Hallowe'en

I think its just not accepted as much as in the states.  Over here they tend to stick with "traditional" costumes (witches, mummies, etc), whereas anything goes in the states.  Also, it just really isn't celebrated like it is in the states.  Very few kids actually go around trick or treating.  Some people also call it Mischief Night, but its quite close to Bonfire Night, so many people just don't bother with Halloween...

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.   

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

Geeta, you sound like me!  We went well into HS as well.

My mom made most of our costumes.  I love that!  But tbh, I was a ghost one year (Very difficult costume to make  ) and a cat about five

My mom made most of our costumes.  I love that!  But tbh, I was a ghost one year (Very difficult costume to make  ) and a cat about five

I think I was a cat every year. 

Yes, I've heard variations on all these themes, too: "that it's full of troublemakers...that it was "sinister", that I should beware of teenagers who terrorize the elderly, that it was just begging, a bad American import, etc."

Actually, it's amazing what a visceral reaction my British friends will have when I bring up the holiday.  And I have to agree, in my town, the day does seem to bring out one too many troublemakers, who seem to delight in the "trick" part of trick or treat.  So, I'm with them there. 

But.  What irks me is that they will fight me tooth and nail about my nostalgia for the holiday itself.  "You can't honestly like it.  Why?"  When I try to explain that it is a part of my tradition, in my particular culture, of fall and turning leaves and scarecrows and candy apples and ghost stories, I, more times than not, get either a quizzical, baffled look or one of total disbelief. 

If say, my Bosniak friends living abroad (I lived in Bosnia for a couple of yrs) said they missed Kurban Bajram, a day of family, prayer, and feasting, I'd say, "Yes, well, fair enough."  Of course, they'd miss something that was always such a part of their lives.  (And I'm not saying Halloween is a sacred holiday  , just a holiday that some folk in some parts of the world "celebrate" as a part of their family tradition.)   

And, after living abroad for so long, it is this time of year that makes me the most homesick.  I miss It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, I miss bobbing for apples, I miss seeing the kids trick or treating.  I'm nostalgic for all of my Halloween's past.  I miss all of it because I associate it with the magic of childhood and the beauty of fall.

So, sure, when someone slags off Halloween or my nostalgia for it, I am defensive.  I'm not pressing you to celebrate it (although the marketing geniuses at Hallmark may be), just respect my feelings for it. 

Now, where's my bag of candy corn???

So, sure, when someone slags off Halloween or my nostalgia for it, I am defensive.  I'm not pressing you to celebrate it (although the marketing geniuses at Hallmark may be), just respect my feelings for it. 

Now, where's my bag of candy corn???

Totally agree.  It's ridiculous for anyone to make fun of someone else's holiday, no matter how silly it sounds. 

HA - funny thing is, if you wiki it you'll find that it's a holiday that Irish and Scottish immigrants largely brought to America!   

But I'm sure you'll be matched with a rant about how unreliable a source wikipedia is 

Last year was Dh's first American Halloween and he loved it! The neighborhood we grew up in goes all out and there are block after block of decorated houses and tons of families out with kids trick or treating. He couldn't believe how many folks were out and how friendly everyone was. He says he missed out as a kid and its the one holiday he'll miss most when we move back to the UK because the area he's from never really did much for the holiday and there was virtually no trick-or-treating.

Yes, it's true--it comes from the celebration of Samhain--the Celtic New Year.  A time to honor your ancestors (hence the modern ghoulishness, ghosts, etc.).

But the whole trick-or-treat thing is pure American.  I trick-or-treated well into high school and dressed up for parties up to the present!  I have a friend back in the US whose parents throw a party so big they only do it every other year.  The whole house is done up Addams Family style and they pick a theme for costumes there are prizes given, my friends' band plays--it's huge.

One year the theme was "food".  A girl went as a bottle of hot sauce aka a sexy devil--she won first place.  I went as Ceres the ancient Roman goddess of grain and agriculture.  I thought my costume was awesome and fairly historically correct.  *No-one* had a clue what I was supposed to be.

Well, it looks like in so many cases, this is an example of something 'American' being bad-mouthed or twisted to some degree (not saying the reverse doesn't happen though!!) into something that for most of us, it isn't.

I agree, for me, it was all about autumn and creativity, etc. Yes, it was about getting candy and being a bit wicked. But by and large, even in some of the rougher neighborhoods I lived in or near, the mischief making was pretty tame.

We don't live in a neighborhood now that would be safe for trick or treating (city centre, lots of Uni students) and our house is too small to host a party (not that I'd bother given the response I've had from friends so far). If we stay in the UK, I do hope we can find a neighborhood where I can make our own tradition of it.

Kudos to you who have done something fun with it!

Interestingly, the tradition of begging door to door isn't an American invention per se, it started in Europe. But 'trick or treating' in the US doesn't seem to have any direct relation to the waves of European immigration to the US, so it is, in a sense, purely American. That is, if this Wiki article is right!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trick-or-treating

OK I've just had the best idea for how we can improve our Halloween assault course this year!  This thread got me thinking.

Maybe we can make the theme of the course a kind of Harry Potter maze style challenge with various puzzles to solve, villains to fight (ala Tri-Wizard thingy)??  I know my HP-loving son will get a kick out of that.  Anybody have any good ideas for challenges?

Last year the part that was the biggest "hit" was the cardboard box with holes in it that people had to stick their hands in to feel "brains" (spaghetti), "eyeballs" (olives), etc. Lots of screaming.  I'm thinking this year maybe have a whole course of cardboard boxes that you have to crawl through?  Maybe plastic spiders get dropped on your head or something?

Can you tell what a juvenile brain I've got?

I've got to go to my real job    because I'm going to be late!  But I'll tune in later to see if anybody has good suggestions for me, as well as to see how others celebrate.  Can't wait to talk to my kids about it!

Peeled grapes make great eyeballs!

I did a haunted house in a few rooms of my house one year and did all sorts of stuff like that. Will have to dust off the gray matter and see if I can recall anything else.

How about plastic or rubber gloves filled with water and then frozen for dismembered corpse's hands?

How about plastic or rubber gloves filled with water and then frozen for dismembered corpse's hands?

or maybe even better, filled with jell-o (jelly!!!)

One year the theme was "food".  A girl went as a bottle of hot sauce

That sounds like it should be my costume - I live for scotch bonnets and habanero chillies. 

I totally miss Hallowe'en....what I don't miss is trying to get things that go over snow suits - very awkward.

When I first came here, I bought so many sweets for Halowe'en, dressed up, got out the creepy-Halowe'en-sounds tape, and I waited for kids to come to our door, despite protests from hubby that it was a wasted effort. I cried my eyes out that not a single kid came to our door....alas!   

I always enjoyed dressing up for Halloween. I would almost always wear last year's ballet costume. But trick or treating was another story. I went one year and got nothing. I had fantasies about coming home with a sack full of candy but I got nothing and it put me off it. Then as I got older it became very dangerous as the bigger kids would throw eggs at cars and stuff. In junior high I took the bus to school and kids would always throw rocks and eggs at the bus on the way home. So as you can see, I dont associate happy memories with Halloween 
Now that I live here, I dont get any candy in and I dont answer the door to trick or treaters. Call me miserable but I just dont see the point.