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Hallowe'en / Halloween (General / Compendium Thread)

we had no one come to ours tonight for trick or treat either, in fact dont think i have seen anyone dressed up :lol:
 
I nearly had to offer the poor little beggars fresh fruit, but fortunately the in-laws-next-door have a full complement of sweeties for the little scamps. I sense they disapprove of us (possibly because they have said that they disapprove of us), but the way I see it is A) I never got to do this as a child; how much more exciting would the 70s have been if they'd invented it earlier!? and B) it's a creeping Americanisation of our culture and as a Pagan Agnostic* I should object to the whole thing as insulting to my religion, and C) It can only contribute to the child obesity problem. I have enough trouble with my own obesity problem without contributing to anyone else's.

*a Fortean who likes to mark the turn of the seasons and also have an excuse to bring twigs into the house and open a decent bottle of wine six times a year. With the added benefit of annoying extremely religious (main-stream) people at work. :)
 
North oxford was crawling with dressed up witches, and a car blaring out bach's toccatta and fugue in d minor (!) only 1 trick or treater though. Some kids, a lot of young adults.
In brighton all the young people have (another) enormous party, and get wasted while dressed up as skeletons.
 
Only one for us too, and he wasn't even dressed up :( just this little punk with his hat sideways who grabbed handfuls of lollies "for his mates' then ran off chuckling. I don't usually give anything if they're not dressed up but I had a cauldron of lollies I had to get rid of.
I deliberately picked lollies I don't like so I wouldn't eat them all, and no one turns up! ARGH! :evil:
 
Our road, which is a busy but narrow throughfare, was fairly quiet, all things considered. far fewer youngsters than previous years. This could be due to more organised parties, the British Legion had advertised a big party for weeks. However later on, closer to the witching hour, when the revellers were being turned out of the local hostelries there was a lot of shouting and screaming going on and we were treated to the sight of three Irish (you could tell by the accent!) witches in full costume and green make up (or perhaps they were regretting their over indulgence) tottering down the centre of the road on ludicrously high heels looking for their car.
It seems that halloween is becoming more an excuse for adults to behave badly rather than children.
 
We had about a third fewer visitors than last year. This may be because I sprayed my wellies silver and left them outside the front door, so they'd think I was Gary Glitter.
 
Dr_Baltar said:
escargot1 said:
Yup, that's how I understand it these days. However, when I was a child we'd carve a 'turnip lantern' from what I'd now call a swede.*
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And the neeps we ate with haggis and tatties were always yellow which, as I say, I'm unreliably informed is actually swede.


* and hard work it was too. When my kids were small I'd use an apple corer to do theirs. Much safer. ;)
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You're not kidding. I can still remember the pain in my hands. It was all worth it for that Halloween smell of burning cabbage though.
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Yep, what is known as swede in England is a turnip north of the border, which I believe orginates from 'Swedish turnip'. They are also known as neeps, as in haggis, neeps and tatties, and also called 'tumshies'. They're also lovely in chopped up in Scotch broth. Me and my mates used to pinch them from a local farm to make our tumshie lanterns. As to the smell of candles, I once fixed a bicycle lamp inside my lantern. An idea I pinched from an Oor Willie cartoon strip.

It is sad that so many kids today insist on pumpkins for lanterns but I've no doubt there's many farmers relieved that they do so.

All this talk of haggis, neeps and tatties and Scotch broth, I'm quite hungry now.
 
we didn't get any kids this year. Hubby was home and had the lights on. Hampton is a very child unfriendly city--you cannot trick or treat if you are over 12 years of age and you can only trick or treat between 6 and 8 pm. Keeps Halloween "civilized" and miserable :evil: .
 
Another name for the yellow Swedish Turnip is Rutabaga. For years, I had assumed Branston Pickle contained an exotic foreign vegetable! I think it still appears as Rutabaga on the ingredients list today. I suppose Rutabaga is its Magic Name, suggestive of transformation. And if cosmetics can turn Water into Aqua, imagine what they can do to your poor old skin! :)
 
Not everyone had fun:

Trick-or-treat boy shot dead

A 12-year-old boy trick-or-treating with his family has been shot dead and his father and brother wounded as gunfire erupted from inside a house.

Police in Sumter, South Carolina, called the Halloween night shooting an isolated incident and said a suspect was in custody.

The family was heading home from a city-sponsored event when they decided to stop at a few homes, Police Chief Patty Patterson said.

The father and his four children approached a home with a porch light on at about 8.30pm while the children's mother waited nearby in a vehicle.

The family thought they heard fireworks, then the boy, his father and brother were hit by the gunfire. The boy died later in hospital, coroner Verna Moore said. The other two children were not hurt.

The boy's father and brother were taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Police said there were other people inside the home at the time of the shooting, but Ms Petterson said she did not expect them to be charged.

The suspect, Quentin Patrick, is in custody, a jail official said.

Patrick, 22, has been charged with murder and three counts of assault and battery with intent to kill.

A neighbour said he heard a loud noise about the time of the shooting and thought it was simply Halloween mischief.
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:(
 
gothgirl totally agree, hopefully it will be returned in full to Patrick.

I feel kind of bad now, as I came on to say I had a really nice Hop tu Naa, with no tricks. Made me moot (manx for turnip/swede/whatever), the old fashioned way with knife and spoon. Had about 14 kids round, who I made sing Hop tu Naa (dissapointingly not one had a moot),before I gave sweets away - though this wasn't hard, as I abused my position working in the local primary school. It was quite cute, one of them asked for a merit instead of a sweet.

Like some adults mentioned I did go partying later, which I paid for the next day! I even wore my aunt's ceremonial cloak, which kept me warm.

I've had quite an interesting weekend (with banging hangover) after that as I went to a past life regression course. I might post results, but not too sure, as even I don't totally believe.
 
Oh, do post your regression experience! :D

I had it done a while back and although everything I 'remembered' came straight out of Thomas Hardy/BBC classic serials, I enjoyed the experience and the audience did too!

In fact, it was filmed and should be floating round the 'net somewhere just now. :shock:
 
JamesWhitehead said:
Another name for the yellow Swedish Turnip is Rutabaga. For years, I had assumed Branston Pickle contained an exotic foreign vegetable! I think it still appears as Rutabaga on the ingredients list today. I suppose Rutabaga is its Magic Name, suggestive of transformation. And if cosmetics can turn Water into Aqua, imagine what they can do to your poor old skin! :)
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Thank you for the definition!

When I went to the store and asked the produce stocker for a swede, he looked at me funny.
 
alot of people i know still go to partys up to three days after halloween has ended. :lol:

it must be the drink on offer and the chance to dress up and not get called on it :lol: :D
 
Last year Hallowe'en lasted about two weeks in this house. An excuse to go on a bender and get seriously creeped out, perhaps.
 
H_James said:
Last year Hallowe'en lasted about two weeks in this house. An excuse to go on a bender and get seriously creeped out, perhaps.
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maybe :D
 
Halloween

"Blue is the sky, green is the grass;
Gies ma Hallerween, ya bass!"
(Old Weegistan Halloween couplet)

Some may say if they do me a trick, I'll give them a treat. But I would never be so tasteless.
 
New Jersey Student Sent Home for Jesus Costume


PARAMUS, N.J. (AP) -- Children often dress as historical figures for Halloween, but one northern New Jersey school says a costume of Jesus Christ took it too far.

Alex Woinski, an eighth-grader at West Brook Middle School in Paramus, was sent home from school on Friday.

Woinski, who has shoulder-length brown hair, wore a white robe, a red sash, sandals, a fake beard and a crown of thorns. His mother told The Record of Bergen County that Alex was told he could keep the costume on if he removed the beard and crown of thorns.

Superintendent James Montesano said the district doesn't want students wearing costumes that could be distracting.

Woinski's mother is Catholic, while his father is Jewish. She says her son recently celebrated his Bar Mitzvah and is studying Bible scripture.
http://www.1010wins.com/pages/3238576.php?
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Check out the video that accompanies this article - it's absolutely fantastic!

Dressing up for Halloween: a feminist's guide

Sexy nurse, sexy devil, sexy bunny – what's going on with costumes? Don't be scared to wear things over your underwear
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/oct/26/halloween-women-feminist-costumes

Apart from the feminist angle, the writer also discusses the fact that in the US it is de rigueur to dress up as anything you like, whereas in the UK it still has to be something scary. I think that's probably pretty accurate, though I've not been to many Halloween parties, so perhaps I'm out of touch!

Incidentally, I've a feeling that there are going to be a lot of Jimmy Saviles this year... :p
 
Yes, if I can get a tracksuit from the car boot sale (condition unimportant) I'll certainly do a Savile.

Last year you'd have needed the justification of a dollop of zombie make-up but this time it's just the man himself, and one might add that he was scarier than any mere Romero creation. :shock:
 
Very nice, but unfortunately not in keeping with my artistic upcycling* ethos. :lol:


*stingy
 
Incidentally, I've a feeling that there are going to be a lot of Jimmy Saviles this year... Razz
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I'm struggling to remember right now whether my local open mic night's halloween dress up is the coming Wednesday or the one just gone, but the brief is to come as a dead celebrity.

There is a ban on JS's!
 
At the recent Brighton Zombie walk there were a number of zombie Jimmys (as well as zombie Christ, zombie estate agent, zombie nazi), so it appears anything goes so long as you are a zombie.
 
Am I alone if feeling a bit uncomfortable about Trick-or-Treaters coming to the door?
In the States it is an understood event. Everyone knows what is going to happen and everyone did it as a child.
Here it seems to have started in the last few years. I don't understand why I should give children sweets really. I wouldn't do it any other day of the year. Last time all the children came in a group with a couple of parents. Just seems odd to me. I recall a hallowe'en when I was a teenager when it passed completely unmarked. I remember at the time thinking that they could have at least put a horror film on the TV.
 
I too remember when there was little celebration of Halloween. In fact, back then it was called Hallowe'en and we had apple-bobbing and cut-out cardboard pumpkins at Brownies. No real pumpkins though, just swedes, which smelt lovely with the candle burning inside. :D

No trick or treating though.
 
escargot1 said:
I too remember when there was little celebration of Halloween. In fact, back then it was called Hallowe'en and we had apple-bobbing and cut-out cardboard pumpkins at Brownies. No real pumpkins though, just swedes, which smelt lovely with the candle burning inside. :D

No trick or treating though.
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We used to have apple bobbing at Brownies and the youth club I went to too.
When I was 6, 1981, we went to America about a week before Hallowe'en. I remember asking my folks about why there were some many decorations everywhere. I had never seen hallowe'en decorations before.
That said I always remembered the quality of light at night in the States being odd. It was only this year that I realised that it was because it was the first time I had ever seen street lighting!
 
There were some very evocative photographs in a recent FT, recalling the days before American Halloween became commercialized. The oddness of homespun nightmares is much more scary than those off-the-peg bits of black and orange tat that fill the shops now.

Back in UK North, there was a tendency for Halloween tricks to migrate to a designated Mischief Night, which was always held to be the night before Bonfire Night in Southport, where I grew up.

Here in Manchester, I'm sorry to say that Halloween is now the focus for nasty tricks by chavkind. Egging and window-breaking is a favourite revenge on any in the neighbourhood who are suspected of grassing up local drug-dealers.

Some five years back, when Halloween was a date I viewed with some apprehension, this part of the city was plunged into darkness, when some f'wit detonated a large firework at an electricity relay station. The street was filled with troupes of the local kids in various costumes, including, for some reason, a trio of daleks, all with torches or lanterns! As every alarm in the district was dinning out, it was a most unsettling evening.

Not my favourite festival at all. :(
 
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