Is it just me - whot truly HATES HALLOWEEN

Not just you - I can't stand it.

DD is taking her DD (not yet 2) to the village Halloween, which, to be fair, sounds well organised. If you put a pumpkin outside your house it means you are happy to be visited, and everyone goes round together at the same time, so householders are not up and down answering the door.

However, I still think it is daft. How are they going to explain ghosts and vampires to such a little tot, or indeed many older ones? And why would you want to create a situation where you needed to?

We always celebrated it because it was my Dads birthday! But, I have to agree, it has got really silly now!

There is a house in the next village which has cobwebs, an enormous spiders web and a whole field of carved pumpkins all over the place!

I liked Halloween as long as all the other kids stayed away. It took me years to realise that the carvings done by my own children were what was attracting all the visitors! Duh...

So after that all carvings were kept firmly inside and the curtains closed and the outside lights off. Much to DS's disappointment, but tough. I just gave him sweets anyway and hired a spooky film every year.

It is something which was never heard of not so long ago, and another 'Americanism' which has crept into this country. Not keen on it at all, preferred the 'penny for a guy' for Guy Fawkes night which seems to have disappeared, didn't involve people dressing up to scare people. I really am getting past it, I fear.

I've repeated this every year, granjura, Printmiss et al: Halloween is not originally an American tradition. It crossed the Atlantic with Scottish (and presumably Irish) migrants and has come back to us in exaggerated form. We used to go 'guising' round the neighbourhood, sing songs or recite verses and return with bags of nuts, tangerines and sweets. We had parties at which we 'dooked' for apples and tried to eat treacle-covered scones, hanging from a line, without using our hands. There were no commercially available costumes but old sheets were much in demand for ghosts. We made our own masks and I don't think anyone had heard of Zombies!

I`m dreading anyone turning up at our door tonight, I completely forgot about getting a load of goodies in for it!

I love it! It's the evening before the feast if All Saints, hence its name and that became attached to the old pagan festival of Samhain. It's the dying down of the year, a time to remember the dead and nowadays and for a long time previously, a lot of fun.

I used to have a Hallowe'en party every year for DD whose birthday it is and we did all the dressing up, Apple bobbing and so on.

I really miss that now.

We tried the treacle-covered scones in the Cub hut once, anno. You should have seen the mess! Apple bobbing is frowned upon by H&S nowadays but we did that too.

What they loved best though was climbing up (and slipping down) a muddy bank hanging onto ropes that I and the other leader had set up during the very wet day) to be greeted at the top by "sumdy's dad" making spooky noises. We had other parents dotted about (with unlit torches in case of emergencies) who spooked the kids on the way down another way too.

Cake and juice back in the hut. They loved it. And I loved sending them home muddy

We always had a party on Halloween when I was small and thats 50 odd years ago, but we called it Tucking Apple Night, we had apples hanging from the airer on strings in the kitchen , apples in a large bucket of water and many other silly games, kids came wrapped up in sheets with hand made masks from paper mache.. we had a lot of fun but didn't go trick or treating thats the modern part that I find a bit like begging..

I hate it - ghoulish, gruesome and grasping. Why would anyone want to dress their little girl in "blood spattered tights (courtesy of Sainsbury's) and then take her begging for sweets?

As a child, I used to go guising with friends in Scotland, but now that I am a grumpy old woman who will want to sit in the dark, I hope that the children stay away, especially as they never live around here.

To earn a treat, I used to dance but today's children are just beggars. I will hide now.

They're very welcome to come here.....Two miles from the village, no streetlamps, muddy lane and a GOW with no sweets at the end of it.

I think we're safe

Any other night of the year and they'd be reported to Social Services Eloethan as being unfit parents.

I read somewhere that tons of pumpkin flesh is thrown away as a result of pumpkin lantern carving. What a shocking waste. At least they could make some soup...although with the temperatures we're all getting today cold drinks might be more in order after 'Trick or Treatiing'

I hate it too. I always put a No Trick or Treats poster on my door. Halloween week is my least favourite Strictly week; I hate all the make up and ghoulish dressing up.
I'm just easily scared!

I used to get sweets - mini Mars type - for the little ones who came round with a parent because I felt I should, although I wasn't sure about teaching children to knock on strangers doors. But since the 'leave a pumpkin out if you're joining in' thing they've stopped calling. (Excellent idea)

The older kids still come though. With carrier bags of spoils. Last year there was only a couple and I was left with too many snack bars than is good for me. Tonight, having forgotten it was Halloween and bought nothing, the street sounds as if it's full of ghouls who keep knocking while we hide and pretend we're out.

DH doesn't approve of Halloween which is probably a good thing otherwise I would be tempted into dressing up and trying to scare the little beggars and things would get out of hand.

Just seen some photos of young families I know trick and treating- with toddlers- and costumes which must have cost 100s - what a huge waste of money- and terrible waste of materials, etc, which will all end up in the bin soon. At least when my kids were young we used old stuff and imagination to make costumes - doh- grrrrrrr.

NfkDumpling - you'd probably be sued by the little darlings' parents for causing alarm, despondency and mental trauma, so it's just as well your natural inclination is curbed by your DH!

It's quiet outside now. Hopefully it'll rain next year.

I don't like it either. It's become too full of nastiness and horror. There seems to be a nasty edge to it.

I've had two bands of littlies round tonight. Both lots with parents and in homemade costumes. I was suitably terrified by a 2year old werewolf [thismile]

None came, thank goodness!

Ditto

Its all about commerce, my dears. The use of horror, cruelty and death just to make a few bucks at Halloween is disgusting, and the encouragement of the young to participate is little short of child abuse. I can't be doing with it so I'm off to get ready to set fire to old Guy Fawkes. Much more civilised!

Well I put my lit pumpkin outside the front door and filled my giant orange (special Halloween) bowl full of goodies and we had a constant stream from around 5.30 (even had the little ones from across the road waiting when my car pulled up outside) until about 7pm when it all went deathly quiet and all the ghosts, witches and monsters disappeared until next year.

Happy days. DiL sent me a lovely picture of my three DGC who had been professionally made up by a make up artist friend (who my son went to school with) blimey, I couldn't recognize them ! They all went to a huge party and had a fantastically scary time.