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Post by Kapitan on Oct 27, 2022 16:54:14 GMT
I'm not into decorations of any kind, really, so take this with a grain of salt. I'm an outlier on one end of the spectrum, but...
While taking a walk before lunch, I counted TWENTY-TWO houses in a 4-block stretch that had 10+ Halloween decorations out. There were two with (honest estimate) about 50 apiece. To me, this is just so gaudy! I know, I know, the people would probably say "it's fun!" But I don't get what is fun about it. And I can only imagine the time spent setting it all up and tearing it all down (not to mention the cost of things like 12-foot skeletons, etc).
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Post by kds on Oct 27, 2022 18:02:09 GMT
That sounds pretty awesome.
My decorations tend to be pretty low key. For one, I'm on a dead end street, it's not like anybody outside of a handful of neighbors, and delivery drivers would even see it, so there'd be no point. That, and, I don't really have the time to go all Clark Griswold on Halloween or Christmas.
I get more joy out of seeing other houses, who apparently have either more free time or dedication than me (probably both).
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Post by The Cincinnati Kid on Oct 28, 2022 12:57:24 GMT
The only decorations we've done are a couple of pumpkins by the front door. It does seem like more people are doing Halloween decorations on the level of Christmas in the past few years. I can't see myself ever doing that. As much as I love seeing Christmas lights and other stuff around my house, it's a lot of work putting everything up and taking it back down. One holiday is enough.
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Post by kds on Oct 28, 2022 15:40:24 GMT
One thing occurred to me about Halloween decorations. This might sound surprising coming from me, because I created this thread partly to voice my opinion about Halloween becoming overly cute and sanitized.
But, I think some people go a tad overboard on scary outdoor decorations. I've seen zombies crawling out of the ground, bloody corpses, realistic monsters, and all kinds of really over the top stuff.
Now, I don't like the idea of telling people what they can or can't do on their property. But, I have to imagine that there are children in these neighborhoods, and some of the decorations I've seen might be a bit bunch for really little ones. Imagine if you lived next door to one of these houses, and you have a kid who is afraid to go outside.
I think if you want to do something more on the PG13 or R rated side of scary, that should probably be limited to indoor decorations. There are plenty of ways to make a front yard display look spooky, but not nightmare inducing.
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Post by Kapitan on Oct 29, 2022 20:04:17 GMT
Today I bought Halloween candy (though Target was REALLY all decked out for Christmas: only an aisle of Halloween left). I got Reese's Peanut Butter Cups ... and I just ate two.
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Post by kds on Oct 31, 2022 16:20:31 GMT
This is a pretty minor Halloween rant. Last night, my wife and I watched It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, the classic Halloween special from 1966. We watched, using my DVD copy, which I've watched every October since I bought it nearly 20 years ago.
But, it came to my attention last week that this is the first air that The Great Pumpkin isn't airing on traditional TV. Since Apple got the rights to the Peanuts holiday specials, they had been showing them on PBS, but that's not the case this year.
What makes it kind of a bummer with The Great Pumpkin is that it's the lone Halloween special that has truly stood the test of time, and was aired every single year.
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Post by Kapitan on Nov 1, 2022 11:30:28 GMT
The streak continued: zero trick-or-treaters last night. I've got a lot of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups to eat.
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Post by carllove on Nov 1, 2022 11:54:40 GMT
We actually had quite a few trick or treaters this year. Only two Snickers left. Probably because it was 70 degrees at 6PM. We didn’t have any last year.
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Post by Kapitan on Nov 1, 2022 11:56:55 GMT
Our weather was surprisingly good, too--about 60 and sunny!--which is why I was a bit more surprised. But I guess Minneapolitan kids just don't trick-or-treat on a broad scale anymore. I have to relearn it every year.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Nov 1, 2022 11:58:37 GMT
I live in a development, and years ago, we would get 50-60 trick or treaters every year. That started to decline a bit, and because of the pandemic, the last two years I got none and one. I was curious how this year would turn out. I might've had 12-13. Could it be that trick or treating is a fading Halloween tradition or activity - for a lot of reasons?
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Post by Kapitan on Nov 1, 2022 12:04:19 GMT
Could it be that trick or treating is a fading Halloween tradition or activity - for a lot of reasons? I do think that parents are more cautious/afraid of "stranger danger" than ever before. And families are probably more isolated than ever before with respect to their actual, physical neighbors, making more and more neighbors "strangers." No doubt, it seems like those daytime, heavily supervised events at schools, malls, stores, parks, etc., are a far bigger deal than the original.
Frankly I'm glad I got to be a kid when I was. We roamed the entire town (remember, it was a small town) without adult supervision.
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Post by carllove on Nov 1, 2022 12:08:13 GMT
I live in a development, and years ago, we would get 50-60 trick or treaters every year. That started to decline a bit, and because of the pandemic, the last two years I got none and one. I was curious how this year would turn out. I might've had 12-13. Could it be that trick or treating is a fading Halloween tradition or activity - for a lot of reasons? I don’t think Halloween will ever be like it was when I was a kid. The world has changed, and even in the suburbs, there isn’t as much trust in neighbors as there used to be.
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Post by carllove on Nov 1, 2022 12:10:16 GMT
Could it be that trick or treating is a fading Halloween tradition or activity - for a lot of reasons? I do think that parents are more cautious/afraid of "stranger danger" than ever before. And families are probably more isolated than ever before with respect to their actual, physical neighbors, making more and more neighbors "strangers." No doubt, it seems like those daytime, heavily supervised events at schools, malls, stores, parks, etc., are a far bigger deal than the original.
Frankly I'm glad I got to be a kid when I was. We roamed the entire town (remember, it was a small town) without adult supervision.
Yep - me too! Grew up in a small Kansas town. It was a blast. We’d get a pillowcase full of candy.
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Post by kds on Nov 1, 2022 12:54:04 GMT
I live in a development, and years ago, we would get 50-60 trick or treaters every year. That started to decline a bit, and because of the pandemic, the last two years I got none and one. I was curious how this year would turn out. I might've had 12-13. Could it be that trick or treating is a fading Halloween tradition or activity - for a lot of reasons? I'm happy to report that trick or treating is alive and well in the Baltimore area. We had zero trick or treaters again, but I live on a dead end street. But, even despite not so great weather, there was plenty of trick or treating going on last night. Even though there are various truck or treat events that occur in the weekends leading up to Halloween, they have not seemed to dampen enthusiasm for traditional Halloween Night activities. We did err on the side of caution yesterday, and took my son to a local mall for trick or trick. Had I gotten home from work earlier, we might've been able to head out early before the rain got bad. I saw quite a few people on Facebook did that. But, by the time I got home, and we donned our Ghostbusters outfits, it was a little too late, and the rain was pretty steady and chilly.
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Emdeeh
Pacific Coast Highway
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Post by Emdeeh on Oct 31, 2023 13:34:31 GMT
I live near a town in GA where Halloween has become something like our version of Mardi Gras, with a big costumed parade and a massive public party. Lots of ghoulish / fun lawn decor, including a self-guided tour sponsored by the local news outlet, as well as a neighborhood costumed dog parade. Halloween is huge here. But so is Trunk or Treat (people giving out goodies from their cars in designated parking areas). This has pretty much put an end to door-to-door trick-or-treating in my neighborhood. We still keep a bowl of candy handy, just in case. We'll see if anyone stops by tonight. Meanwhile, we'll be cosying up to a DVD of It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.
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