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General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: Dichotomy on November 01, 2010, 09:34:50 AM

Title: Is Halloween dying?
Post by: Dichotomy on November 01, 2010, 09:34:50 AM
I didn't see any kids out and about trick or treating last night.  Is this tradition going by the wayside?
Title: Re: Is Halloween dying?
Post by: Tupac on November 01, 2010, 09:38:08 AM
Had plenty of six foot tall trick or treaters.

Teenagers shouldn't be trick or treating
Title: Re: Is Halloween dying?
Post by: 68Mason on November 01, 2010, 09:38:54 AM
Depends...parents take their kids to places they think are safe.  The mall was one place to go this year as well as one of the bigger churches in the city.  We took our kids to the mall last year and will not do that again. It was jammed packed worse than a Wal-Mart on Friday after Thanksgiving!

We were still able to give out the 4 bags of candy at our house though.
Title: Re: Is Halloween dying?
Post by: Shuffler on November 01, 2010, 09:39:36 AM
Not here..... many go to the mall which have trick or treating in a safe environment.

I know of one large Baptist church here that had a car show, food, pony rides, games, and even mud bogs for the 4 wheelers.
Title: Re: Is Halloween dying?
Post by: Viperius on November 01, 2010, 09:45:28 AM
(http://www.financialbounce.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/halloween-2009.bmp)
Title: Re: Is Halloween dying?
Post by: soda72 on November 01, 2010, 10:49:21 AM
had about 30-40 kids show up last night....
Title: Re: Is Halloween dying?
Post by: Tigger29 on November 01, 2010, 10:54:41 AM
hahah funny picture.

Really though, it all comes down to the age of your neighborhood.  Where I live we never get any, but it's an older neighborhood and the few kids left here are already in their teens.

Last night my g/f's brother had a get together at his house so we went there.  They had kids walking around everywhere, trick or treating!  (There was even one guy at the end of the block handing out beer to the adults LOL).  One guy even hitched a trailor full of hay to his ATV and was giving hay rides around the neighborhood...  So there was a lot going on there.

Then again, this is a 'new' neighborhood full of parents in their 20's and very few teenagers... the oldest of the kids MIGHT have been 14.

Of course, they were telling us that even this was nothing compared to a few years back so it's probably a combination of foreclosures (several empty houses on their block) and kids growing up.. you know.. too 'old' to Trick-or-treat because it's 'not cool'.

They have one 11 year old son who thought he was too old to TorT so he acted all sick and all.. but after he saw a few kids walking around with bags full of candy... well on came his football jersey, his helmet, and his pillowcase and he was gone!

It still around.. you just have to find the places where it happens.  Kids do grow up, ya know.. (and they rarely raise a family in their parent's house... although this is probably getting more common these days...)
Title: Re: Is Halloween dying?
Post by: Slash27 on November 01, 2010, 11:04:47 AM
The kids were out in force around here last night. Most I've seen in a while actually.
Title: Re: Is Halloween dying?
Post by: Dichotomy on November 01, 2010, 11:08:01 AM
fair point Tigger.. I didn't really think about that until your post and I realized that I'm surrounded by retirees on all sides so that probably contributes
Title: Re: Is Halloween dying?
Post by: gusman on November 01, 2010, 11:20:53 AM
We live in the only part of town that has sidewalks. Parents bus their kids in. We gave out more then 450 pcs. of candy last night and had to turn the lights out at 7:45pm. It's very festive and since there is a 9pm curfew there is no longer any property damage.

Cheers,
gus
Title: Re: Is Halloween dying?
Post by: oakranger on November 01, 2010, 11:24:45 AM
My mom had over 500 kids last night! 
Title: Re: Is Halloween dying?
Post by: 68ZooM on November 01, 2010, 11:36:04 AM
I had about 36 to 40 kids, lol cute thing is these 3 kept coming back 3 times before the end of the night  :rofl  they lived 3 houses down, so i kept loading them up better them to eat it then me lol
Title: Re: Is Halloween dying?
Post by: shotgunneeley on November 01, 2010, 11:44:50 AM
Had dinner over at my grandpa's house Saturday night with all of the fancy fixins expected for south Arkansas cuisine (fried squirrel, fried chicken and fried deersteak).

While there eating and watching football we had about half a dozen different groups come up. They've lived in the same house for 40 years now, they've seen the change in times. That neighborhood used the hotspot for trick-or-treating and all the houses would get into it and decorate. But like tigger said, its an older neighborhood, not like suburban cul-de-sac filled with young families. These days people don't get into the decorating spirit and all of the kids are going to trunk-or-treat festivals provided by churches.
Title: Re: Is Halloween dying?
Post by: Captain Virgil Hilts on November 01, 2010, 01:13:02 PM
It's been slowly dying off here. Some of us have older kids, but a lot of the ones with younger kids just don't take their kids out, they're too busy with the B.S. TV show of the moment or whatever. We had maybe 20 kids or so last night. There might have been 2 dozen houses in the area with a jack-o-lantern or other decorations out.

I think it is the same for a lot of holidays, if there's nothing in it for them, people don't do anything.

Out of maybe 40 houses I can see from my house, maybe 3-4, no more than 6, will have any outdoor decorations for Christmas, either. Mine will be decorated, and lit up. We do that, and spend money entertaining friends and family, rather than being hung up on the material side of it.

Same with fireworks for July 4th, and New Years. There was a time when everyone shot at least some fireworks, regardless of how broke they were. No more.
Title: Re: Is Halloween dying?
Post by: Raptor on November 01, 2010, 01:28:25 PM
I think the main thing that made it seem like less were out this year is the big "Saturday or Sunday" question.
Title: Re: Is Halloween dying?
Post by: dedalos on November 01, 2010, 01:58:45 PM
I didn't see any kids out and about trick or treating last night.  Is this tradition going by the wayside?

Depends on the area I guess.  I ran out of candy 3 times last night.  Little kids kept coming until 9:30pm
Title: Re: Is Halloween dying?
Post by: Reschke on November 01, 2010, 02:10:28 PM
We didn't have a bunch but we had more in this new house than in our old on the other side of town last year. Probably 15-20 but my neighborhood doesn't have any sidewalks and its either completely up a 30 degree grade from my house to the top of the hill or the opposite down and there are a bunch of little kids (5 and under) so its difficult to get them to go to more than a few houses anyway.

Couple that with the loss of homes and age of kids in other areas and I am sure that all spells disaster in some areas for Halloween.
Title: Re: Is Halloween dying?
Post by: bagrat on November 01, 2010, 02:32:52 PM
Only a few trick or treaters came by maybe 4 or 5, usually the neighbor children. They say they were coming from halloween parties an such. Parents probably just feel it is more reasonable to take the kids to a party amongst friends instead of going door to door and hoping some loon didn't  put poison or razor blades in the candy.

I wanted to sit in my front yard looking like an inanimate zombie, so when kids walk by I scare the hek outta em'. Decided not to though as I'm sure the mommys woulda been plenty furious at me for scaring there children on this night of spooks an scares. :devil
Title: Re: Is Halloween dying?
Post by: scot12b on November 01, 2010, 03:30:31 PM
Halloween being on a Sunday and a Pats up here it there were not that many kids out as there were last year!  My kids still had fun :D

I think the kids having school the next day and football put a big cramp in it this year  :cheers:
Title: Re: Is Halloween dying?
Post by: Treize69 on November 01, 2010, 03:55:18 PM
I spent most of the evening over at my Mothers (actually in the city, as opposed to where I live about a mile outside of it) watching scary movies. We only had about two dozen come through (not counting parents), and most of those were teenagers. I'd say only about 5 kids under 10 years old out of the whole evening. She didn't even finish off the first bag of candy.

GF's parents who live across the street from us say they didn't get a single one this year, and have averaged less than a dozen each year for more than a decade.
Title: Re: Is Halloween dying?
Post by: Penguin on November 01, 2010, 07:12:44 PM
Same here guys, I have been doing plenty of recon over the years in my neighborhood, and I've found the best places to raid, and when.  Here's my Special Forces, Untold Story.  It was known as, Operation: Saccharine.  

Thus, with pillowcase in hand, I rallied my team for what was to be, unknown to us, our last Halloween.  After suiting up, powering on, and setting our phasers to kill, we burst out of the door!  As our howling banshee screams pierced the crisp night air, so did our eyes the darkness of the empty streets.

Jaws dropped, along with pillowcases and tears, I looked at my watch, studied my maps, and rechecked my charts to explain an anomaly of such scale.  Realizing that a late-night-out may have occurred, I sounded retreat.  

After retooling for a darker, faster, harder attack, I felt confident that we would succeed.  Saying a few tender farewells, we silently slipped out the back door, hoping to catch the candy-mass as it moved eastward across the town.  Laying low in dank, muddy ditches, creeping silently on our bellies through quiet, dusty meadows, we emerged onto a parking lot.  We were scratched, bruised, dirty and ragged, but we had followed the plan to the letter.

As we stepped into town, the first thing I heard was not pretend gunshots, boos, hisses or yelps, but a scream.  Earsplitting, heartrending and tender as new, sweet clover, I couldn't help but shed a tear over it.  Yes, even with all our efforts, the plan had failed miserably.  The streets were dark, desolate and silent even at the projected peak hour.

A long, gruelling march home brought the cruel reality to my eyes, Halloween had died not, in the heat of battle, but tossed away and deserted, in the hearts and minds of those who had forgotten it.

:salute My dear Halloween, may you rest in peace.

-Penguin
Title: Re: Is Halloween dying?
Post by: Dichotomy on November 01, 2010, 07:14:27 PM
that was just.. beautiful man *tear

 :rofl
Title: Re: Is Halloween dying?
Post by: Pigslilspaz on November 01, 2010, 07:28:11 PM
Had plenty of six foot tall trick or treaters.

Teenagers shouldn't be trick or treating

I honestly don't see the problem with it.
(Then again, my parents celebrated getting hitched by going trick-or-treating right after their wedding, this sunday was their 20th anniversary)

I actually got yelled at and a door slammed in my face by a middle aged man last night for going out for candy. The kicker is that I was actually taking my best friend's kid brother (he's 8) with me since this is the first year my friend couldn't do it (he's deployed in the Mid-East), apparently the man didn't see the shy little one hiding behind me. People honestly need to lighten up, its a holiday where people are supposed to be merry and have fun.

The highlight of the night was watching the 8 year old knock on the door and then chew out the old man for being rude to me.  :rofl
Title: Re: Is Halloween dying?
Post by: Penguin on November 01, 2010, 07:35:03 PM
that was just.. beautiful man *tear

 :rofl

Thanks, but why are you laughing?  Do you know the years of meticulous recon, planning, and calculation went into that mission?  Each member was on a need-to-know basis, for having another group get head of us and 'pick us off', would have ruined it all!

Oi vay, the misunderstanding here for Veterans of Halloween.

-Penguin
Title: Re: Is Halloween dying?
Post by: Treize69 on November 01, 2010, 07:51:14 PM
Thanks, but why are you laughing?  Do you know the years of meticulous recon, planning, and calculation went into that mission?  Each member was on a need-to-know basis, for having another group get head of us and 'pick us off', would have ruined it all!

Oi vay, the misunderstanding here for Veterans of Halloween.

-Penguin

The (lack of) horror.... The (lack of) horror....  :(
Title: Re: Is Halloween dying?
Post by: Penguin on November 01, 2010, 08:07:04 PM
The (lack of) horror.... The (lack of) horror....  :(

Oh well, you guys wouldn't know what it had been like.  I wouldn't recommend trying it.

-Penguin
Title: Re: Is Halloween dying?
Post by: mbailey on November 01, 2010, 08:42:28 PM
My little ones made out like bandits last night.  :aok

All i got was sore feet  :lol ( and a pack of Now and Laters )

Lots of kids out around here last night
Title: Re: Is Halloween dying?
Post by: Dichotomy on November 01, 2010, 09:27:30 PM
'People honestly need to lighten up'

with this I agree 100%

Cool of you to take your buddies bro..  :salute
Title: Re: Is Halloween dying?
Post by: redman555 on November 01, 2010, 09:30:16 PM
Had like none in my area, bought a big bag and maybe gave 1/10th of it away.


-BigBOBCH
Title: Re: Is Halloween dying?
Post by: BrownBaron on November 01, 2010, 09:42:06 PM
Had plenty of six foot tall trick or treaters.

Teenagers shouldn't be trick or treating

Why not? It can be pretty fun, if one has a clever costume prepared. Not to mention one is then able to  hang around the girl from next door whom is wearing hardly anything and a pair of psuedo-animal ears.   :cheers:
Title: Re: Is Halloween dying?
Post by: LCCajun on November 01, 2010, 10:13:24 PM
I have to say imho America is losing tradition. I cannot for the life of my figure out why. Maybe it is just b/c ppl aren't as trust worthy as it use to be back in the day. I dunno know but it just feels like this is happening. To many ppl afraid to offend someone else's belief or to afraid of being sued.
Title: Re: Is Halloween dying?
Post by: EskimoJoe on November 01, 2010, 11:24:31 PM
I went out trick-or-treating, from what I saw there was a plethora of other kids in the neighborhood my little group 'hit'. I wore a 2005 Air Warrior flak vest with SAPI plates. The UH-60 Blackhawk Crewchiefs wore those. I got a lot of crap from people handing out candy.

'Aren't you too old for this?' My birthday was yesterday (the 30th), this is more than likely my last time for a few years.

'Where's your bag?'
'you don't have a BAG!?' I have cargo pockets, ma'am/sir

Those that did give some candy, I always replied "thank you sir/ma'am, happy halloween". They gave me funny looks. I ended up giving my (one) full cargo pocket of candy to one of my (girl)friends. I wouldn't particularly say Halloween is dying, though I have noticed less people seem to be willing to celebrate it (at least 40% of the houses were dark), and there seems to be as many 17+ year olds as there are younger kids.

Also, a note to myself, winter gloves don't work as well as holding my hands in between my flak and chest. Brrr
Title: Re: Is Halloween dying?
Post by: stealth on November 02, 2010, 12:31:08 AM
 Three years ago 576 kids, two years ago 23 kids and this year 254. Never ran out of candy once. These are accurate, just between 3 and 2 years ago I moved.
Title: Re: Is Halloween dying?
Post by: Perrine on November 02, 2010, 05:23:20 AM
Is Halloween dying?

actually... it's thriving!
it's thriving outside the western world

in some countries Halloween is actually displacing Dia del muerto (and pray to Jeesus) as the most important event.

I don't know it is in other western countries but Halloween is commercialized to death in US
Title: Re: Is Halloween dying?
Post by: cpxxx on November 02, 2010, 06:51:10 AM
Well Halloween originated here. It's a very old tradition so won't die out soon but it has changed. We imported a lot of the American style Halloween ideas. Trick or treat and pumpkins. We didn't have pumpkins when I was a kid. We had turnips. No, I'm not joking! Same idea, hollow it out and put in a candle. We kids didn't say 'Trick or treat' either. But 'Help the Halloween party' and we visited every house on the street collecting nuts and fruit. Rarely did we get sweets.

Some areas still have a lot of kids wandering around but where I live not there are quite few rented houses with no kids. The only visitors we had were my boys cousins. Their Father and I reminisced about when we were kids. He commented that we didn't have to be driven around from house to house.

Our other tradition of lighting bonfires and fireworks continued. Both are illegal without a permit. But that never stopped anyone. The fireworks are smuggled in from across the border where they are legal and the bonfires are build with military precison and timing usually by ten and twelve year old kids and lit very quickly before the authorities can react. Our other great tradition is the mini riots generated after the kids go home and are replaced by drunken teenagers and older. I remember watching once from my bedroom window  as the police arrived at a bonfire and baton charged without warning. It was quite a battle.
Title: Re: Is Halloween dying?
Post by: katanaso on November 02, 2010, 08:15:05 AM
The wife and I didn't have one knock at the door, and we live in a family neighborhood.  We also didn't see kids walking around.

Two friends, also in family neighborhoods, both said they had only 4 or 5 groups of kids come by throughout the evening.

We were trying to figure out why it dropped off so much in the last year for our areas, as we don't live in neighborhoods with foreclosures or many properties for sale.

This is in Broward County, Florida.
Title: Re: Is Halloween dying?
Post by: Treize69 on November 02, 2010, 10:45:19 AM
This is in Broward County, Florida.

maybe because 70% of your fellow Floridians are already the walking dead?
Title: Re: Is Halloween dying?
Post by: katanaso on November 02, 2010, 12:45:11 PM
maybe because 70% of your fellow Floridians are already the walking dead?

:lol

That's towards the beaches and in the condos and retirement homes.

Title: Re: Is Halloween dying?
Post by: Sonicblu on November 02, 2010, 06:27:13 PM
Nasty tradition anyway. Who in there right mind would celebrate it.   Bone fires, Jack o lanterns used to be made out of ........fat to keep the evil spirits away.  I could go on and on....  82 world wide flood myths from different cultures around the world 62 mention this is the day when the spirits that died in the great flood come back to walk the earth.   Sounds like a load of manure to me.  But the things this cultures did to their kids and other humans is not worth celebrating.
Title: Re: Is Halloween dying?
Post by: Simaril on November 02, 2010, 06:34:15 PM
Depends...parents take their kids to places they think are safe....

This alone would explain why no child came to Dicho's house
Title: Re: Is Halloween dying?
Post by: Dichotomy on November 02, 2010, 08:14:23 PM
Just because a neighbor posted a video of my in my Halloween costume you have to throw me under the bus.  I mean, seriously, was it THAT bad?
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v99/dichotomy/CREEPY/5zdyl4o-1.gif)
Title: Re: Is Halloween dying?
Post by: CAP1 on November 03, 2010, 12:19:30 PM
I didn't see any kids out and about trick or treating last night.  Is this tradition going by the wayside?

i see less and less every year. i also see less and less creativity in costumes every year.

 i think the closest to creativity i saw was 3 teenage girls dressed in such a manner as they would never have been allowed out of the house, had they been my daughters.
Title: Re: Is Halloween dying?
Post by: 321BAR on November 03, 2010, 01:38:07 PM
Had plenty of six foot tall trick or treaters.

Teenagers shouldn't be trick or treating
with what the girls in my area wore to the party i was at and most likely all across the country? yes they should :devil

P.S. unless theyre under 16-18...then god no. dont let them wear that... :rolleyes:
Title: Re: Is Halloween dying?
Post by: Simaril on November 04, 2010, 08:41:02 AM
Remember reading somewhere that Halloween was one of the most celebrated holidays of all - but now mostly by adults. As in going to parties rather than trick or treating.