The ghoulishness of Hallowe’en?

I love graveyards!

GabriellaG with all respect due to your superior intelligence may I point out that at no time did I say anything about shop windows on my walk to the village church or even that I am personally disturbed by the nonsense currently peddled in our supermarkets.
(The clue is in the word “village”)
Secondly I drew a comparison between the ghoulish imagery of death as represented in the commercial tat and the entirely benign and unthreatening nature of a country churchyard.
There are indeed many adults who regard graveyards as “creepy” or “spooky” .I am concerned about the possible effects on young children who may have lost a parent or grandparent - those old enough to have a concept of death but not able to entirely make the distinction between real life and fantasy.
It is clear that other cultures and traditions handle the whole thing rather better, it has certainly become more graphic, horrific, gory and “realistic ” over the years.
Anyway I started this thread in good faith after reading a “problem” aired at the weekend in the DT so perhaps there are some who find the imagery unsettling as well as deprecating the OTT nature of the merchandising.
So be it.
Intelligence and Emotional Intelligence are not always synonymous.

MawBroon
I read your OP and I referenced skeletons, masks etc (but not the graveyard)
My intelligence and literacy is probably greater than the majority who post on here. As a retired lawyer (LL.M Eur) amongst other qualifications, I find that the act of walking to visit the grave of a loved one cannot, in all seriousness, be blighted by skulls, fake blood, open plastic toy coffins, fangs, masks and any manner of 'ghoulish' paraphernalia on display in shop windows.
I imagine no adult, on such a trip, would be looking in shop windows anyway.
I imagine your GC would be exposed to stuff other children have and would see these items in shops.
We differ in our attitudes. I can't stand whingers, ditherers and those who find something to be offended about at every turn.
You dislike my arrogance. That's life.

Halloween is a celebration of evil, so I leave it to those who choose to do just that. One priceless moment in my younger days was hearing a child's prayer at the end of a school assembly - "Thankyou God for the fun of Halloween". Hmmm

Or Bonfire Night but that too was pretty gory. I think kids rather like a bit of blood and thunder, well they (we) did before all this snowflake malarkey got going.

Sorry, try again:
youtu.be/Vki-E-_KQUo

I posted a link yesterday on the Culture and Art forum about the Swedish All Saints' Day. As Cold says this has always been important in Sweden and families, including children, gather in the cemeteries to light candles. It is quite a sight and a time to quietly reflect and remember.

youtu.be/Vki-E-_KQUo

Blinko - There's a link on the thread discussion whether cultural traditions are overrated. It concerns what happens in Sweden for Halloween

The video you link to refers to All Saints Day and not Halloween - they are separate events in Sweden.

The shops in Sweden are just as full of typical Halloween stuff as anywhere else - ie pumpkins, witches, dancing skeletons etc. It is however a more recent thing in Sweden (traditionally Swedes do "trick or treating" at Easter)

All Saints Day - usually held on the first Saturday in November - has always been important in Sweden as a day for remembering the dead. Families gather and visit the family graves together with winter decorations and wreathes and it is usual to set a long life candle on the grave after dark. You can see churchyards glittering with the special grave candles for weeks afterwards.

Should have added, I do think some of the paraphernalia is very gruesome, especially for younger/more sensitive children.

Having said that, it was our dog who used to be freaked out by some of the trick or treaters' masks! She was always frightened of weird faces.

One year, after I'd put the big carved pumpkin on the garden table (I hadn't thought then of turning it into soup, which I usually do now) - I found her barking furiously at this scary great orange face that had dared to invade our garden!

Halloween has always been celebrated in N.Ireland. It always involved dressing up,often as a witch or ghost, turnip lanterns ( much harder to carve than pumpkins!) ducking for apples, cloutie dumpling and apple tart with small sums of money hidden inside, bowls of nuts, trick or treating, although we didn't call it that and (when they were legal) fireworks. It was a fun time for kids with no creepy or scary connotations.
I loved it as a child and my children loved it. It has become a bit Americanized over recent years but I wouldn't like to see it disappear. It seems to combine traditions of All Hallows Eve , harvest and the darkening of the year.
While not recently bereaved, my father died some years ago and it would never occur to me to be upset by halloween skeletons and ghosts. When I think of him it is always as he was not even how I last saw him in the funeral parlour.
Yes we need to be careful of small children ( although my three year old grandson is very excited) but children secretly love to be a wee bit scared! Think of ghost stories and the ghost train at the fairground.

Ooooo girls, all this nastiness and I don't just mean Haloween or All Souls as it should be called followed by All Saints!
The worse thing to my mind is sending 'HAPPY HALLOWEEN, and Parties....

Trisher my Halloween memories are from NE...maybe dracula was popular because Whitby was clae by!

Hmm...Well I DON'T like Halloween, DONT answer door to kids. But that's me, and while I shan't be engaging with it, that's not a reason to ban it for those who feel differently. I think as a society we have to accept things (TV shows, political opinion, books) that we don't personally approve and just not engage with such things ourselves. x

The DGC do go 'trick or treating' with a group of other children (and parents keeping an eye on them) around their village. Villagers expect to see them, there is much giggling and fun and nothing too gory. If anyone doesn't mind having a knock on the door and giving sweets or apples they put a pumpkin outside.

Can I say once again that it isn't "American" here in the NE there is a long history of celebrating. When my DSs were small they were always welcomed by the old gent round the corner who was in his 80sbut remembered doing the same thing when he was little. They had to say a rhyme or sing but he always gave them something. I remember as well one costume favoured was Dracula, complete with plastic teeth and fake blood. I suppose it was a bit gory but no one seemed to mind.

Not my favorite holiday.

All Saints every time. The other thing is just an excuse to market rubbish. - And very upsetting to those with feelings.

Much as I empathise with the recently beraved, it is too much to ask that Haloween celebrations be cancelled so as not to hurt their feelings.

I am reminded of a complaint some years ago that a recentlt widowed lady complained to the BBC because a lot of the programmes were reminding her of her dearly departed and distressed her.

Halowwen celebrations did not take place when I was a child, we ad Guy Fawkes instead, so it holds no significance for me other than the joy it has given to my children and Grandchildren over the years making life fun, as it should be.

There will always be recently bereaved so it is impossible to find a time when there are none. Many, however, do take solace in the words of Alfred Lord Tennyson in his poem "In Memoriam"

www.online-literature.com/tennyson/718/

Craftycat
^roll on Bonfire night!^

Bonfire night is when the 'image' of a man is burnt to death.
Dangerous noisy fireworks are let off scaring pets and wild animals.
Not forgetting the unnecessary injury caused or the problems for our fire service.

In our village, villagers are asked if they would like to receive the “trick and treaters”. people who don’t are left alone. The children have to make their own costumes and be accompanied by an adult all in a 2 hour period. I put out a pumpkin, a few lights and spiders on the night. A really pleasant evening.
The plastic tat as described is from the Zombies craze and really is nothing to do with Halloween. Just another marketing ploy. The answer is not to buy it.

Instead of Halloween at the church my son works out and also one my daughters attend they do a shine party instead, maybe if not comfortable with Halloween this is something that may be more comfortable with.
I lost my husband Boxing Day but in truth can’t really relate Halloween to that,mind you it still doesn’t feel like he is gone,can’t quite get it in to my head that I won’t be seeing him again but that’s another subject entirely

It's just more American rubbish!
When I was a child ( with a Scottish Grandma) we used to have a big family party & bob for apples, play silly games & do Highland dances. I loved it.
My younger son refuses to let his 3 go 'Trick or Treating' & they are upset as 'all their friends do it'. It's a shame to have more pressure on children.
Roll on Bonfire night!

Like Trisher, my main objection is to all the ghastly plastic tat that is mostly going to end as landfill.

I don't mind trick or treating, though never did it as a child. Our dds enjoyed it when they were children, so I always put a smallish pumpkin in the window and have goodies ready. It's very largely quite young children who come, nearly always with a parent hovering at the end of the path.

Occasionally we've had teens wanting money - they get short shift! Ditto just once a pair of teens who came before the day, since, 'We're going to be at a party on Halloween night.'
Well, tough!

Good for you ladyinspain you have principles, rare where money is concerned.