Taste

[Svenskaflicka]

Sweden has somewhat of a minority complex when it comes to USA, and tries to imitate the big country in every way. It started with jeans and Coca Cola, now we've moved up to murder in broad daylight and kids taking weapons to school - not just for show and tell!

Halloween came to Sweden a couple of years ago, and apart from a few fanatic ass-fuckers (aka Christians), who thought the idea of celebrating Death and dressing up as monsters and devils "an abomination"; the whole thing has become quite popular.

Today, as I walked home from school, I passed a trendy store for home decorations, and in their shop window hung a shower curtain with the print of Norman Bates' mother, in action mode...

 

[Guest]

...a shower curtain with the print of Norman Bates' mother, in action mode...

Ah, Flicka, stop rolling your eyes. I would buy and put up such a shower curtain. What a delightfully wicked idea.

I wondered about H'ween in Sweden. (I met my former Russian tutor (from Moscow) shortly after she arrived in the states at this time of year; H'ween was incomprehensible to her, the idea frightened her.)

In Mexico the church supports The Day of the Dead as it is a religious feast day, of All Souls. I have no idea whether H'ween has become a prelude there but would not be surprised.

Hauntingly, Perdita

 

[oggbashan]

Trick or Treat

Halloween was a serious festival in the UK with witches' covens meeting round bale-fires. Non-witches sat round open fires drinking mulled wine or cider and telling each other ghost stories particularly in traditional public houses which could always produce a ghost or two.

Now children (with their parents hovering protectively in the background) go round the streets dressed in expensive costumes knocking on the neighbours' doors to demand sweets.

T'aint Halloween any more. Where are the children of my youth who used to visit graveyards on Halloween to tell the ghost stories because they weren't allowed in the public houses?

The two Halloweens I remember best were spent in a Youth Hostel in the countryside. During one of them I was crawling around in the loft clanking chains and producing coconut shell hoofbeats for the "Gibbeted Highwayman" and the "Headless Horseman". On the other I was looking after the empty building by myself.

The Youth Hostel had parts dating from the 1300s and was supposed to have two inside ghosts and a coach and four for the outside ghost. When I was there on my own it was certainly spooky but despite the creaks and groans from the building I managed to get the grandfather clock working and striking again after several years of disuse. Did it strike 13 at midnight? I don't know. I was sleeping soundly after several pints of cider from the local pub.

Trick or Treat and Halloween is now a commercial stunt to get money out of parents.

Bring back the old time witches, ghouls and ghosties.

Og

 

[Guest]

Re: Trick or Treat

Trick or Treat and Halloween is now a commercial stunt to get money out of parents.
Bring back the old time witches, ghouls and ghosties.

Ogg, in my youth we went "begging" on H'ween. All costumes were homemade (there were none to purchase) and were mostly variations on what were then called hoboes or bums. We smudged our faces with coal (for which we actually had bins) and used old (now labeled recycled) paper bags for collecting our 'beggins'.

We expected to receive apples, homemade candies or baked items, and some pennies. We shouted at each door:

Help the poor, my pants are tore;
Gimme some money to buy some more.
Help the meek, smell my feet;
Give me something good to eat.

I still recall how the media (TV and newspaper) finagled everyone into turning the holiday into what it is today. Everyone was "instructed" to have their children yell, "Trick or Treat" and that it was meant as a warning, i.e., if no treat one's car windows might get waxed. The candy and other manufacturers have been earning filthy lucre since.

I am therefore happy to ignore the day and honor the dead on November 2.

Hallowly, Perdita

 

[Svenskaflicka]

The whole point of Halloween is to decorate your house with spooky things, and dress up as something/someone truly horrible, in order to scare away all the restless, evil spirits that are roaming the earth on this time of year.

Dressing up as a sugary-cutesy little princess or a faggy little fairy queen isn't going to do the trick. IF you're lucky, you might be able to make the restless, evil spirits throw up.

When I have kids of my own, I'm going to refuse to let them leave the house looking cute for Halloween. I'll tie them up and cover their faces in fake warts and paint bleeding wounds in their foreheads, before I let them out trick-or-treating.

For their own protection.

Responsibly,
and historically correct,

Svenska

 

[Guest]

 

[Icingsugar]

That's the spirit, Svenska! Make them scare the bejezus out of the other kids.

Personally, I enjoy the swedish take on the whole Halloween business, probably because the tradition of trick-and-treat has not gone to extremes (go buy your own fucking candy, punks), so we are left with the ghouls, whitches and the parties.

And I'm all for spookyness.
And even more for parties.

Btw, we have our own plauge of sweet-begging kids every year. But that's on easter.

Oh, and what's wring with fanatic ass-fuckers? If that get's their groove on...

 

[Svenskaflicka]

*sigh*

The problem with the sexual open-mindedness of Literotica, is that it neutralizes about 90% of all the cuss-words I know...

 

[OldnotDead]

Not quite as cynical

I have a slightly different take on how Halloween has become one of the biggest holidays of the year. I think it's a combination of factors, most of which are positive. In no particular order -

Secular - Yes, it technically is sourced in All Hallows' Eve and the twisting of it as a celebration by witches and some Satanists (hence the hatred of the night by some Christians) - BUT, the holiday as currently celebrated does not really require acknowledgement of, nor participation in any particular religioun. It is a fun night for both kids and adults and EVERYONE can play.

Safety - the contamination of candy etc. in the 80's changed the way a lot of towns handle Halloween. There are many more parties and 'closed' celebrations controlling how people party and how the goodies get distributed. Organizing these larger events required more adult and teenage participation resulting in MORE people getting dressed up.

Saftey 2 - Where children still trick or treat in neighborhoods more adults got involved in supervising, making the neighborhoods safer and attracting more kids. Our development has become a 'mecca' for serious trick or treaters as the decorations are elaborate and the rewards substantial.

Safety 3 - the push AWAY from just trick or treating to parties and activities makes a lot of 'anti candy' folks more comfortable doing some of the alternative choices.

Economics - No, it's not the candy makers nearly so much as the novelty manufacturers have found a welcome market for decorations etc. There are a lot more choices in what I can buy to put out than just the jack o' lantern and ghost.

Weather - it is very pleasant in most of the US to put out the decorations compared to real winter holidays. And depending upon what you do, half of it or more can last through Thanksgiving and be part of your 'fall look'.

Fun - risque, silly, or whatever, this holiday is for YOU. I've paired up with my mate as the Big Bad Wolf and a Very Sexy Red. I've been Zoro and Rhet to meet some of her dreams. We've also been a couple of 'hayseeds' when we moved next to a farm and went back to visit our 'city slicker' friends. IMHO we don't get enough opportunities to 'dress up' these days.

Of course, having no less than two of our younger relatives born on this holiday has probably tainted my view, but I see mostly good things in how it is evolving.

Spookily yours,

 

[Jenny _S]

Personally,
I shall dress up as the scaryest thing I can think of this year:
A Pre-Owned Tampon

 

[Colleen Thomas]

When I was young Halloween was a greant night for kids. Our family lived in a neighborhood where the parents didn't even feel the need to go with their kids. Over time, with posion scares and razor blades in apples parents got scared and when I was home last noone even showed up at the door. sad commentary on life in the United States.

For adults it has become ever more popular and I think they make as much off adult costumes now as kids. For me college halloween parties were the best. Some of those stories would make good lit stories

-Colly

 

[Svenskaflicka]

Personally,
I shall dress up as the scaryest thing I can think of this year:
A Pre-Owned Tampon

I still say the best costume I have ever heard of was the couple who both dressed up as a dice, and walked around with a map, looking insecure - "pair o' dice lost"!!!

 

[Linbido]

I still say the best costume I have ever heard of was the couple who both dressed up as a dice, and walked around with a map, looking insecure - "pair o' dice lost"!!!

They. Dressed. Up. As. A. Word. Play. Pun?

Wow.

 

[Sabledrake]

I've always loved Halloween. Probably because my dad, who was a bit of a weirdo even before he became totally obsessed with Civil War re-enactments, really got into the whole decorating and dressing up thing (a retroactive clue, I suppose, to the Civil War thing <g>).

Once I had a kid of my own, I enjoyed revisiting the customs. We would trick-or-treat, but there's a big difference between the high desert where I grew up and the soggy Seattle where we live now. Not much fun going door-to-door in the rain.

Our house decorations went up this week. One of these years, though, when I'm a rich and famous writer, I'm going to buy that giant mechanical steam-snorting red-eye-glowing wings-unfolding gargoyle, damned if I'm not!

Sabledrake

 

[SlickTony]

I had just returned to Texas from overseas when the news was full of a Pasadena (TX) dental hygienist who was on trial for poisoning his son with Halloween candy...cyanide in his Pixy Stix. Another little boy was also poisoned--this was, I think, to deflect attention away from him. It was said he did it to collect on the kid's insurance.

I always felt like that was the time that Halloween sort of died as a safe holiday for kids. When I was coming up, my mother used to make homemade cookies and wrap them in saran with black and orange crinkly ribbon. Nowadays such treats would probably get tossed without even being unwrapped. I think that is so sad. I've sometimes thought of doing the same thing--homemade cookies--and putting my name and address on each set. I have a zillion personalized address stickers various organizations have sent me. Would I be doing that if I were going to poison people?

The dental hygienist, whose name was Ronald Clark O'Bryan, fried for his crime. Good riddance.

OTOH, I have never actually known anybody who found a razor in an apple, and am inclined to think it is an urban myth.

 

[TheEarl]

See now we've never done anything for Hallowe'en around where I live. I didn't think Hallowe'en was ever a really big thing in England until Og said something earlier in the thread.

I now have a friend whose birthday is on 31st October, so we'll be having a party then anyway.

The Earl

 

[sailorm72003]

...OTOH, I have never actually known anybody who found a razor in an apple, and am inclined to think it is an urban myth.

Out of interest, last year my eldest boy (15) and I did some quick looking around on the 'net; I don't have the sources to quote, but the actual number of incidents of any contamination of Halloween treats was something like 6 in 20 years.

I think that included the TX incidents, and there was some reference to the majority being done by family members; we were appalled.

Our younger kids still go out and enjoy it, but it's become a kid's tradition more than anything religious. Mostly a chance to dress up in something fun, and be with friends.

Sailor

 

[Colleen Thomas]

In Mississippi in the mid to late 70's a man was arressted for putting sewing needles into candy. I was pretty young, but I do remember it because my folks took all my candy and tossed it, then took me to the sore and bought me a bagfull of replacements, which was great since I only got stuff I liked then

I don't remember his name, but do remember he was not tried for lack of evidence. Perhaps it is all an uban legend, but considering some of the things people do to one another now-a-days it dosen't surprise me that parents aren't willing to run the risk.

-Colly

 

[SlickTony]

last year my eldest boy (15) and I did some quick looking around on the 'net; I don't have the sources to quote, but the actual number of incidents of any contamination of Halloween treats was something like 6 in 20 years.

Thanks, Sailorm. I was going to do that myself, but I got sidetracked.

We've never encountered any contaminated candy, ourselves, but sounds like Colleen lucked out with her candy--I, for instance, think dark Milky Ways and Hershey special darks are vastly preferable to candy corn (why does anyone eat this stuff?) and Banana Bikes (nothing is really successfully banana flavored except a banana).

 

[pop_54]

Ha Halloween

Hate it, bloody commercial rip off that's all it is, typical import from far off all this trick or treat business. As oggie said we used to just get pissed and chat about ghosts and witches.

I shall still decorate the porch with trick spiders web though, and chuckle as the little darlings squeal when it touches their face in the dark, hehe!! Oh and the plastic spiders eyes will light up, I modified a toy with led's and a power supply. Oh and I'll go to the local shop before hand and buy huge quantities of cheap jelly sweets to see the smiling faces as the little darlings reach out for them, and stuff themselves full of such treats then spend a week shitting through the eye of a needle.

But then I'm a miserable old git like that

 

[Jenny _S]

Re: Ha Halloween

I'll go to the local shop before hand and buy huge quantities of cheap jelly sweets to see the smiling faces as the little darlings reach out for them, and stuff themselves full of such treats then spend a week shitting through the eye of a needle.

But then I'm a miserable old git like that

Try giving out X-Lax, Pop. They won't come back next year. And if they do you know they are a bunch of little pervs.

 

[Dirty Slut]

Here's the problem...

If only 2 people out of a hundred are completely phsycopathic assholes, then in a world populated by 6 billion that means their are 120 million of them walking around. That's not something that most parents are likely to forget.

DS

 

[pop_54]

Re: Re: Ha Halloween

Try giving out X-Lax, Pop. They won't come back next year. And if they do you know they are a bunch of little pervs.

Knowing the little buggers round here Jenny darling they'd be back the next day for more.

This always worries me Dirty slut, (*licks* oh I love that handle) when I see little one's around 8 to 10 yrs parading about after dark without parental supervision as is often the case on such evenings of excitement as Halloween. None of ours ever left the house without an adult or at least a couple of teenage escorts, but so many parents either don't care or don't think about the dangers.

 

[Icingsugar]

Oh man. I just came here from MathGirl's 'Oz escort site'-thread, so 'teenage escorts' sounded so very wrong there for a second...

 

[Svenskaflicka]

Oh man. I just came here from MathGirl's 'Oz escort site'-thread, so 'teenage escorts' sounded so very wrong there for a second...

lol