Do you decorate for Halloween?

What did you just say?

Duh. It’s my favorite holiday. I have 6 boxes of decorations. I’m heading out the door to drive down to Illinois from Wisconsin. I’ll have to return to describe my favorite decorations.

I usually put out some fall decorations, not specific to Hallowe’en. The last few years, things haven’t been good and I didn’t manage to do anything. But maybe I’ll try it this year again.

I was really surprised to learn that there’s a Trick-or-Treat tradition in Japan and China as well. Do they have any idea what it means or where it came from? By now we barely do either. It just seems so odd to me because the context for it is missing completely. It’s as if Americans of all ethnicities started lighting lamps and calling it Diwali without any idea of the culture that it reflects. (Cinco de Mayo celebrations in the U.S. strike me the same way, actually.)

We don’t get trick or treaters at all where I live, not one in the ten years i’ve been here, despite jack-o’lanterns and a string of orange lights. So nope no decorations for me anymore.

I did go past a house last Sunday that is already set up with tombstones, skeletons, and ghouls.

I used to decorate my neighbors yard for Halloween in the UFO theme.
Built a spaceship (6 feet wide, saucer shape) with tinfoil, chicken wire and stuffed newspapers.
Then made three Aliens just using same .
Had dry ice in a bucket nearby and on Halloween night we threw hot water on it to make it mist a smokey eerie look. had“2001” theme ( from that movie) playing in the background.
Had one of the aliens on a tricycle in a tree above the space ship to look like “ET” (Movie).
Had only the low porch light on the scene as lots of onlookers came and took photographs.
In the middle of the night someone took one alien and it was rumored later that it was seen on a bus trip with a youth holding it..it got lots of laughs.
The mist only lasted a short while , so you need LOTS of dry ice to maintain the foggy eerie look.
It was a fun project for the neighbors three kids who assisted in the placement etc

Every year I made Halloween theme on there front yard.
Another year we had two skeletons ( inflatables ) sitting at a small patio table with an old rusted chandelier hanging above them and placed a candle ( not flame but led light) in the middle of the table. One skeleton had a tie and the female had a bow attached to her head (glued) , and I glued on a Huge ring ( can get the candy rings that are huge) on the female finger and arranged it to look like he just gave her the ring(proposal).
Around them on both sides of the yard were Styrofoam squares (cut corners) to look like tombstones and spray painted grayish etc. “Rip” was printed on some of them others just faded to look like a very old cemetery.Again it got raves and later the family placed patio lights on the pathway to accommodate a House party for the adults after the kids had there time Halloweening in the neighborhood. Great Fun!
I stopped as it became expensive to keep doing.( it was for my Ex employer and his family).

I might put a small pumpkin on the front steps, but that’s it.
Some of my neighbors do elaborate decorations that are fun to see, and every year, at least once, somebody’s dog grabs a femur or a rib or sometimes a whole skeleton and runs through the neighborhood with it.
We like that kind of interactive decorating. :-)

What about a big scary sign, that reads “Trick-or-Treaters will be shot on sight.”
And some real looking, bloodied, child sized dolls strewn about.
That counts as decoration, right?

I used to do a little when my kids were small but now I don’t. I do still get a lot of trick or treaters though.

This morning I was pondering when to buy pumpkins. If I put them out early, somebody steals the seeds.

On one hand, they save us a little work hollowing out the pumpkins when it’s time to make jack o’ lanterns. On the other hand, I really, really like roasted pumpkin seeds.

Nah. Barely even decorate for Christmas since the kids moved out. Too much hassle.

HOWEVER we bought a projector and I’m wracking my brain trying to figure out how to down load videos like this to project onto a sheet to display in an upstairs window, by way of “decoration.” Cheap, easy, and no risk of breaking one’s neck. As soon as I figure it out, I imagine I’ll “decorate” for everything from New Years Day, to Valentine’s Day, to St. Paddy’s Day, to 4th of July, Memorial Day, Fridays, you name it!

@Call_Me_Jay, when that happens to me I am always looking around in spring to see where the volunteer pumpkin sprouts are. :-)

I’m the Scrooge of Halloween. I didn’t even enjoy it as a kid & I see NO reason to decorate for it now!!! I’ve lived in my house for around 20 years & I’ve only ever had “1” trick or treater. She looked to be 4 maybe 5 & I had a 100 pound dog that was staring her in the eyes & she made it to my front door to ring the bell to ask for candy. That’s what I call DEDICATION!!!

I live alone so there’s really NO need to decorate just for me…I find it to be a LOT of unnecessary trouble!!! The ONLY people in my neighborhood who decorate for Halloween are the Mexicans. They ignore Cinco de Mayo but celebrate July 4 ALL day long. Yet the crazy Americans throw HUGE parties for Cinco de Mayo & many ignore July 4. Go figure!!!

No.

Never have, but I’m starting to want to decorate for some of the holidays. We’ll see if I bother. My husband doesn’t like Halloween at all.

Ha ha ha, you have no idea.

Personally, I love Halloween. It was always fun when I was a kid, and I love to try passing on that enchantment today. I have the goal of scaring at least one child each year. But I aim for teens, not little kids. This year I am on the hook to come up with a scary plant theme. Last year I had decorated my yard and was dressed up as a crazy ghoul. One young lady (about 10) showed up with her younger (about 6) sister. The young lady told me my house made her a bit scared to come up to it. I told her good. She asked if I was the angry clown the year before. I said I was. She said that weirded her out too. I said good, again. I then asked her how I could weird her out next year (which is this year). She then got really into it and said she wanted to see a scary plant theme. So I am thinking about making the big plant from Little Shop of Horrors. I’ll work the rest of the decorations around that.

We have this great ceramic jak-o-lantern with a big black ferocious ceramic cat for its lid. Every year we place a candle in the pumpkin and place it on a table between the iron gate and the front door. 2 teenagers next door are the only kids left on our block, and last year the doorbell rang only twice. The second ring, 3 startled ghosts each received a bag full of miniature m&ms & snickers.

Oh, seawolf! What a cute story.

I don’t do anything with the yard. It would be beyond my physical limitations. I do paper lanterns with little battery operated lights, some decorated balloons, window clings.
I just bought some color changing lightbulbs which are remote controlled. I can program them to change to whatever color combo I choose. So I can use Red’s and orange for Halloween, and switch for Christmas or whatever later. I am going to put one in the porch light and one in the livingroom.
I don’t have to worry about a costume.
Seeing me is scary anytime.

Nah fuck that, we release the hounds & Frobisher, our gardener, brandishes his shotgun if any little shits even think about approaching the property.
Go get ya fuckin sweets at the shop, brats.