I personally love it! I think it stems from childhood, Halloween seemed to be the most stress free of all holidays, one where we were at home baking pumpkin bread instead of on the road or sleeping on my grandparent's floor (like Thanksgiving and Christmas). But I prefer the 'Disney' version of Halloween... more "Hocus Pocus" than Michael Myers. :)

I don't like the way it is now. It's all buy, buy, buy...gross, gross, gross. We get close to 700 or 800 Trick or Treaters every year and the cute, innocent, sweet ones are few and far between. It does bother me to see a toddler with fake blood all over their face. Give me the bumble bees and the Dorothy's and the kids dressed up as black cats. And nothing in my house is decorated scary either. It's either funky or pumpkin-y...nothing icky here. BTW, there is some funny Halloween music on my blog right now you might enjoy.

I LOVE Halloween. Autumn is my favorite time of year and Halloween is my favorite holiday. It's perfect for pumpkins and soup, and long skirts, and I can hang my pentagram wreath on the door without upsetting the neighbors.

I really love Halloween, too. It's one of my favorite holidays. I look forward to it all year. I don't like the scary stuff either. Luckily, we live in a small town and the scary stuff is kept pretty much out of my sight. We have cute stuffed ghosts to hang up on the porch. (and they're not "hanging", just hung up :) We also carve Jack-O-Lanterns and silly scare crows. The creepiest thing we have are hand molds that we made of our own hands one year. I appreciate hearing about you others who agree with me about fun Halloween nights.

I myself love Halloween, but it does make me very sad to see a fun night of Trick or Treat turned into how scary or bloody can you get!! I lived in a very small community when I was a child and everyone knew each other, so going door to door was just a fun way to be seen in costumn by neighbors and friends. For the past 5 yrs I have lived in large cities, and honestly didn't have any (ZERO) trick or treaters and that was so sad!! We decorated our house and had it lite up so anyone who wanted to come would be welcome, but we had no one!! This year we have moved back to a small community (I'm in Heaven) and one of the first things I ask my neighbors was "do we get many trick or treaters here?" I was told we got oodles of them and boy am I ready...bags of candy (thinkin' I should get more, don't wanna run out)!

So YES I love Halloween, but as a Christian I am concerned over where it is heading!

I love Halloween. I agree with you, it has sadly become a gruesome celebration. What happened to all the cute character costumes?. Growing up my twin sister and I always had cute costumes. Some years we bought them and other years we made them. We always had a party for our friends with orange soda and cupcakes. We bobbed for apples too or apples on a string. We still decorate the house inside and outside with the pretty and cute items.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN
Marilyn

I love Halloween. I enjoy the scary movies (not the "saw" kind- more the thriller types) I love the costumes the little kids wear. Love the crips air, love the jack o lanterns and ghosts and witches. My favorite holiday

Great Bloggie Rebekah...!
Thank You for the Recipe...
You are absolutely right...
Halloween is for Kids and best observed in a Spirit of Fun 'eh...
It is also Midnight's Birthday (my Cat I rescued as a feral Kitten)... I don't really know when he was born, but I got him to the Vet and she was able to determine his age, so I picked the most Special day, Halloween, and designated it Midnight's Birthday. I got him the Best Birthday Present anyone can give a Cat: the biggest box Macy's Gift Wrap had, all wrapped up for Halloween... empty of course.
Halloween is exactly that kind of Holiday... not "about" any content or meaning... it's all about the "wrapping" and the "box", and I can tell from your wonderful photos that you wrap the occasion quite nicely.
Oh... yes, Midnight is black.
GodSpeed and...
"Oíche Shamhna Shona!" (Happy Halloween in Old Irish)
Gary
in Tampa

I like fun halloweens, not scary ones. A group of friends would have a party for our children and make the treats, decorate the place and set up a station by the door so our children could give out treats while at their own party. My daughter went out trick or treating for the first time last year, with her toddler son. My son was more adventurous and went out during childhood with my aunt and her son. After her outing, my dughter called me and said she liked the parties better. We usually fashioned costumes out of things we already had. We took pictures to share with distant family too.

I neither love nor hate halloween...but I want to know where did Thanksgiving go. We go from halloween to Christmas. Maybe that is why halloween is getting terrible we have quite being Thankful.

I SO remember dressing up as you described it: when I was little it was the plastic masks with holes, and when I was older it was piecing something together - usually a hobo or a gypsy.

I love Halloween, and while I agree it is much different from the way it used to be, my family and I still maintain that Halloween can be fun, innocent and very enriching. We don't do anything gory, and I am appalled, as most conscientious people are, when I see toddlers with fake blood, and wearing the latest inappropriate get-up. When you focus on the season, the pumpkins...glorious, beautiful pumpkins...and old fashioned games like bobbing for apples (last year we hosted some teenagers that had a blast playing this...they thought it was COOL), fun food, some spooky music and traditional costumes, Halloween becomes once again a special time for your children....and grown-ups alike!

I don't really like Halloween. I will admit I enjoyed it as a kid. It was fun and our block had a dark corner were your imagination could run crazy. But the history of Halloween turn our family off to it. We have been in churches that had Harvest Festivals. It was costumes (not bad ones), candy, and games. Good clean, safe fun. Now my kids are grown so we don't do anything. Of course there aren't many children around here anyway. So we will buy special candy for our neighbors. But like the rest of you I dislike the gory frightening things, especially the movies, that are shown all October. Thanks for letting me share the other side.

I have to admit that I don't like Halloween much either - the dark history behind it, and the way it's become so, well... evil! An excuse for the "yuk" to come out in people. The neat parts of Halloween - the non-consumer costumes and funny jack o'lanterns and candy corn - are few and far between anymore. The frustrating part of it to me, a mom of preschoolers, is the expectation placed on my kids... "What are you going to be this Halloween?" and "How much candy are you going to get?" so I feel like I'm a bad mom if I DON'T let the kids trick or treat a little. *sigh* Just wish we could skip it and go straight to Thanksgiving!!

hi rebecca,we lived so far out in the country that we didn't go much,but one year I remember is going to all of the country neighbors,I got an apple,and a peice of cake,popcornballs,and at one house,Betsy Mccall paper dolls an elderly woman quickly ripped out of Mcalls magizine.I do however remember how we dressed that year,my brother Gary was clem di lidhopper,from Red Skelton,and I was dressed up like an ole lady off of the Red Skelton show,named Miss Migilacutty.I remember dressing up in moms old dresses and hi heels,saying I was Miss Migilacutty for weeks after that.I love Holloween,Its my favorite holiday,although I was raised up in the Church of Christ,Moma told me it was a horrible sin,and that we couldnt go into town,why what would people think.I do think,a Little mild harmless fun is ok,however,some peopel do go a little too far with the gore for little children.I am like you Casper is gore enough.Blessed be,carol branum,lamar mo.

I don't love Halloween, but I don't hate it. I remember my costumes were almost always just thrown together. I was a gypsy a couple of years. During the 70's we wore longer skirts and dresses and I would just add a lot of beads and a bandanna. My sister and I dressed our brother up as a girl one year with some of our cloths. At some point things got scary when my children were getting older and I started taking them to a local mall that gave out candy or to a church party. I think that was when I started not enjoying it much anymore. But now I have a grand daughter that has a birthday on Halloween so my husband and I just go to see her on her birthday and check out our grandchildren's costumes. That is more than enough Halloween fun for us.

I'm not sure it's Halloween that I love or just "autumn" or "harvest". I'm an October baby and my mom said I loved autumn because I had autumn in my blood. Like you, it was very different when I was a girl - not only by years but I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. It was dressing up in Dad's oldest shirt, burning a cork to make a stubbly beard, getting an old hat and cutting some "frizzle" holes then going through our neighborhood. Everyone knew everyone, the big kids looking after the little kids, parents just walking along chatting with each other about their upcoming Thanksgiving feast, rushing home for "candy inspections", and, finally, getting one piece of whatever we wanted before heading off to bed. We had a lot of street lights to light our way. There was often a good chilling rain, a bit of wind, a bright moon, and a lots of fun. AAAHHH . . . where did those days go??

We had happy Halloweens when I was a kid too. But it did come from a pagan holiday with real witches and evil. I think I just took all the evil away when my kids did it. We had a church party. The neighbor worked for the telephone company and he had movies that we watched every year. I think back and laugh because they were about how the telephone was made. Imagine kids today getting excited about that. We also let the kids collect money for charity.
Ilove to see the tiny kids dress up and have fun. But since we are the adults, perhaps we have to make it.
By the way, No way would I give 700 kids candy. I'd turn out the light. Put together a special puzzle.
Good topic.

Bonnie

I was 4 years old when I experienced my first Halloween. My dad was military and we were in France my first 3 years. We had moved back to the states. I remember hiding under my great grandmothers kitchen table, terrified. It got better after that. I was from a small town where our parents didn't have to accompany us. We would go in groups. At school there was always wonderful crafts and lots of coloring pictures of pumpkins and witches. My birthday is in October so it seemed like one party after the other! I love Fall and really look forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas. I don't really hate or love Halloween but, I do wish kids today could experience it as I did.

when i was a kid i loved halloween...costumes, candy. what a great way to start the school year! but as i got older (anytime after college), i lost interest and also started seeing the dark side of the holiday. but then my niece and nephews started getting into trick or treating and of course that was fun again. i'd like it to stay a fun day for kids. but i'm also more of a "harvest" person. i love the fall colors, the pumpkins, planting in the fall. i also enjoy christmas (many fond memories), but i wish that thanksgiving had more prominence - other than having that friday off. which of course has become a major shopping day for christmas. i miss the simplicity of the holidays.

Oh my gosh Rebekah, did we grow up in the same house? One year I did dress up as CASPAR for Halloween. We bought the costume at the store and I just LOVED Caspar. I even had a toy one, and when you pulled the string he said things like, "Hi, I'm Caspar, the friendly ghost!" And just last night, my husband (52) and I (51) watched "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" for about the 40th time! We were talking about how we loved the way things used to be at Halloween! During trick or treat if the weather is nice, we sit out front and hand out candy. No turning the lights off at our house. Cindy

I agree that Thanksgiving has really lost it's meaning in our country. There needs to be alot more emphasis on family and being thankful for what we have and forget about the have nots. It's no wonder our country is in the sad shapes it's in and why their trying to remove God from everything.

I remember Halloween as an innocent child. Now I'm all grown up, educated, and a little wiser. This time of year is particularly challenging, especially for TV viewers. Even if we're flicking, our brain is still picking up images of blood, murder, violence and gore. What seemed innocent enough quickly became distorted. I fear that drop by drop we are desensitizing our children ... and ourselves. Then we wonder what's happening to our society.
I do love this time of year though ... big pumpkins, crisp apples, and the Fall extravaganza of color in our valley is something I wouldn't want to miss. Now that's a reason to celebrate!

I love Halloween!! Yes, the holiday roots from a pagan festival just like most of our holidays. I think as we get older we forget how fun all holidays can be. As adults we run around and try to do everything and we don't relax and and enjoy the moment. Anna

I loved Halloween as a child and I loved it when my kids were growing up but with my grandkids it is different. It is no longer a safe thing to do and yes, it is much too scary. Thank heavens for churchs who now have activites as Trunk treating or have real festivals with game booths and those large blow up activities.
I also agree that Thanksgiving needs to be made more of. It is lost to the world of money. Remember when Christmas decorations went up the day after Thanksgiving and sometimes we would go driving around town to see how everything looked. It was soo exciting but now the home improvment stores are trying to out do each other in getting their Christmas sells started. Kids have nothing to anticipate and get really excited about.

Im curious..do you know where halloween derived from? Halloween is about being scary its also fun..holloween isnt fun anymore because parents are not letting children trick or treat anymore! they streets are empty and no decorations are up...

My childhood Halloweens were fun, not scary. Definitely Casper-style! A friend of my mother's always made our costumes. They were fabulous! Little bo peep, Bigbird, Cinderella, and many more-all sewn especially for us. My mother would have parties and turn the entire living room into a "spider's web" for us to untangle, hang donuts in the family room for us to eat sans hands, and make witches punch with dry ice. I have to agree that in most places (my neighborhood included) that trick-or-treating is not safe anymore. It is a shame-it takes a lot of the fun and the "fun scary" out of the day.

I grew up in a small city which was fairly close to a large city, so I have always considered myself a city girl. Although I loved Halloween when I was growing up, my very favorite Halloween experience, one I will never forget, was when I spent the holiday with a school friend at her family's farm. We dressed up in our costumes and walked down the road to probably less than 5 or 6 other farmhouses to trick or treat. At each house, we were treated to hot chocolate, cookies, and other treats, etc. We probbably spent a good 15 to 20 minutes visiting at each farm. I remember the kindness of these people and their interest in us. I also remember it being dark (and kind of scary). We had to take flashlights so we could see where we were going. But, we had the time of our lives. Today, I tell my grandchildren about my experiences as a child (Halloween, other holidays and fun times) and the freedom we had that children are unable to experience these days, primarily because it is no longer safe for them. Although I do love Halloween, I tend to decorate more for fall, with a few cutsie Halloween decorations. That way my decor can last until I'm ready to decorate for Christmas.

Hola everybody, Happy halloween!!

Hi! Enoyed this post about Halloween and the other one about Thanksgiving. I'll give you my sweet potato casserole recipe when I have a chance to write it.

I am no fan of gore. But, being born near the end of October, Halloween has always had a special place in my heart. Each year during elementary school, my mom would bake cupcakes and ice them with Halloween decorations for my class. I decorate for Halloween at our house with lots of "primitive" looking Pumpkin-head dolls I've collected over the years, and retro-inspired black cats and witches. We eat pumpkin soups, and put ghost silhouettes in the windows. The mystery, mischief and fun that is Halloween to me, will hopefully be loved by my little girl, as well.

Halloween was always my favorite holiday when I was a kid, and it is still one of my favorite holidays, although as I have gotten older I have found that I love each season and each holiday in its proper turn. I will always have a special place in my heart for Halloween, though.

I don't really like the over-commercialization of Halloween either. I don't like the over-commercialization of any holiday, actually. A little is okay, but it's really gotten beyond the pale. We have one kind of grotesque pirate skull with light-up moving eyeballs that my mom sent us a couple of years ago, which my boys absolutely love, but other than that, most of our decorations trend towards pumpkins, black cats, bats, and, well...lots of skull-themed stuff, because what can I say - my Gothy self just really digs skulls. But regular old skulls, not the gory, icky ones. We also borrow heavily from the Mexican holiday El Dia de Los Muertos, with all of its adorable skeletons of every size and description engaged in all the pursuits of the living, sugar skulls, "bread of the dead" and marigolds. And I totally fail to see why anybody needs to spend hundreds of dollars on animatronic ooky monsters to stand around and scare the bejeezus out of people. Bleh!

It makes me very sad, though, as a pagan and a witch, to see so many people here who think that Halloween's origins are evil. Halloween is descended from the old Celtic pagan holiday Samhain (pronounced sow-uhn). Unfortunately, there seems to be a lot of misinformation out there about what Samhain was, and what it was about, particularly in certain churches. First off, Samhain is not the name of some evil Celtic death-god. Samhain is the name for the cross-quarter holiday that falls at the end of October. It is the death of the old year, and one of the times when the veil between the worlds is thinnest. Celtic pagans believed that their ancestors could come back to visit them on this night, and prepared special feasts to honor and remember those who had passed on, much as Mexicans do for El Dia de los Muertos. The emphasis is not on fear of the dead, but on honoring and remembering them. However, because the veil between the worlds in thin on Samhain, the early Celts believed that other beings could cross into our world on this night as well - faeries, for instance, or malevolent spirits. Large bonfires were lit to ward off these malicious spirits, and the traditions of carving jack-o-lanterns (originally carved from turnips, not pumpkins - imagine trying to carve a turnip! It's harder than it sounds!) and of dressing up in scary costumes were both originally intended to scare off any marauding spirits who might be about. As I said earlier, Samhain is the death of the old year. Sometimes it is referred to as "the Witches' New Year", although this is not entirely accurate. The old year dies at Samhain, with the end of the harvest, and the world exists in a kind of no-mans-time, a dark time, until Yule, the Winter Solstice, when the Sun is reborn along with the new year.

Our family celebrates Samhain with an Ancestor Feast, which we usually have on the day after Halloween - mainly because I have learned the hard way that trying to juggle jack-o-lanterns and trick-or-treating *and* preparing and serving and entire ritual feast is just way more than I can do without losing my sanity. For our Ancestor Feast, I make foods that have special meanings or relationships to one or more of the dead whom we are remembering - a favorite dish, perhaps, or a dish that was associated with a particular person. This year I made a roast chicken stuffed with a gluten-free version of my grandmother's Texas cornbread stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed blue potatoes and gravy. I'd planned to also serve collard greens with bacon and onions (in honor of Mosa's (my grandmother) southern roots, and also in honor of "Animal", my husband's friend and part of his team in the Marines, who died in his arms during Operation Desert Storm, but I forgot to get the collards, so we had to do without. As we eat our feast, we name those who have passed before us, and tell their stories, and remember them, and wish them well on their journey of rebirth. Usually we decorate the dining room with our jack-o-lanterns from the night before, with lit candles in them. It's a special time of connectedness with each other and with those who have passed on.