.

mum had an arrangement with the neighbours and I’d go and trick or treat my nan as well. We didn’t have pumpkins, never seen such a thing in real life, so we’d spend hours precariously carving a turnip and then threading string through to carry like a lantern. As the candle burned the turnip cooked and smelling cooking turnip to this day takes me back to it 😂. There was never hoards of kids and it was all done very quietly within streets but we certainly did it here in my part of Staffordshire.

I’m not that keen on it either. I did my share of handing out sweets as a reciprocal thing when mine were younger, but I only allowed ours to knock at decorated houses - in fact, that’s what school advised. Knocking at houses with no decorations out should be banned - lots of elderly people find it difficult. I haven’t done it since Covid.

. Exactly. The old traditions of trick or treating are not the same as now.
No one did it in the 60s, 70s or 80s when I and relatives of mine were growing up. Possibly late 80s but before that, not where I lived anyway. My DH lived in a large city in the late 70s/early 80s and he doesn't remember anyone ever trick or treating either.

There’s a blog here where the author describes a very similar 70s Halloween to the ones I recall, and she was in Leeds

https://www.arosetintedworld.co.uk/a-very-70s-halloween/

it was certainly a thing, perhaps in smaller pockets in England, but it was there. I also have a memory of learning in a very basic, primary school way, about ‘dunking witches’

GrimGrinningGhosts Today 09:18

Thanks for the information, I have seen those masks, but I couldn't tell you when from!

Yep, when I was a kid it was the same. Occasional Halloween party but that was it. Nobody really trick or treated, but I wouldn't have been allowed anyway, because my mother thought TOT and penny for the guy was 'begging'.
That said, I do love the kids coming round now, but it should absolutely be respected if someone makes it clear it's not wanted.

I usually have fun at Halloween but I've never taken mine trick or treating although they have gone with friends from a friend's house on occasion.

We are having a little Halloween party tonight with my older teens (17/18yo) but they still want things like face paints and apple bobbing! (And probably will bring their own alcohol along lol).

it was certainly a thing, perhaps in smaller pockets in England, but it was there.

Halloween was celebrated on the other side of the Pennines in the 1960s. We made our hands raw carving lanterns out of turnips. They stank when they were lit. No trick or treating though.

If I didn’t think I’d lose a finger I’d make another turnip lantern. I loved the smell 😂

Luckily people seem to not gone nuts about it where I live this year. No children in this particular block of flats right now probably helps. YANBU.