To think Halloween is just another massive marketing ploy we've all fallen for.

[Blwean]

Reading this article today https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/oct/30/halloween-boo-basket-useless-clutter?CMP=fb_gu&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR1HhG1J-mqf1zU7ss8lxMCkNwsMJVTKudjgEt4auGVFrS8qwKuIUUUBmQc#Echobox=1698686636

Apparently Halloween spending is set to surpass £1bn in the UK this year for the first time and shops have been making a concerted effort since 00s to introduce more products and use social media influencers to push them.

Then there's pumpkin patches. Basically fields where people place pumpkins as there's none actually growing there and people pay silly prices to go and take pictures for Instagram. A friend of mine paid £50 to take her and DCs to one of these places then she's shelled out £20 on each of them for costumes and over £30 on decorations. It's her business what she spends on but just last month she was complaining about cost of living.

I'm all for celebrating Halloween but it's just about spending more and more money each year. The Instagramisation of it has ruined it and everyone just blindly spends loads on costumes they'll use once and other meaningless tat. Its the shops cashing in and we're all just like sheep who follow the marketing and influencers so we spend more

Shocking! We should misappropriate the American tradition and egg any greedy kid who come around guising and looking for money only!

I'm Irish and we never said a poem or sang a song, only ever shouted "Trick or treat".

We live at the end of our village (point being not many children come our way) and forgot to get sweets so didn't decorate and closed the curtains with dim lights. I spent a great deal of time telling the dogs to get out the window barking at any trick or treaters and drawing attention to our house.

I felt really mean. Some people in our village really go to town and it looks really good. So I'm glad people had a good time.

Is there still a trick element of trick or treat?
My expectation is that children go to decorated houses or those with a pumpkin and get sweets/treats. What is the trick part?
I'm pretty sure when I was a teen a trick was pelting someone's house with eggs! ...so it seems reasonable that people would rather just do the treat element!

My kid went out with a little spray bottle filled with water, one of the plant spritzing type that let out a fine mist though not like a water pistol. It was her witches potion 🤣

Gosh people are miserable aren't they?

You buy Halloween stuff. Oh people are wasting money.

You have a bonus bank holiday for the Queen/ king's whatever: do you know how much bank holidays cost the economy? Complaints ahoy.

Personally we love spending money on dress ups and sweets all year round and any new bits of costume will see a whole load of use before going to the school fundraiser fancy dress stall or charity shop. A lot of them are hand me downs and second hand anyway. I've no idea what a boo bucket is 🤷‍♀️ we use the same decorations every year, same as Christmas.

So many fun sponging misogs

This 👆

I bought one box of quality street just in case neighbours children knocked (they're new neighbours), but fortunately, they saw there were no decorations here and didn't knock so we get to eat them ourselves. Happy days.

Yes I know I know but the modern celebration of it IS american. "trick or treat", the candy, the pumpkins etc.

Surely it's like every other day that's been commercialized (Easter, Christmas, Valentines etc).

I remember as a young child in the 80s celebrating Halloween, dressing up as a cat ( my mum made ears and a tail out of fake fur and sewed them to a headband and my school leotard), carving turnips, trick treating and Halloween parties where we bobed for apples and had to eat Scots pancakes covered in treacle hanging from a piece of string with our hands behind our back). My family are Scottish so it's always been a thing. I've carried it on with my kids, making them costumes and trick treating. We grew our own pumpkins and made our Halloween decorations. Not cost much at all.

You will always have those who go over the top, no matter the occasion. That's down to social media.

Exactly! Damn those Americanised Victorians eh? 😂

https://www.history.co.uk/articles/9-forgotten-halloween-traditions

People can do a much or as little as they want... Or nothing.

This year I spent £6 at a little craft fayre on bunting, £3 on some mass produced pumpkin shaped tealight holders, £10 on snacks for my daughter to take with her as a contribution to a party and the biggest expense, I made up little goodie bags for anyone who knocked on our door because I like to go a bit extra on making a fuss of the kids.

Another year and another Halloween thread filled with Little Englanders (incorrectly) lecturing Scots that Halloween is American 😂

See you in a few weeks when you all get your knickers in a twist over us calling the big man, Santa.

That was such a nice post until the patronising “little Englandshire”. Really no need for that tone. You also have no idea where I live.

Nevertheless, I am pleased that traditions hold out in some places still.