Will the people ever get Halloween back? [Details inside]?

I wish Halloween would go back to what it was in my youth – a total non-event which marked 6 days to Bonfire Night. Now it’s a festival of crass commercialisation, selling cheesy tat to impressionable youngsters. Bah humbug!

@Hypocrisy_Central: “Then Halloween got hijacked by people putting razor blades in apples and oranges, or lacing the candy with stuff then any candy not sealed like Fort Knox was rejected.”

I’m under the impression that most or all of this was really just media hysteria.

@tom_g There were some instances of razor blade baiting in my areas and maybe one instance where someone tried to spike, or lace candy with something. This was back in the 60s, to early 70s, before the Tylenol scare. The media, being the media, latches on to a story they think they can whip up to something huge then milk it for all it is worth. So there was a great bit of media hype, but it was enough to make people think every piece of candy was a potential time bomb.

All that Halloween drama about razors and poison is nothing but urban legend.

And back in the day, when I was a kid (I’m 37 now), no one handed out fruit. We all got candy.

It’s still pretty magical for my kids. They love to plan their costumes and go trick or treating around a nearby neighborhood. Our own street is too dark with houses too far apart to trick or treat here. We see plenty of kids out trick or treating too, and a lot of people decorate quite extensively. The biggest thrill the kids get is when someone has awesome decorations OR gives out full-size candy bars instead of the little ones. They always come home with tons of candy.

Part of the fun for us is also making a special trip to the orchard to pick pumpkins. They have a hay maze, apple cider, and other fun stuff for kids to do. Fall is a great time of year.

And no, there was no actual event of razor blade baiting. Look into it; if you can find a substantiated report of this actually being done by someone handing out Halloween treats, I will be amazed.

I am sorry for you guys. Indeed was an awesome time. We were going caroling and we received fruits and food. But if one tried to “poison” or anything you’d know who was responsible.

I hope you can get it back. That experience remains with you your entire life and if it’s a bad one it’s not gonna be something you want to share.

No, we live in different times.

Anyway one thing should not be forgotten. It’s trick or treat. If you don’t give them treats they make tricks on you. Sometimes even when you give them treats they make tricks. SO expect the worse from both sides :P

If you grew up pass a certain age, the way Halloween is not is much of what you have to go off of.

Er… what?

Halloween is still alive and healthy where I live. You don’t let the kids keep the home made candies, but there is still a large amount of treats the kids are excited about.

@Hypocrisy_Central you don’t seem like a happy person right now

We know everyone in our area and everyone knows us. Halloween has not been hijacked here. We can give the kids anything . One kid has food allergies and we have separate bags of goodies for him. We’re please to do it and so are his parents.

Halloween is the same, if not better, for my children. One of the many reasons why I love small towns. The school still has Halloween parties and a Halloween parade for the children (it’s Halloween, not a Fall Festival). Haunted houses and haunted corn mazes are a big deal around here. You can’t go 20 miles without some sort of haunted something you need to pay $5 for.

It’s usually the elderly who like to make homemade goodies to pass out Halloween night, and there’s always one who likes to pass out a toothbrush to all the kids. Everyone knows everyone, so we can trust the goodies aren’t tampered with.

I’m going to be really sad when my daughter is too old to trick-or-treat. I was wondering about this last night. Would it be odd for me to just walk around without a child on Halloween (not asking for candy, of course). I don’t want to look like a creeper. lol

Further proof that we live in a society of fear.

I don’t think that there really is any going back since it never really went anywhere, at least not for the reasons stated. A better question is how the mass media has changed our society by making us more aware of things that have always been there.

I heard about “razor blades in the candy” as a kid, but I never had any issues. And my kids typically get all candy with a couple of homemade “goody bags”, but not really any fruit.

It does depress me that people don’t seem to celebrate as much anymore, but I still keep it as magical for my kids as I can. We decorate the yard with blood and gore and spiders <shudder> and tombstones… We currently have a bloody leg hanging from a meathook that dangles from our tree, LOL. My kiddos love it.

We have pretty much stopped trick-or-treating in our neighborhood because it’s filled with other parents who take their kids out, and old people who leave their lights off. We find other neighborhoods that have a good reputation for celebrating Halloween; we drive over, park and trick-or-treat the heck out of them and my kids have a blast!

I do wish that it was a bigger celebration, and I think part of it may be that many “adults” forget the childish joy that Halloween inspires, AND I hear more and more grumbling from the religious community about it being an “un-Christian” holiday. I’m technically a Christian, and Halloween is my second favorite holiday!! I love to celebrate and I would probably go a little more pagan with it if it wouldn’t freak my neighbors out, haha!

I don’t think Halloween is dead, just a bit more reserved. No, we don’t eat home made goods anymore. However, I don’t think kids are missing out on that one. They still get candy.

I think the biggest difference is that kids are now supervised while trick-or-treating. When I was a kid (late 70’s), we were given a bag, an Evel Knievel costume, and told to be home by 10. We went wherever we wanted. I remember being miles away from my house. I can’t imagine giving my 11-year-old unlimited access to the night streets.

I’m amazed at the increase in decorating homes for Halloween: strings of orange lights; huge paper pumpkins and skulls; grave stones; spider webs; haunting sounds coming from the house. Halloween has become a major celebration, which is interesting considering its origin. Taking it back to what it once was, is probably not going to happen.

Not too likely. That is one of the overlooked hazards of overpopulation.

Do you remember back when we didn’t used to have to lock our doors
and we could leave the car running in the driveway to let it warm up on a cold winter day
and little kids could run all over the neighborhood without supervision
and the grocery store clerk said “Hi, Betty, do you want a lollipop”? I do.

@YARNLADY All of your examples are still possible where I live, though I feel more comfortable locking the door at night. =)

I’m confused by this question. Halloween is a big deal around here. The only thing that has changed in my lifetime, which I dislike, is that there are designated times for trick-or-treat.

I love Halloween, but the magic is gone for me because I’m grown up. I remember what it felt like, but I don’t feel it now. I’m sure for a lot of kids today, they prolly feel what I felt then. I’d be a lot more worried living in some Celtic village on the night of All Hallow’s Eve centuries ago lol.
I don’t think I’ve ever heard any accounts of razor blade business in candy and stuff though. Some bad Halloween related things I often hear are kids who get their bags stolen by older kids and even adults. Yes that most certainly sucks, but I doubt that it’s anything new.
The razor blade myth most certainly must have a root…and for whoever it happened to, that sucks immensely…but I really don’t think it lessens Halloween at all. Such cases must be about as rare as finding the Dragon Beard in Final Fantasy V.

Sorry.

As far as I’m concerned it’s a myth. Most people just wanna live in peace, I don’t believe for a second that at every street corner, one should worry about some freaky fuck. and said freaky fuck is probably freaky any time of the year, as is usually the case with pedophiles, child killers and whatnot. :/

That said, that doesn’t mean trick or treaters shouldn’t remmeber safety tips while out trick or treating, especially if they’re old enough not to be with their parents.

Forget apples vs sealed candy, hardly anyone even celebrates Halloween around here anymore! We never get more than 2 groups of trick-or-treaters anymore. I find it very depressing.