Whats happening to Halloween?

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[skullhappy]

I dont know how it is in other places, but here in this city its sad. Today is the day before Halloween and driving around the city its almost as though the holiuday doesnt exsist. Hardly any decorations on any of the houses or yards. And so far I have heard of 3 church "Halloween festival parties". But nothing for what kids look forward to for  this day. Maybe I am way out to lunch but things sure are different then when I was a kid. Soon there wont be such a thing as halloween. which is fine sort of... I'll still do my Samhain thing but what about the kids?


What do you guys think? Am I just nuts or what?

I, too, think it just depends on the area you live in. Here in Massachusetts, we celebrate for a month. Seriously. Decorations go up in the first two weeks of October. We always have trick or treaters, since we live 'downtown' (for a town of 1500 people, down town isn't much) we got lots of trick or treaters. Went through six bags of candy. Twas a blast.

[Caelesti]

I dont know how it is in other places, but here in this city its sad. Today is the day before Halloween and driving around the city its almost as though the holiuday doesnt exsist.

I have to concur w/ others- really depends on where you live. Actually Halloween has gotten bigger lately in much of the U.S.- record spending for it last year. The theory goes is that since people have less money they are spending it on themselves for Halloween rather than on other people for Christmas.
In 2008 I was doing door-knocking for Obama, election day being soon after Halloween- and remember seeing some quite elaborate decorations. There are all of these temporary Halloween stores which pop up around September.

I used to live in Dubuque, Iowa where they make a very big deal out of Halloween- they had a town parade and everything. And it was somewhat socially acceptable for junior high & high school students to trick-or-treat. It is a heavily Irish Catholic town, and since they (and the Scottish) are the ones who brought Halloween here in the first place, it makes sense. It's the hard-core evangelical Protestants who have a problem with it. I think trick-or-treating is perfectly safe if parents accompany children, and most of the kids I see do have parents unless they're older.

Also re: Guy Fawkes Day, I have a neighbor who is British who holds a party for it, including a bonfire in the backyard. Not sure if he did this year. It's interesting & fun to try out celebrations of different cultures.

[dragonfaerie]

I'm pretty sure we had a fair amount of kids here. We haven't handed out candy in the three years we've had the house, though. I don't feel like sitting outside with the bucket if the weather's cold or nasty (and one of us would have to. We have two cats now so no opening the door 50 times a night). We could sit out a bowl, but then I'm sure the first 5 kids would take all the candy.

My big wonder is this... has anyone actually KNOWN someone who got a razor blade in a piece of candy? I think people are freaking out over nothing with much more fervor now that we have shows on tv like "To Catch a Predator".

Karen

[HeartShadow - Cutethulhu]

I'm pretty sure we had a fair amount of kids here. We haven't handed out candy in the three years we've had the house, though. I don't feel like sitting outside with the bucket if the weather's cold or nasty (and one of us would have to. We have two cats now so no opening the door 50 times a night). We could sit out a bowl, but then I'm sure the first 5 kids would take all the candy.

My big wonder is this... has anyone actually KNOWN someone who got a razor blade in a piece of candy? I think people are freaking out over nothing with much more fervor now that we have shows on tv like "To Catch a Predator".

Karen

I believe there WERE actually cases of some kind of deliberately contaminated candy - but it was NOT stranger-danger type thing, it was a specific person trying to get back at some of the kids in the area.  I believe it was in Connecticut.

[Balakirev]

I have to concur w/ others- really depends on where you live. Actually Halloween has gotten bigger lately in much of the U.S.- record spending for it last year. The theory goes is that since people have less money they are spending it on themselves for Halloween rather than on other people for Christmas.

I'm thinking (and this is just a theory) that rampant commercial is simply putting out more tendrils from every possible holiday it can.  I remember that when I was growing up, back in the 1950s, Christmas celebrations started around the second week in December, up in the NYC area.  Today, my wife and I were out a department store trying to find her a new coat, and they already up one large area devoted entirely to selling Christmas decorations.  Similarly, I don't recall any Thanksgiving or Halloween decorations more than a few days before each holiday, and then, they were pretty simple.  Now, we've got inflatable yard-sized turkeys, and orange light strings (because pumpkin-colored lights are ever-so-Halloween, you know).

I shrug my shoulders.  It's kind of funny, in a way, especially when the preachers are torn between condemning the commercialization of Christmas and hallelujahing its triumph in the stores and media.

[mandrina]

I believe there WERE actually cases of some kind of deliberately contaminated candy - but it was NOT stranger-danger type thing, it was a specific person trying to get back at some of the kids in the area.  I believe it was in Connecticut.

according to snopes, the only contaminated candy on record were either contaminated by the parents in an attempt to kill their children for life insurance money, contaminated to hide to fact that junior got into uncle's stash, contaminated by junior himself to get attention, or in one case, was a lady handing out baggies with steel wool or the like to teens she considered too old to trick or treat, and telling them what was in it and why.

[Steve - ComW]

2 days until Guy Fawkes night though-I hate it as I'm pyrophobic but my family all love it, so I get to go through my annual torture session this week. Yay me! But it is also my daughters birthday on the 9th, it was Steve's on Friday and my friend Karen's on Monday, so it is a big couple of weeks for socialising and much celebrating (both Steve and Karen are a fair bit younger than me, so I get to embarrass them lots *huge evil grin*). 

And we all know when your 35. Don't think you'll be getting away with it.

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