Hallowe'en

My son is still a bit young for Hallowe'en but recently it has come up in conversations I've had with some of my British friends. I have been quite surprised about how much it is disliked - even among women my own age.

I appreciate that the whole trick or treating on it's own can be seen as nothing short of greedy. Perhaps I was lucky as a child because the areas I lived in, yes, you went trick or treating, but you also went to parties and some neighborhoods got so into the spirit (so to speak) that they made kid-friendly haunted houses and other Hallowe'en type displays.

Creating our costumes was seen as a creative and expressive activity that we looked forward to every year.

Have I just got a bum group of friends or is this the overall attitude in the UK?

i had a collegue who would plan on going out to the pub/restaurant on halloween.  he hated the holiday- even calling it the worst thing american has given us.

That's so sad!  Halloween is such a fun holiday for children - how could anyone dislike it?  Or does it just take a mean-spirited bent in the UK?  I so looked forward to it as a kid and even now I can't wait to get my nieces/nephews' photos each year and talk to them on the phone about what they got and what they dressed up as. 

I'm in India this year on Halloween but I'm already planning on wearing my orange Halloween shirt from Old Navy on the 31st.    If I had been here I would have worn my Snow White costume that I got last year and didn't wear.

I always went "guising" as a child, it was very popular here (the Highlands), I don't know if it was as big elsewhere.  I think the popularity has decreased though.  No kids came round to ours at all last year and I didn't see many about.  Oh well, more sweets for me.

This is certainly the attitude where we live.  People told me it was "sinister", that I should beware of teenagers who terrorize the elderly, that it was just begging, a bad American import, etc.

On the radio some CofE clergy were saying it was satanic and likened it to "marijuana" saying "It's not as bad as the hard drugs but leads down that path" or somesuch nonsense.  Maybe it's just me, but I'm thinking if there is a hell surely it's filled with Hitler/Stalin types and not pre-schoolers in duck costumes carrying plastic pumpkin buckets!

That said, the kids in our neighborhood were very eager to trick-or-treat.  There was just nobody willing to give them candy.  The second Halloween we were here we put up a big sign on our house saying "Trick-or-Treaters Welcome!  Get Your E-Numbers Here!"  Then we set up an assault course in our garden where kids could win treats.  TONS of kids came.  All were well behaved and said thank you.  No teenagers terrorized us, but the ones who turned up in costumes were welcome to a sweet if they could tell me a riddle or joke I couldn't answer.  My own kids thought it was good fun and they want to have it again this year.

Unfortunately, Halloween is about as popular as the 4th of July or Thanksgiving.

DH doesn't like Halloween, either.  He doesn't mind the holiday itself, but he loathes the concept of trick-or-treating and says it's a ridiculous American tradition.

I think the problem is that the concept trick-or-treating just doesn't translate here, for the most part.  My experience in the US was the trick-or-treating was very much a neighbourhood thing -- everyone decorated their house and looked forward to the neighbourhood kids coming around and it was all very good spirited.  Over here, neighbourhoods don't tend to be as tightly knit (my experience) and there's more of a mischevious connotation to the holiday (mischief night).

It's a shame, though...I don't really like the thought of my future kids missing out on the holiday.  

Halloween is the biggest holiday of the year here in Derry.  They have a carnival and costume contests and activities for the kids during the day and early evening; at night it be comes (not sure if it's true but they like to claim it) the biggest street party in Ireland. All the various pubs are PACKED by 8 pm, everyone is out wearing costumes and it's just crazy here.  Kids don't really do the trick or treating thing around here, though there were a few last year and we made sure we had candy for them.  However, every kid I know really looks forward to Halloween because its such a huge deal here and there's tons of things going on for them in the city center all day long.
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I've never been a big fan of Halloween, and haven't done anything to celebrate the holiday since I was about 12.  At my parents' house I am always the designated candy-passer-outer to the trick or treaters, which I loathe doing.  I think dressing up and going to a costume party might be fun, but I'm not too bothered. I'm not against Halloween, though...just indifferent.

I think a lot of non-Americans find the whole trick or treating thing strange- my parents are immigrants from the Caribbean and I remember the first couple of years after we moved to the States (when I was 8 or 9) my parents would not let us go trick or treating under *any* circumstances because they were completely terrified that it might be dangerous and we'd encounter costumed hooligans on the street!  They eventually relaxed about it the longer they lived in the US, but we still laugh about that now.

It's certainly growing in popularity but I think it will always have a slightly negative opinion with the average person. The old people consider its begging and full of troublemakers.

And the kids who dress up always have to be ghoul oriented. You won't see anyone out as a ballet dancer or cowboy or spaceman or whatever else we cooked up as kids.

I found a great neighbourhood last year to trick or treat in.. It seems to be more popular in newer, more affluent estates. My kids love it though so we'll be out there.

This is seriously making me think I better raise my kids in the States.   

We're having a Halloween costume party this year and I was surprised at how excited our British friends and co-workers are to attend.  They've told us that they've never been to a Halloween party before and have been asking what type of "fancy dress" is expected.

I don't like trick or treating.  We will do the same as last year and attend a Halloween disco at the village hall.  

And the kids who dress up always have to be ghoul oriented. You won't see anyone out as a ballet dancer or cowboy or spaceman or whatever else we cooked up as kids.

Yeah, that's a drag.  And nobody seems to do homemade (thrown together) costumes either.  But my kids have been willing to buck the trend.  Last year my son was a Roman gladiator and my daughter was a fairy (for the umpteenth time).

I don't let mine go trick-or-treating because I know the neighbors don't want that.  But it was sad to see the number of kids just wandering around in a costume with everybody turning them away.  So that's why we did our "open garden" type thing rather than have a party.  My kids do miss the great trick-or-treating we had in our old neighborhood in Atlanta.

I went trick or treating well into high school.  I remember one year dressing as a cheerleader (so original) and my boyfriend was a stop sign.   

Yeah, that's a drag.  And nobody seems to do homemade (thrown together) costumes either.  But my kids have been willing to buck the trend.  Last year my son was a Roman gladiator and my daughter was a fairy (for the umpteenth time).

That's great - your kids sound awesome!  Homemade costumes are the best kind.