Halloween costumes

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Here, kids come round on Halloween, knock on your door and expect sweets. (Which they get.) They never ask, 'Trick or Treat', and I would love to ask for a 'Trick', just to see what they do!

I am really looking forward to Halloween especially because last year I was on crutches and missed all the fun. I am in N. America and here it's a community event. My son-in-law makes costumes for himself and the kiddies. I'm a witch! Away round the neighbourhood we go, admiring all the wonderful costumes, decorative porches and gardens and chatting to our neighbours en route. My daughter and friends stay home to answer the door and dish out the candy. Minimal expense for a fun evening.

Magrithea. the American influence in Hong Kong goes back a long way. I spent part of my childhood in Hong Kong in the early 1950s and the American influence was very strong even then. Lots of American cars and my father was delighted, he had served with US soldiers during the war and could once again get American doughnuts and the American magazine, the Saturday Evening Post, while we were there.

When my DC were small we lived in Hong Kong which had a far greater American influence than British (surprisingly) and Halloween was a big 'thing' there. I was horrified by small children being taken round with bags and buckets for treats and particularly by a small boy who rang our doorbell at 9 p.m. one year and just stood there holding up his bag of goodies for our contribution - he was completely on his own! I do feel it's another import and one we could do without!

Halloween has replaced Guy Fawkes as the big Autumn event. Most places still have bonfires and fireworks, but the main event, based on religious prejudice - catholics are the devil's spawn/protestants are heretics and must not govern - are almost forgotten, which I think is no bad thing.

We did Halloween in the 70’s with turnip lanterns , paper witch hats and binbags lol

My lot celebrate Halloween we have goodies for children knocking . Soup , homemade bread and cake for tea then bob & duck apple then films usually Bettlejuice & Hocu Pocus ?

In Manchester when I was growing up (late 1940s,50s) it was really good fun with similar things to those mentioned in Scottish tradition of ducking for apples and treacle scones hanging to eat with hands behind your back. It was linked closely to what we called "Molly Dancers" which involved blacking your face and dressing up, and it was in this guise that you visited others and there was always a bit of feeling of threat with this bit, when you tried to scare someone or be scared in the dark. This latter practice I think came from supposed bad spirits in coal mines, which then of course links with ghost and spirits of the dead in dark or underground, which hark back to pagan beliefs. I loved it, and so different to today's trick or treat.

I’ve never really been into Halloween, it was very big in Scotland when I lived there in the 80’s.
My DIL is really into any celebration that requires dressing up and brings the 2 grandchildren round on the night dressed to the nines. They’ve even tried to get me & DH to join in!
We get little groups of young children (with adults in tow) knocking but they only knock on houses with pumpkins on show which is good.
Must admit I wasn’t keen in our last house as we were bombarded by older children who had made no real effort to dress up and were more troublesome.
I guess each area is different.

Mischief night was a well known thing in yorkshire,when i was a child,yes on 4th november,people (usually the older boys) in our neighbourhood,would throw eggs at doors/windows,or knock& run away etc.. I'm now in northwest but it doesn't seem to be as big a thing these days,certainly not where i live,so (hopefully) its died out.

Yes your right pen50,i just got my days/dates mixed up.apologies.

I agree with some others,that its as commercial as you make it- mainly a lot of little kids outfits seem to be home-made or using face masks made out of card and decorated/painted, all so proud to show off what they've helped to make,and of course the best lanterns are made out of a real pumpkin,and making soup next day out of the pumpkin flesh is the yummiest recycling ever!(in my day some used turnips or swedes,like in older times) its more of a northern thing it seems,I'm from northern england.Ive not heard of having to put a pumpkin in the window so they know to call though,people just seem to call anyway.

I'm sure there must be some decent Christians who don't find Halloween offensive.

Personally, I think it's absolutely horrible and I don't understand why so many people buy into it. Any "buy" is the operative word - all the supermarkets selling Halloween food, costumes and any amount of tat. I hadn't really thought about the terrible waste of resources that goes into producing this rubbish but now I wonder why anybody people who professes to be concerned about the environment would still "celebrate" this ghastly gore fest.

I don't really see it as - "Christians shouldn't participate." I'm not a Christian or religious in any way but I don't like the most unpleasant images and ideas that Halloween conveys.

My friends and I never marked Halloween and I can't think of anyone else who did - only Guy Fawkes Night - and I never really thought about the fact that the guy actually represented a real person being burnt to death. That's horrible as well.

All souls day is day after hallowee'n.

But yes i agree with chestnut about some adults turning into something more bizarre,it should not be frightening for the young children who want to have a bit of harmless fun.

Purplepoppies, its NOT begging,you killjoy,its just little kids,showing off their costumes,and they dont ask for sweets or money- we generously GIVE IT AWAY FREE- sweeties,or if we've run out near end of evening,yes we give healthier stuff even like apples,or chuck in a few coins! Im glad you 'allowed' your child to have the occasional party....sounds like great fun.

As children we always marked halloween as a neighborhood,(and again on bonfire night)-all us kids& some of our mums trudged around our street in costumes and said trick or treat- but there were always sweet treats,so no need for tricks- and my kids did same and our neighbours kids still come around too.(my younger GC still do so but its more of a halloween party in their own homes these days)all good harmless dress-up fun,but yes our church does focus more on all souls day especially in catholic schools,they have a special mass for it.

Not sewers ??, sweets

Its begging imo. I don't agree with knocking peoples doors and asking for treats/sewers or more often money. I'm not a grumpy old lady lady either, I'm late 40s. I never allowed my child to do it. We did have the odd Halloween party, she didn't completely miss out....

In Yorkshire we had mischief night which was 4 November. Children went round knocking on doors and running away, sometimes it was more serious such as taking off garden gates or setting fire to bonfires what had been built ready for 5 November. The police have issued warnings about such anti-social behaviour. There was a letter in one of the national newspapers today about the disposal of Hallowe'en costumes adding to landfill or even being sent to the Third World as some surplus clothing is - where there are often open fires close to where children might be wearing our Hallowe'en cast-offs. On Hallowe'en my grand daughter goes round the small estate where she lives, everyone knows her and it's harmless fun.

As I mentioned in a previous post I remember quite clearly it being a big event for children in the north of Scotland from around 1950. I would also add that my DGS attends a Catholic Primary School and they always have their Halloween Disco a couple of days before Halloween itself.

There actually is a Christian origin to Halloween. November 1 is All Saints' Day, and November 2 is All Souls Day. It is theorized that at least part of the origin of trick-or-treating was the practice of going "a-souling". Children would go to neighbours' houses and ask for "soul cakes", special cakes that were baked at this time of year. In exchange, they would offer to pray for the souls of family members who had died during the previous year.

There was never Hallowean when I was growing up. When I had my children in 1979, 80 and 83 two of them being born on 31st October ?‍♀️ they grew up having some fabulous fancy dress birthday parties and all the local children knew to knock on our door because we always had a house full of witches ready to hand out party treats. I think it’s important that children know only to knock at doors where there are lit pumpkins and similar decorations. As kids we always made a guy and took them out for penny for the guy for fireworks night and we never see that any more, I think Hallowean has taken over and is now celebrated much more.

The SA are particularly anti Halloween .

Flora I also live in Scotland and was brought up in Balloch, near Loch Lomond. We called it going out in the gloshes, not sure if that's how it should be spelled. We did the same and went door to door for apples, clementines, nuts and sweets and sometimes some money, usually coppers, and only from the most well off neighbours and you had to sing, tell jokes, say a poem or do some sort of dance while humming the music at the same time. It was such a huge thing when I was young back in the '60's.