Halloween isn't the same

originally posted by: JAGStorm
Remember when you were a kid and you couldn't wait to go trick or treating?
You counted the days until October 31st. The thought of dressing up with whatever you had, or the very cheap
costume your parents bought. You remember the masks, they were cheap plastic ones, and that thin elastic strap always broke. Those costumes were nothing compared to what people wear today, but they were good enough and we
all loved them. We could also dresses in any way we wanted and not offend anyone. It was a time of innocence.

We would go trick or treating from sundown to around ten pm, parents never, ever ever accompanied us. We were all walking to school by ourselves, so going trick or treating wasn't considered unsafe. Our parents would only get worried if we weren't home by elevenish/midnight, but even then they would assume we were at our friends house.

There was something special about that day. Maybe it's true that the veil between the worlds is the thinnest, maybe it's something else.
All I know is that all these years later, I still remember how that night air felt, the scent it had. There was something magical about that crisp, cool Halloween night air. The way the lights glowed from house to house. It was a warm yellow glow, not the harsh blue one we have now. It seemed like every house gave out candy. Even people of little means did what they could. We didn't have fancy pumpkin shaped buckets, we used our tatted pillowcases and filled them up. There were always neighbors that made homemade treats of popcorn balls, or candy apples. We were only allowed to eat those from people we knew. Even back then there were tales of needles in candy, but overall it felt like the safest time in the world to be a kid.

Then just like the movies, there was always that one house. It was the neighborhood haunted house. Usually a house in disrepair that an elderly person lived at. They always had dark windows and it never looked like anyone lived there. Having aged now, I wonder who lived in those houses. Was it a disabled military vet, an old widow, perhaps just a recluse. We didn't have internet, and TV was very limited, but I think our imagination was much more wild, about what could be in that kind of house at that time. We had real honest to GOD fear of what was in that house. Do kids today even have any fear left? They have been so desensitized by media showing every horrible imaginable thing.

Fast forward to 2019

Parents are both working, so Halloween on October 31st is not convenience. Many towns have trick or treat the weekend before. Every community seems to do it on a different day/weekend. Some communities claim the dates/times are done on purpose to keep disadvantaged kids from trick or treating int the nicer neighborhoods.

Parents spend a small fortune on costumes that their kid hate, they take a million pics and post them to social media. The costumes are all oversexed, outrageous as it gets, many "kids" are dressing to make a political statement, such as the POTUS as a baby. The parents then drive their car and the kids hitch a ride from house to house. Some parent go so far as to label what candy came from what house,... just in case... Some adults get more into Halloween than the kids and decorate their houses like it is really a horror from hell.

The kids carry buckets in colors that designate their allergy, gluten free, or anxiety etc. Some houses have cameras instead of door bells, so they can tell you to f off. Some towns are now giving citations or jail time to kids older 12 that trick or treat, others are now claiming that this violates their rights.

I know the past is often seen in rose colored glasses, but in this case... Halloween just isn't the same...

Well written post and very true. It really shows the decline of people and the times. That sense of valued interaction between people that had substance and meaning is long gone. It's an age of isolation now and the less you have to do with people and the more you cultivate yourself alone the better.

originally posted by: JAGStorm
a reply to: Nyiah

but complaining about the generational shifting that happens for holidays naturally from one generation to the next is pretty stupid.

It's not stupid, it's as human as it gets. Longing for a better time maybe makes us stop for a moment and realize that something went wrong and we've gone too far. Why do you think people love retro or vintage items. It reminds them of a different, and yes better time. Why do you think people are crazy about decorating their houses in a fake farm style. They are all longing.

Edit: And I must point out that you make the holiday fun or not for yourself. If you're going to sulk in the corner over days of old not being today's routine, then sulk away, you're still not going to be any less unhappy unless you suck it up and make the effort to have fun yourself. Quit waiting for everyone else to make something enjoyable for you -- DIY here. It's not hard.

I agree your life is what you make it. However life is not just about you, it's about all of us. I think this thread alone shows a good majority prefer the Halloween of our youth to what is has become. It doesn't mean we can't have fun, or enjoy today.

Well stated.

We spent the whole month, scoping out houses with elaborate decorations. And an old lady (who had been my Sunday school teacher) that made caramel apples and popcorn balls. If you went to a friends party, there was bobbing for apples. (What is that anyway? Drown the witch?).

The rich/white kids had store-bought costumes. The poor kids (us) and hispanics made their own. Usually you'd save up for a rubber mask from Gibson's or TG&Y. Then add a sheet and maybe some cardboard claws. If you had an older sister she'd use some theatrical makeup and give you face wounds. Then wrap up in an oversized suit, or grandad's trench coat. or else a bedsheet.

Otherwise you went as a gyspy, a pirate, a hobo (same thing, right?) or Dracula. Girls were Indian princesses (my town was 1/4 Native American), cowgirls, or witches.

Half the fun was spying other kids from your class out tricker treating, and then sneak up behind them and snarl and listen to them cuss when they dropped their plastic pumpkin full of candy.

There was a "glowing grave" in the cemetery outside of town. The cops knew you would try to go out there, and the high school kids would drive out there to make out. You'd try to scare them if you could.

The volunteer fire department would put on a haunted house in one of the ... abandoned houses around town... nothing creepy at all about that.

When you go home, your mother would say that she gave you birth and you owed her for all the pain; 10% of all your chocolate. 1 time mom ran out of candy because so many trickier treaters stopped by, that she raided OUR sacks and gave some of our candy to the last few kids in the street.

a reply to: JAGStorm

I was reflecting on this, on halloween. When I was 12 I was told to take my little sister (she was probably 4 or 5) around the block then I could go with my friends. They could come with us too, if they wanted to hit up the block twice. There were never parents out with kids older than 6 or 7. The older kids (10-14) would trick or treat until about 930 or 10.

Now let me contrast this with my experience this year. I have kids from 3-11. My 11 yr old went off by himself, with friends. My 8 yr old joined them about 30 minutes after they started. My wife would never have the oldest take my youngest. My wife and I took the 3 and 5 year old out. There were almost as many adults out there hovering over their kids (ages were pretty spread) as there were kids. We were out with the little ones early so I won't judge on that. However, once it got dark there were very few trick or treaters. The ones that were out there had parents still (for the most part) or were being chauffeured around in cars from street to street.

But here's the thing: I didn't have a single knock or door bell ring after 8pm. 8! My oldest two came home about that time and said everyone had turned their porch lights off. So I gather that not only are kids not being allowed to stay out late, they're trying to make everyone bring their kids in on the one night a year where they were traditionally encouraged to stay out late, with a purpose. It's absurd.

a reply to: JAGStorm

That's unfortunate. For me Halloween is the same as ever. My kids experience is the same or better than mine was. Everything you described about Halloween is dead on accurate for my experience too the difference being it is the same for me all these years later. In fact we begin celebrating much earlier now.

a reply to: SeaWorthy

6g or 1g more than a teaspoon.

aww, the good old days. Gone but not forgotten. Our town shuts off main street and the local businesses set up booths and tables and give out treats for the kids. The bad part is you have so many kids that each booth only gives one piece of candy. And you are not allowed to give out candy from your house. And it is only for 2 hours. And you have to get in line and go booth to booth, it is a slow process. But the way the world is getting I look for them to eventually ban the holiday. It isn't a safe place no more..