Halloween Discussion Forums, Costumes, Horror!

Memories are always golden and perhaps embellished in recollection. But there is definitely and essence lost. A spirit replaced by the push for the almighty dollar. What do modern Halloweens seem to be missing?

There are a number of things, but one thing I miss is the old Halloween specials. There used to be great television around Halloween when I was a kid, and the same specials would run every year. Sometimes spooky, sometimes cheesy. But as a kid in the late 80s and early 90s, "The Halloween that Almost Wasn't" starring Judd Hirsch, or "A Disney Halloween" were always on, as well as several others. Now they seem to be replaced by bland Halloween themed versions of the new age shows with no heart, and you never see them again (which is fine, because they are not good.)

I also sense in many areas a lack of community on Halloween. Again using my own childhood as an example, the entire downtown where I lived had TOT on the store fronts on Halloween, and there seemed to be more of a neighborly spirit of community with the town filled with kids and neighbors out to greet them until well past dark. Lately I've noticed kids TOT from about 4-6 and by the time supper time rolls around the night is pretty much over where I live.

Around here, TOT is still done in the dark, although most little ones are done by 8 p.m. On a weekend, or on a very beautiful night, it can last later. No one TOTs until the sun has set, but that happens pretty early in this area. Even with daylight savings, it is getting dark by 5:45 or so.

In Murfreesboro there is a lot of neighborhood TOTing, but I think the idea of a "destination street" is big here. That is, people will drive their kids to streets where the people go all out with the decorations. Fortunately, there is one of those within walking distance of my house, and we get the spill-over, as we decorate, too. Our downtown area is also the historic district, and it, too, is a destination.

I think one reason there are fewer TV specials now than decades ago is that TV viewing has changed. There are not only many more TV channels, but an almost infinite way to structure your viewing. My own kids rarely watch TV at all. They mostly watch what they like over the internet. And of course there is the home video market. I do think that, nowadays, people are expected to structure their own holiday viewing.

It seems to me that many more of the TV series try to have Halloween-themed episodes than was the case when I was a child in the '60s. I caught one of those in re-run just this week, Hawaii 5-0, I think.

Honestly, I think Halloween is bigger now than it was when I was a child. But perhaps those of you who are younger than I am feel some diminution in it.

Essence and innocence are the things we miss from our youth and maybe Halloween brings that to mind since pleasant childhood memories seem to be the ones we hang on to most.

I agree with Murph that with a zillion channels today its tough to find the old classics we saw as youngsters. The good news is we can buy those beloved shows on dvd and watch them and still pass on to the newer generations what we experienced.

From a commercial standpoint Halloween is still a big deal and maybe its because I'm getting older, but I seem to see more adult oriented practices than say from 20 years ago.

The other area of concern is safety. While in most areas the night is safe and everybody by and large behaves, there is always the one or two incidents that the news media jump on and in most cases blow all out of proportions. This in turn gives rise to the busy bodies who think they must be the moral arbiters of the community and nine times out of ten wind up doing the wrong thing. There's nothing wrong with being careful. Especially with young 'uns. It's an insult to the 99.9% of parents who know what to do in regards to their children, but there is always somebody who thinks they know how to raise your kid!

I don't think I see anything missing in Halloween persay, although I don't think they're as big on it here as they are in New York. This could be because a lot of people are just offended by it. *shrugs* Although I do live in a rural area, while in New York I used to live in town (still rural, but right in town as opposed to a fifteen minute drive to town). Some kids prefer dressing up as popular superheroes and characters in media as opposed to monsters, but at least they're dressing up as something. I know I dressed up as a Ninja turtle, cat woman, Bugs Bunny and such back in the day. I do the black cat costume a lot and I remember I used to have a werewolf mask. Trick or treating changed as I got older, where we'd just go and buy our own candy. It might have just been because my mom was paranoid over getting something with a razor or poisonous, but I had a bit of anxiety going door to door too, but for some weird reason we thought it was better to just get our own candy at the store when I got to be a certain age. (From a grown up perspective, I think it's more fun handing the candy out to be honest lol).
It's another certain popular holiday that I see lacking in my opinion and is overly done in commercialization.

Mau, when I lived in Staunton, Halloween was huge there. One street in particular, Sherwood Avenue, was like a carnival almost. I'd be interested to see if that is still happening up there.

Well, Staunton's a bit of an hour drive from where I live. ^^; Maybe one day if I get a chance I can look, but I'm likely to have to work on Halloween and would prefer to just go home afterwards.
We only got one trick or treater last year, but then again we live outside of town.

Oh, no, I completely understand that.

I think if you live out from town, that probably has more to do with the lack of spirit in your neighborhood. If you have the opportunity, you should find something to do closer to home, like a community carnival or something.

While I do agree Halloween has become more commercial, I don't know if anything is missing from the holiday itself as much as our experience of it changes as we get older. When I was younger I adored dressing up and wandering around in the dark. The candy was really a secondary objective at best. As an adult, I can walk the neighborhood at night as much as a like. Doing it in costume would be looked at askance, but there are places I have access to as an adult where I can wander about in costume outside of Halloween, too. So Halloween doesn't have that unique appeal any longer.

I still love Halloween, but my love of it has changed as I've aged and my perspective has altered. I can look back at the Halloweens of my youth with a certain nostalgia, but what has changed isn't the holiday but how I experience it. I don't think that's a bad thing, necessarily, but it is a change that comes with life.

I think the only thing that has really changed with Halloween is technology and the safety of children. We use to roam free as kids in the 80' but I dont see much of that anymore.

tantraman wrote:I think the only thing that has really changed with Halloween is technology and the safety of children. We use to roam free as kids in the 80' but I dont see much of that anymore.

Free- range children are so much better than cage raised.

Andybev01 wrote:

tantraman wrote:I think the only thing that has really changed with Halloween is technology and the safety of children. We use to roam free as kids in the 80' but I dont see much of that anymore.

Free- range children are so much better than cage raised.

LOL!!

Andybev01 wrote:

tantraman wrote:I think the only thing that has really changed with Halloween is technology and the safety of children. We use to roam free as kids in the 80' but I dont see much of that anymore.

Free- range children are so much better than cage raised.

That's so true!

Yet, speaking as a former free-range child who had cage-raised kids, it's really tough being a parent these days.

I agree that the meaning of it/what you get out of it changes from childhood to adulthood.
As a kid, it was all about the magic of taking over the darkened neighborhood with the rest of the army of costumed elementary schoolers, acting weird (in a way we would NEVER dare do any other day of the year amongst each other), and the CANDY. oh, the candy. and the jack o lanterns. Yep, those, too.

as an adult, its become much more about the macabre, mystery, spiritual/supernatural, and (most importantly), the tradition - both our own childhood traditions and the two thousand year old traditions that we're helping to carry on. So, naturally it "feels" different, but its still good. I'd argue I now get much more out of Halloween for far longer during the year than as a kid.

Murfreesboro wrote:

Andybev01 wrote:

tantraman wrote:I think the only thing that has really changed with Halloween is technology and the safety of children. We use to roam free as kids in the 80' but I dont see much of that anymore.

Free- range children are so much better than cage raised.

That's so true!

Yet, speaking as a former free-range child who had cage-raised kids, it's really tough being a parent these days.

Yeah. Did you see the the mom who was arrested for letting her 7 year old son walk to a park to play? We'd ride to friend's houses at that age (and have to call to let them know we got there), but come on, talk about nanny-statism gone wild:

(http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/loc ... 7432.story)