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How Halloween has changed... Your thoughts?

Well NYghoul said something in the H2 razor discuson that got me thinking...How much has the holiday Halloween changed in your life?

What are your thoughts regarding these changes?

Do you think that the holiday is better or worse now than it was then?I know for me it's much more tame and not as exciting.

When I was a kid my parents just let me loose.

Halloween was a time for me to run off in a costume and pretend to be something else.

I'd go from house to house with my costume, which was usually customized somehow to look more gruesome.... I'd get a buttload of candy and come home pretty late..usually right before 9 pm.

Almost all of the houses we went to were giving out candy, and the spirit of the season seemed to be everywhere.

Now, kids don't walk the streets on Halloween around here...

There are degnated trick or treat areas in the suburbs and the Mall does a store to store thing..giving candy to kids in costume.

But it's a pale shadow of the awesome holiday I loved so much as a kid.Stores don't even have half the cool stuff they did when I was young, everything seems so tame in comparison to what we did....

people are paranoid, all the things that have "happened" are urban legends and there are very few or next to none of these incidents that have happened.

am i going to take my kid trick or treating in the hoods of detroit? hell no but im not so paranoid that i take him to the mall either, thats LAME

Well, luckily I grew up with fairly lenient parents, so I was able to bacally go off and get into any kind of mischief I wanted. I definitely stayed out late and by the end of the night, had a FULL pillowcase to take home with me. Man it was sweet! Now I can deal with the Mall thing because it seems like a nice alternative for paranoid parents, but to think that there are degnated trick or treat areas makes me very unhappy. The freedom to go anywhere and get candy is what it's all about. Hopefully people just ignore that shit and go about celebrating Halloween the way they always have.

It really is sad...

I mean, people are so scared now, they think that everyone is ck and out to hurt their children.

I haven't seen a ngle trick or treater around here for years that isn't at the mall, which sucks.

The mall is too brightly lit and doesn't have the Halloween vibe at all...even with the sparse decorations.

Yet another reason why I want to move, hopefully I can find a Halloween friendly town to move to.

It really is sad...

I mean, people are so scared now, they think that everyone is ck and out to hurt their children.

I totally agree with you. The reality is there are a few ck people out there who want to hurt kids but they've always been there, it's just that people used to keep it in its proper perspective. When I was a kid we were taught that these people were out there and given some safety rules to follow and that was enough. When Halloween rolled around we went out trick or treating in the neighbourhood knowing what time to be home and not to go into some stranger's house alone. We had common sense and didn't live in this culture of fear that seems to exist today.

oh boy, I could go on an on with this subject... I can't tell you guys how much I agree with you all! Lets start with this, Here in my town Trick or Treating is held in the day time. The trick or treaters are only 1/4th of what there was when I was a kid. The HalloweeN parade is Tiny and it is Also held during the day. Nobody Decorates for Halloween. I may see 2 houses with a REAL Jack'O'Lantern on there portch and ONLY 1 house that actually goes all out with decorateing... I have a few pictures of this womans house too because it just fasanated the hell out of me, for how much time she must have spent decorating...

Bedes all that, Look at the TV shows come halloween... There is HARDLY ANY... There's no more 8 hr. Marathons on horror flicks or anything like that... HalloweeN is a Holiday that seems to be fading out, and it only really exts to people like us. Everytime I bring this topic up to other people they say, "Oh my, I don't like HalloweeN... It's the Devils day!!!"... Horse Shit... It was a day to ward off evil spirits by scaring them away with your costume... I don't know where people get that shit???

But anyway, yeh it's Very TAME!!! I just do what I can to liven it up a little... Burn a Pumpkin Spice Candle, Do my own Horror Movie Marathons, maybe take a drive by a few so called spook places, Carve a Jack'O'Lantern, and just enjoy the evening...

--Ryan

You are speaking the truth Harry, it does seem to be a fading holiday.

Trick or Treating seems to be done during the day here too, there is no parade, hardly anyone has jack o lanterns or decorations, even the schools which used to be covered in decor and even allowed kids to dress up on Halloween have stopped doing both.

These days everything is ruined by fear, the news feeds it, bringing to light any horrible thing that happens... thereby scaring middle america into keeping their kids far from harm. 9/11 stoked the fires even more, as you can see there has been quite a change across our country in regards to fear.

It just really sucks that my children will not have any of the cool experiences I had with Halloween... by the time they are born and come of age... it will be something entirely different.

Like I said in the H2 razorblade scene thread....the mischief and mayhem of Halloween is a thing of the past unfortunately. Society has changed and as several of you stated we're a society governed by fear and we have the media and politicians to blame. You all know the reasons....I think it really started with the whole "Y2K" hysteria and the media and money makers saw how well they capitalized on fear. Then 9/11 occured and nce then we've been going to hell in a hand basket. Now before I stray...back to Halloween lol.

It comes down to this I think. as parents and Halloween lovers we have to make the best we can. Where we live helps. In NYC you can hit the big Village Halloween parade which can be fun but theres like a million people in the streets so it can get chaotic. In the borough of Queens theres several decent zed parades that all start around 5:30 and end in darkness. Ive been to a few and they are pretty cool....kid friendly and fun for adults. Killer costumes.

The Hudson Valley historical society has some GREAT things going on. (vit hudsonvalley.org). In Sleepy Hollow they have a killer haunt that culminates with the Headless Horseman riding through the village and up in Croton On The Hudson theres an old manon where every they set up something called "THE BLAZE"....they literally light the path ways of the property with THOUSANDS of jack o lanterns...complete with zombies; bats; all kinds of scenes completely made of jack o lanterns!

We usually go to the Blaze like 2 weeks before Halloween. Then we hit a local Garden World to get our pumpkins and then Halloween we trick or treat and at home I'll throw on a b/w clasc just for imagery and throw on a Halloween song cd and we have a party for the kids.

Halloween has changed.....its become sterile. But we can try and keep the flame burning!!!!

You are very right there man, it's not beyond saving!

I know I try to support local haunted houses and trails, to keep interest up.

I also do a lot of talking to locals and kids about costumes and masks, to let them know that cool stuff is out there.

And come Halloween, I decorate and try to show some love for my favorite holiday.

I can only hope it will catch on eventually... maybe when our generation passes it on to our children?

Sad but true...

Here we have not a Halloween Day, it's an american thing and people here are not so much fan of this kind of thing.

But I loved it.

The problem of 9/11, man, I can't say how much it's terrible, but here we have our own "terrorists" and people are killed everyday on the his houses. These are hard ages, I say. For me, Halloween change many things I used to think about americans; things we learn at school, and dude, nothing good... Through the Halloween I could meet a bit more from the USA people and his culture, and today I'm here!

I guess it's evolving as a holiday..

It started in America in the late 1800's purely as a thing with immigrants coming over celebrating it with parties.

It wasn't until the late 40's early 50's when it really started being a holiday for kids and trick or treating, at least in America.

I think it hit it's heyday in the 70's and 80's... and has nce been torn to shreds by scared adults, belief in speculation and rumors, religious influence, and those who thought it was an affront to moral values.

I can only hope that things will swing the other way soon, I really don't want my favorite holiday to be relegated to something that doesn't even resemble itself anymore.

In its true form of Samhain its been around for thousands of years. All Pagan cultures celebrated the final harvest before winter. Large feasts were thrown; parties and merriment were had as well as mischief and it was also a time of dark mysteries. My family is Pagan so Halloween as I know it has always taken two forms: a religious/spiritual one and a folklorish modern holiday one. Both are sadly fading but we can keep it going and if in the end we are a small minority well then we will at least know we are the last and true.......that being said I say we all go and get the THORN rune tattooed by next halloween!

Hell yeah man!

I've been wanting to get that tattoo for a long time... I say we do it! Show our support for the great festival of Samhain!