Halloween thread ]:)

That's right, they started celebrating in some parts of the UK a while back. Guy Fwakes was better though, BIGGER FIRES, BETTER PARTIES. FIRE!!! FIRE!! FIRE !!!!!

by rjkirk_50 Oct 31, 2007

I am not allowed to open my door any more - the police got upset last year. Seems the the boiling oil was a bit over the top....

When I was but a kid, everyone in the neighborhood would go out, and there were lots of people constantly. Nowadays, Halloween is almost not even a holiday anymore, everyone goes to churches/schools for 'safe Halloween' and then to their friends houses, avoiding everyone else.

For the last couple of years, Halloween has been slow enough, that it seems that I overdo it constantly. This year, I just moved so no idea what kind of response there will be, but I didnt get a lot of candy (hopefully enough though). I am planning on putting on my costume, and some decorations, but not going all out on it this year. If the response is good, and I am still here next year, I may do a more thorough version then.

Usually get a few people over and decorate, it looks scary enough, but we have little tricks/surprises to get a few good scares. Many target the parents who are watching their kids go to the door.... most things are disabled when little-uns are coming up. But the teens get a good scare, especially unsuspecting drunks!!!

Our place has been called 'the Bomb', 'Rad', and 'Awesome' many a times.

Sounds pretty danm boring! At my friends house, there is a constant stream, you close the door then you open it, all night long until the community fireworks start.

They also live in a safe, quiet community by the airport, everyone knows everyone, even though it is becoming mroe populated and housing has gone from 45K to 450K in 10 years. (no joke)

As for the scary drunk, that's usually me opening the door to the little tykes. ]:)

by gsg Nov 2, 2007

We used to get popcorn balls, caramel apples, cookies, etc... Usually about half candy, half homemade stuff. And you were safe eating it. The trick or treaters in my neighborhood were all older teenagers looking for trouble.

Next year, I'm going to dress up as the cranky lady yelling, "you d@mn kids get off my lawn!" Oh wait, that's already me.

by w2ktechman Nov 2, 2007

but you should steal Mae's outfit as well :0

Oh, JD may have fun with this one!!!

or, better yet, be 'granny' in the Beverly Hillbillies!!! She would go around yelling like that (with a roller pin even)....

Yes, I remember lots of good ol' times. One of our neighbors used to convert their garage to a 'haunted tunnell' and several of the other neighbors would volunteer to scare us kids... Those really were the good ol' days of Halloween.
There were many people gave out home-made goodies. Brownies were the best, sugar cookies, and cupcakes as well.

by naughtymonkey Oct 31, 2007

Reeses peanut butter cups (I steal all my kids)

We hand out assorted and gift bags. We get really in to Halloween. We decorate the whole yard even though there are no kids on our street. It is a cut through though so people will drive across town sometimes just to go to our house. I plan on taking it up a notch next year and building some animated decor. (I already have a few plans.)

Don't have time to dress up this year since I work an hour from home, but usually do a lot of gore, sometimes conservative, but always win contests. Have an 8 month old this year so we didn't get too crazy.

Alway have a Halloween CD with all kinds of music I have collected over the years. I tend to listen to horror induced music though so I like strange things like Screaming Lord Sutch. I believe my favorite would be Dracula's Daughter.

We treat Halloween like Christmas and look forward to it all year.

[i]btw, you would make a great a$$hole[/i]

edit speeling

by jaqui Oct 31, 2007

are my treat.

lucky for me, th building handles the monsters coming around for treats, so I don't have to go out of my way to do anything.

I may actually head off to a party though, I do feel like beating someone ]:)

so I won't be handing anything out this year. My boys are 15, and are geeked that they get to play the big kids and hand out stuff to the little ones. Unfortunately, not a lot of people in my neighborhood hand out anything, so we don't get many kids coming by. They are mostly driven to the "rich" neighborhoods and the roads are just lined with all the imported kids. The locals in these neighborhoods are starting to get sick of it.

I had my helloween party last sat night. everyone brings a dish and then we party around the fire pit out back until the wee hours of the night. It is a costume party, but this was the first year EVER that I didn't get dressed up. My accident threw us behind the curve and we just couldn't pull it together. :(

I always like Heath bars. The most underrated and single best candy bar ever. :D

What will I give out? "fun size" snickers, twix, and probably some milkduds.

I LOVE Helloween, being just a big kid as I am. It is fun to be involved in it with my boys, and we often volunteer in some of the haunted houses that are run for a local charity.

by tig2 Oct 31, 2007

I live in a townhouse development so I don't get too many trick or treaters. My neighbour has a young son and I may get to see him. And a girlfriend will generally bring her boys over so I can see them. Not much more, generally.

In the Midwest, people decorate heavily for Halloween though. We have been up north to hunt the last few weeks and many of the towns that we pass through are little more than a wide spot in the road. But most are decorated in some manner.

We get a pumpkin every year. Mike carves it. If I were to guess, every pumpkin looks identical to the ones he had as a kid.

Tonight we are making pasties (meat and veg in pastry) for him to take up hunting. Traditions abound and pasties at deer camp is one of them. In between the dicing and mixing, we'll hand out candy to who ever knocks at the door. Mike's jack-o-lantern will be given a candle and placed carefully so that it can't be brushed past by some kid in a costume. And another year will pass.

I miss the years when it was reasonably safe to go out and trick or treat. I miss the years when people could bake cookies instead of having to buy individually wrapped candies so that you could hopefully allay the fears of a mother who swears that this is her child's last year. And tomorrow's news will be filled with stories of nutjobs putting God knows what into the candy they distribute.

I loved the Halloweens when dressing up was fun, and seeing all your neighbours was the reason to go trick or treating in the first place.

I am handing out mini chocolate bars with an awareness ribbon on them. I try to avoid the candy like the plague. I already have enough padding and don't need more.

I think that I have to agree with Oz on the favourite TV special. The charm of the Peanuts Halloween has never worn off. And I could relate to Charlie Brown and his bag of rocks.

It will be a quiet night, likely to be filled with reminiscing about the Halloweens of our childhoods. And we will feel a certain pity for the children of this generation because that time will never be back again. But we will also be grateful that we have good memories.

Actuall I have heard/read several times that it is generaly a myth that people taint candy...seriously! ANy recorded cases have been traced back to the parent doing it purposely and trying to pass it off as random poisoning.

As for the razor blade in the apple, I believe there hasn't been a single case where that has happened. But paranoid parents will still not allow kids to Trick or treat past 7:30-8PM, fireworks are a thoing of the past and treats are more than inspected, usually just tossing out ANYTHING they feel isn't straight up or, as you say, packaged.

I used to love getting home made cookies and fudge and stuff, no more though.

Poison candy and razor blades, a myth, just a myth that trashes a great time for children, all in the name of paranoia.

[i]"James Joseph Smith of Minneapolis was charged with one count of adulterating a substance with intent to cause death, harm or illness after he put needles into candy bars and handed them out. One child was pricked with a needle when he bit into a candy bar, but neither he nor any other children were seriously injured. The idea of tainted candy from a stranger may have started with a 1964 incident involving a New York homemaker named Helen Pfeil. Irritated at the idea of handing out free candy to older kids, Pfeil gave out packages of steel wool pads, dog biscuits and poison ant buttons. Although she made it clear that her "goodies" were inedible, Pfeil was charged with endangering children. "[/i]

that I have NEVER heard of an actual tampering of candy.

by tig2 Oct 31, 2007

And discovered this on Snopes: http://www.snopes.com/horrors/poison/halloween.asp

I have been hearing the stories for so many years that it just never occurred to me to question it.

Thanks, Oz! I owe you for this!

This does ruin the 'neighborhood' experience. As I said before, when I was but a kid, Halloween was one of the best holidays because we saw almost everyone we knew. Of course, often we had to guess at who wore what, but it was often obvious enough if you stopped to chat.

Then there was the chatting the next few days as well, all in all, I miss that now.

As for shows, ichabod crane was one of my favorites (headless horseman)

by ganyssa Oct 31, 2007

so my night is taking the spawn out for trick or treating. We've done all the lead-up stuff this year, going to a cider mill, picking apples, making caramel apples out of them, picking our own pumpkin, carving a jack-o-lantern (and one cat with a full moon behind it), and watching the Great Pumpkin.

Hardly anyone in my neighborhood gives out candy anymore, so the hike between houses can anywhere from two or three houses to a block. Generally my daughter makes about 15 houses, then we go home, get the car, and drive to my Grandma's, the babysitters, and my best friend's house. And then we're done - early tonight because my 6-year-old has homework on Thursdays.

Isn't that what the tricks are for???

Trick or Treat???

If you dont got a treat, I play a trick!!!

that's hideous! Trick or treating beganby people handing out treats to stop the demons from playing tricks on them. I think you and your kids should go out and toilet paper anyone's house who doesn't have treats, cheap baystards!

When I was a kid, living in Nova Scotia for a while (October, BRRRRRRRRR!!!), we'd go out trick or treating for HOURS! Slogging around with a snow suit over your costume, people would invite you in so you coul dtake off your coat and show them your costume (small town, trusty people and all that).
We'd et absolutely SOAKED from all the snow and sluch, dad would drive by every few blocks with a dry coat or mitts for us, pick up the last couple of bags and give us new ones to keep trick or treating. I mean several Safewway bags FULL to the brim (that's when Hostess mini bags of chips first became popular).

I'd walk miles and collect so much candy it would last until next Halloween (with no restritions on how much I could eatat a time).

Halloween has been destroyed by media, parents such as those you mention who don't hand out candy! I'd have kicked at that door for a looooong time, until someone went to teh store and go me candy. Cheap baystards, I have no patience for anyone who doesn't think kids are the most important aspect of mankind.

in the San Jose Mercury News the day after Halloween. At first it was "This Halloween" and for a few years it was a backstory. Then another new one would come out, and the process continued.

never remember a retraction though...

by ganyssa Oct 31, 2007

I'm kind of happy you don't live in my neighborhood :)

After all, I'm part of the problem. I'm too busy shlepping my kid around to give out candy.

But if someone wasnt home, we left them alone. However, when we knew that they were home, and they wouldnt even come to the door -- TP the house later or throw out a few firecrackers on the doorstep... depending on if they were consistant a-holes or if it was just an anti-Halloween thing.... :^0

I swear that I didn't read your post befor emy reply below. LOL great midns think alike, then again, dumb ones seldom differ. :p

It's the media instilling fear into people and gaining a false aura of credibility as a news source for important information. All in all it's complete crap and really pi$$es me off that they trash a great holiday for children. But then again, that's what happens in North America, fear and reduction of enjoyment. "It's not safe!" It wasn't safe to hang out on the streets and go out with friends at night when I was a kid either, but I'm not dead. It's just false fear, there are not really any more nutcase, serial killers today than there were 10 years ago, but the media inflates the issues and makes us believe time have changed.

One, with the internet, we hear about more.

Two, the population went up, so following the laws of averages, the number of nutjobs would increase.

Three, we have all the cool shows that work as instructional videos on how to be a nutjob, making a "new and improved" nutjob.

How many school shootings did you ever hear about when you were growing up? Me? Zero. (ZED)

2 at my school. Normal middle class area. Not mass freak outs but shootings all the same, a lot more stabbings then than now, too. Then again, you never hear about stabbings anyway, that's not news.

and your not alone, I heard them warning parents on the radio at lunch time. "Check you kids candy, every year more and more kids are getting harmed from tainted candy."

I called in and claimed 'Bullspit'. She thanked me in a typicaly courteous manner and that was that. They simply don't believe it, the rumours have been around too long.

by maecuff Oct 31, 2007

decided that today was the day she would try using a chain saw for the first time in her life. I told her the 'one-armed grandma' costume would be a big hit with my son and my sister's kids.

She's taking my son to my sister's neighborhood and I'll get there as soon as I can. Hopefully, I'll get to walk around with him for a little bit. If not, this will be the first halloween I've missed with my 9 year old son. :(

I'll have to post his costume. It's pretty funny.

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i305/maecuff/jhalloween5.jpg

yes, post the pics

by maecuff Oct 31, 2007

Anyway..here's my little boy :)

That was great.. Although he doesnt look to happy there!

did he like it? :0

We ended up not getting dressed up... :(

I got dressed, but had to take the hood off when I realized that everyone I saw coming closer was like 5 or under.

I had setup the porch area pretty well, some of the neighbors came by and said hi, even ones that I hadnt met yet. All of them seemed to like it, but there was nobody else with any decorations on the street....

By the end of it, I had talked to quite a few neighbors and it turned out all right. Although there was nobody to scare!!! even after it was over, only a couple dozen kids came up, all under 5/6 and some were only 2-3 yrs. old.

So, my hour off of work (to decorate) turned out t scare some of the little uns a bit, so I had to walk out a bit to give them candy, as it was not intended to be too scary for the young uns.

But now I know, if I am still here next year that the only ones to come around here are too young for some of my stuff.

But I have a bowl full of candy that I cannot eat, so I gotta take it to work tomorrow, where it will either sit for a few weeks cause everyone else has some, or it will be gone the first time I walk away from my desk (around 8:30). That is when people eat what I leave out (or pocket, one or the other). At least that is when it all disappears...

by av . Oct 31, 2007

The place that I work for allows people to bring their kids in to trick-or-treat around the building, so everyone brings in a ton of candy. You name it, its there. My personal favorites are Almond Joys and Snickers, which I always bring so that none of it will go to waste if the kids don't want it. :^0

I haven't dressed up in several years, mostly because I haven't been into it as much lately. Usually, I make a real good witch. I even have a mood ring from the 70's that mystifies kids to this day.

At home, we don't have many kids that go out for Halloween in our neighborhood. They used to come, but now kids just go to parties. We do live in a more rural, mountainous area, so I'm not surprised. We used to give out Almond Joys and Snickers and Reeses peanut butter cups (YUM!).

My favorite Halloween move is Rocky Horror. I always look for it on TV on Halloween night. There's always a station that has it on.

I really love Halloween. It used to be more of a neighborhood event, but in today's times, it has changed. Now, its fun to go to a good party.

by absolutely Oct 31, 2007

Clorox

Dran-o

Windex

Turpentine

Did I forget anything?

]:)

by shellbot Nov 1, 2007

Fav Candy: Real Kraft caramels & Halloween Kisses- in the orange paper with moons & cats on them!!!!(either molassas or penut butter, both good)..ah the memories..lost several baby teeth eating Halloween Kisses

Always hand out candy..we moved earlier this year, checked with a neighbour and he said you might get one or two kids..so bought some mini choclate bars..not one kid :(

Dress up: No...
TV Special: Its the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown!!!!!!!! Oh and the old Disney special, Icabod Crane and all that.

When i lived in canada we always decorated and handed out loads of candy. Now in Ireland when we lived out of town in a more residential area we got a good few kids 40+. Carved several pumpkins and decorated the house. Carving pumpkins is a new-ish thing over here, so everyone was quite interested in it! I made up treat bags with all sorts of stuff in them. I always made special ones for the wee little ones..you know "safe" treats and no "foaming balls of blood" jawbreakers type of things :)

Its a shame how its all gone..cranky adults are wrecking halloween!! god, its for kids and if you can't chill out and hand out a bit of candy then you deserve a serious TP'ing!
I used to LOVE getting popcorn balls! Dang, what I would give for one of those..can't get corn syrup here though..can ya make em without and are they as good?? Must check up on it..

I think the sweet tampering is a load of BS and these "safe halloween" things are rubbish. Hey, nothing wrong with a party at 8 or so..but let them have an hour or 2 of trick or treating..don't people rememebr what it was like when they were kids?? there was no better night than halloween night...
well..xmas eve came close..

OMG..its Nov 1, i can now start planning xmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

by tig2 Nov 1, 2007

Maybe a dozen kids. All very young, all just precious.

I have a bowl of leftover sweets and refuse to enter the room where the bowl is lurking. I nibbled nothing last night and intend to stay pure.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I do believe that we are now officially on the downslope of 2007. Greater things await!

by ontheropes Nov 1, 2007

I've got my Christmas shopping all done for a change. I'm usually in the stores on Christmas Eve. Not this year.

I dressed up like a scarecrow and stood out on the porch, not moving. When people would get close, I would start walking towards them. Several kids I felt were a little old just about wet themselves..... ]:)

by ganyssa Nov 1, 2007

we ended up with a lot more neighborhood participation this year than usual. The only issue we had was one house that got into the spirit a bit too much for my daughter.

She wasn't overly enthused about the life-sized Freddy Krueger next to the front door, but neither was mom, for that matter.

I think he has a sinus infection. And, not being used to girl shoes, he fell and scraped his knee. All in all, I don't think he had an enormous amount of fun, although he did get a lot of candy.

He couldn't keep his hands off his boobs, which he found extremely funny.

by w2ktechman Nov 1, 2007

He couldn't keep his hands off his boobs

was funny. I don't think he'll want to do it again. On the other hand, he did say something about being a cheerleader next year for halloween. That, or he wants us all to dress up like the Addams Family.

I said I'd be Morticia, my sister says I should be cousin It.

by tig2 Nov 1, 2007

You're young and hot. Definitely go Morticia. Your sister can be cousin IT.

Jealousy just rears its ugly head everywhere!

I'd be concerned that one of us was very ill.

A perfect candidate for Lurch... uhhhhhhhh.... :D

I assume the little one would be Gomez.

oh oh oh, and you could be grand mama! :p

[i]oh sure, it isn't as glamorous as Morticia, but this is HELLOWEEN, not a beauty contest. You can look stunning the REST of the year! :x

could be Pugsly and my neice could be Wednesday. My sister can be Thing. We'll have to chop off her hand and leave the rest of her at home.

And I won't even comment on the grand mama. Hmmm..I think my husband would make a better Fester than lurch..

by inkling Nov 1, 2007

Halloween played second fiddle to "Devil's Night".

While I never participated, I knew plenty of people that would set fires in abandoned buildings on Oct. 30th. Haven't been in Michigan in several years so I don't know how successful they have been in stamping it out.

Tootsie Rolls are by far the best candy ever created.

Sleepy Hollow, the Disney version has been a favorite since I was little.

This year I dressed up as Buddy Christ (from the movie Dogma). I don't think other people thought it was as funny as I did. Too many people down here in the "bible belt" don't have a sense of humor about such things.

Oops...didn't mean to hit reply...

I pass out stuff that I liked as a kid: candy bars, Kit Kats, Tootsie Rolls, etc.

We planned on just taking our son out so he could see the other kids dressed up. He's only 18 months old, so there was no way we were going to traipse him around door-to-door.

Well, he fell asleep early and we wound up just sitting around watching a movie and handing out candy.

I do miss my younger days when I dressed up as Hugh Hefner and my wife and all her college teammates (she played volleyball) dressed as Playboy Bunnies (there were 16 of them). I was the most envied guy at those parties...

Having been raised Catholic, I found that movie to be extremely funny.

I would have appreciated it. :)

by ganyssa Nov 1, 2007

one. Not like the Columbine kind of stuff, though. One kid in an argument with another tried to shoot him and missed. He ended up shooting the physics teacher in the head in front of the class.

by cookieorc Nov 1, 2007

Could not really do much. So I played WII... I love that little console

It is SUPPOSE to be scary and even a little "less than pretty".

And yes, this has me thinking. I might end up stealing your idea next year.... ;\

We're in different states..

And I don't care what you say, I'm not going to be grand mama..

Go for it!

Besides, it will give you a better idea what you will look like down the road, in say, three or four years? :0

:D B-) ;\

by gadgetgirl Nov 1, 2007

Use the old shovel, Mae.

It's used to jd's blood. No point in christening the new one on ol' jd.

that is the THANKS I get for trying to be helpful! :p

by w2ktechman Nov 1, 2007

I do not think that I should comment too much, lest I get in more trouble... So I thinks I wilst keep my typing under control on this one. You are on your own JD!