Halloween costumes - a step too far?

I remember Halloween when we were little, I cant remember any dressing up exactly, but we had bob apple and other fun things, we didnt go trick or treating, but i am 75 so Halloween hadnt caught on in those days like it has done since,or am I too old to remember?

It is rather off putting when you get slightly older children (11, 12) who are clearly out to be given money or sweets or they will throw eggs at your front door - an experience we had when living in London.

We were in America some years ago at Halloween, and I have to say it was a much nicer, friendlier, family oriented event. Houses were decorated with the usual pumpkins and candles, but also fruit and flowers, and it all seemed happier and something a little more like a late Harvest Festival. Perhaps I was just lucky but I didn't see anything sinister or gory, and it wasn't that long ago.

Oops, crossed postwith Craftycat!

Can I correct the impression some people have that Halloween is an American invention. Guising on All Hallows' Eve has been a tradition in Scotland, and maybe other parts, for hundreds of years. We used to hollow out turnips for our lanterns, which was an arduous task compared to pumpkins. Trick or Treating is American.

Halloween is fine- Trick or Treat is not. As a child- having a Scottish GM- we had big Halloween family parties with apple bobbing, eating sticky buns suspended from string etc & a Scottish Country Dancing.
ToT is just begging.
We do have a lot of children call & they are mostly young & neighbours too & I would never turn a child away without a sweetie. However this year I was perturbed to see a message on a local forum saying who was going out on Saturday & who on Sunday. 31st in Monday.
I suspect we may be disturbed for 3 nights running at this rate which is unacceptable. 31st- Ok- before that no thanks.

What happened to "duck apple"? Picking an apple, with your hands behind you, out of a bowl of water with your teeth. String across the room with apples hanging from it and again hands behind your back trying to bite it. Its all gone too American.

I'm afraid I don't answer the door. We did not have children around here anyway although I have a couple next door now. I will not be encouraging it. The Church school, I worked in, the Vicar had an alternative night in the church called Angel night.

It just means more containers from China full of plastic junk that will go into landfill the day after. We really can't go on living beyond the means of our planet.

And it's all flammable.

Kaysa, I honestly don't think the vast majority of kids associate Halloween with anything evil or ugly. It's just a fun thing to do, to dress up and be given sweets. I know that's all it ever was to my two, who thoroughly enjoyed it, and I'm sure my neighbours with young children would say the same.

IMO it's gone too far because it's a godsend for shops - all that garish tat to sell! Bonfire night has sadly taken 2nd place, because there just aren't the same merchandising possibilities.

Having said that, my kids used to enjoy it, and I'm happy for trick or treaters to call. I always put a lit up carved pumpkin in the window and supply plenty of mini Mars Bars or mini packets of Smarties (things we like so we're happy if any are left over!) The kids who call are mostly quite young and local, with parents hovering at the end of the path.
The only ones I don't like are much older kids (though very few of those) some of whom have had the nerve to call before the night, and say they can't come on the 31st because they're going to a party! Well, tough!

My pumpkin gets made into soup the next day - waste not want not - usually Thai style with ginger, chilli and garlic, and coconut milk. Delish.

The pumpkin

Why is it that all year round we teach children to be kind, good, and generous, but for one week of the year, it is okay for them to celebrate everything that is evil bad and ugly. Talk about mixed messages. Halloween is NOT just a bit of fun. It is getting worse with everywhere jumping on the money making bandwagon. Why is it OK to scare children? I avoid everywhere in the October half term week that is connected with this evil and inappropriate "celebration"

I agree some costumes are a step too far.
I don't agree with 'trick or treating'. Imo it's begging. Not everybody wants kids/teenagers at their door demanding sweets. & the kids that throw eggs etc at buses & cars & shop windows are completely out of line. My local shops don't sell eggs to kids this time of year. Ban fireworks for sale to the general public too please! Baa humbug lol ?

At some point it changed from being an evening of fun for very young children to being a party for all ages???
I'm afraid I really don't get the adult dressing up lark!
Every store mag and online site seems to have gone Halloween crazy. It looks like we're all expected to spend a small fortune on decorations and a week cooking grisly
looking food that no-one, especially a child, would fancy eating.
Total marketing lunacy in my opinion.
As for letting young children wander round in the dark!!
I won't get started on my opinions on the Christmas hype. Suffice to say that I won't be spending £100s on gifts, decorations & general junk which has absolutely nothing to do with "Christmas"

I agree with those that say it has gone too far. Quite enough to have a turnip or pumpkin lantern but some of the outfits are just plain scary. I've been in Tesco this morning and there was almost a whole aisle of Halloween stuff including a huge plastic gravestone with RIP on it. I can't see why you would want to frighten yourself or anyone else with that! I wonder if anyone still does apple bobbing at Halloween like I did as a child.

Well, my two little granddaughters are still very excited about Halloween, and are looking forward to their costumes. Sometimes their mum and I have made them but sometimes we don't have time, and then they have something bought. This year, I think their costumes come from Sainsburys, and they're both on the zombie theme - one is a Halloween princess and the other is some sort of skeleton. They're a bit more gory than the things we made for them when they were toddlers - such as kitten or fairy costumes - but they're getting to the age where they like to be a little bit scary and a little bit scared. I don't think it does them any harm to dress up in this way. I do agree, though, that all costumes should be made of fire-retardant material - we are very careful to keep the girls well away from the pumpkin lantern and no other candles are allowed.

The rest of our grandkids, now living in the US, used to dress up for Halloween when they were little and lived here but now only the younger two bother with costumes. The adults, though, seem to take it more seriously over there. My daughter and SiL have to go to a costume party every year, organised by his company, and she says some of their friends spend a fortune on Halloween decorations. More than they spend on Xmas, in fact.

I have a door curtain to pull and my plug-in doorbell will get switched off. After 35 years of carving, or helping my children to carve our pumpkin and dispensing sweets to a non stop stream of little children I have turned into old meanie myself. I feel thoroughly intimidated by adult size teenagers in zombie or scream masks and it is no longer fun.

I am getting to be an old meanie nowadays , I didn't mind when it was a few local children , but I got fed up getting up and down to groups of children from all over the place, the spirit has gone out of it somehow .

Many years ago my son who is now 42 was working as a club manager at a football club, one morning after letting the cleaners in he and his staff were attacked, bound and gagged by a gang in Halloween masks, they were threatened whilst the gang raided the place. Ever since my. Son cannot bear Halloween though sometimes has to work it

We had four people driving at speed round our tiny village yesterday - all wearing Scream masks. Elderly people were terrified. Took their number and called the Police... who couldn't come. The one police officer who looks after 40 villages was laid up with a kidney infection.

When we realised he wasn't coming, we went out and confronted the youths... who were hugely apologetic, and were... apparently... making a Halloween film for their Media Studies Class.

Idiots !

Yep, Gs, seems as though we're pretty much of one accord here. I hate it and think it has degenerated from a bit of light fun to something sinister and commercial. My children used to rig up some outfit from their wardrobes and artistic use of paper etc. They then visited local neighbours whereupon they were usually invited in and expected to perform a small act - recitation, song or joke - for which they were compensated handsomely with a couple of sweets or an apple. They were happy; we were happy and the neighbours were? - kindly tolerant!

I love all those things that give life a bit of a boost BUT it has gone too far now because it ha become an expensive racket.

Morrisons have gingerbread ghost trains this morning......like the bloody proms we are being conned into buying loads of toot we don't need..........more fool us for following America's example on such stuff..............

It ceases to be about fun and becomes focused on preparation and presentation.like Christmas has. Ruins it all for me.

Money and showing off is all we have now..the fun went ages ago.

I'm with BlueBelle on this. It's an American thing that's gone too far, imo.

I'm not usually a kill-joy, but when it comes to Halloween I would gladly ban it, the whole concept disturbs me.

We love Halloween in our house and really get into the spirit of it. It's only for one night and all the kids and adults are great. We have lots of props and quite a few on our estate join in with wonderful displays.
Many of the costumes are wonderful too so try and enjoy it everyone or shut the curtains and pretend to be out.

I really don't like Halloween. When my children were small we made costumes ourselves with them such as a witch but only to wear in the house, they were certainly not allowed to go house to house begging and causing mischief (as I wasn't myself when I was small). We did Apple bobbing and such like activities with them which was lots of fun.

Well I am delighted that so many agree with me. There are so many spooky and inventive costumes people can use and I just think that these ones are entirely unsuitable and in very poor taste