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What are your plans for the best holiday of the year, Halloween?
I freaking love Halloween. The costumes, the candy, the temperature, the pumpkins, and the whole aesthetic. I'm just testing the waters here to see how everyone else here feels about it and what ya'lls plans are.
EDIT: haha, while my title is technically correct I meant "best" holiday, not next
Halloween is only just starting to gain popularity in my country... And to be honest, it isn't fun. It's very different than the American tradition, because it's some weird mix of our culture, and what they see in American TV shows.
So... Last year, I had a gang of teenagers, dressed alternatively in sexy or biker outfits. They demanded candy, or threatened to break windows.
I had four of those kind of groups turn up.
No kids, no fun.
So... I'm afraid that the build-up to Halloween is thinking about how to ensure I avoid it.
Oh that's awful. I'm so sorry.
Culture clashes are always problematic. It's not your fault my people are kinda predisposed to violence.
It'll probably settle down to a fun holiday for teenagers, rather than younger kids, in a decade or so. Or that's what I expect.
But for now... You get the creeps at the forefront of the new trend.
Can I ask what country this is?
Culture changes greatly, depending where you are in the country, so keep that in mind. (Compare Austin to Chicago to New York, etc.)
I live in Australia, but the city in which I live has about 10% higher violent crime than the rest of the country. Volatile tempers, alcohol and meth problems.
But I do like it. It's got country town feel to it, and I live right on the edge, so empty bushland is quite literally a five minute walk from my house. I also have access to excellent health care, which I need. My specialist may well be the foremost expert on my illness in the country.
People are a bit rough around the edges, that's all. Something that we can help, and I am certainly trying. I'm part of a men's support group, and helped build the infrastructure for a healthcare program. I think the main problems stem from isolation, which is a problem in the whole country, but more pronounced here. Most of the funding for local groups disappeared about five years ago, which has had serious consequences. No AA, few youth groups, no support for the elderly, etc.
I'm dreading the idea of neighbours' children knocking on my door demanding "candy" (because of course they'll use the American word for it!). There is no way I'm stocking up on lollies just to satisfy the desires of some local parents to indulge their children. If they want their kids to have lollies, let 'em buy them themselves, rather than outsourcing it to their neighbours. I also don't need my evening interrupted by random door-knockers demanding free stuff.
Luckily, I've avoided this so far (more through luck than anything), but Halloween seems to be getting more and more of a foothold here in Australia, and I am seeing more and more groups of children out "trick or treating" as the years go by.
In one place I lived a few years ago, my house got egged. I wasn't home that evening and noticed it the next morning.
We really don't need to import more American cultural practices here.
Sorry about that lol. None of this happens in Canada at least, it's mostly a thing only in TV shows. Maybe it's just because the way halloween is forming over there is based more on TV than reality. At least here, everyone knows that having the lights off is a signal that you don't want trick or treaters.
I always feel a little bit strange when someone laughs after apologising. It does undermine the apology ever so slightly...
What if you need to leave the lights on for someone who's coming home later? Or for yourself when you get home later?
Trick or treaters will usually know to avoid houses that aren't all lit up inside or if there aren't any Halloween decorations lit up outside. Usually we'll have lighted jack o' lanterns, orange string lights, or other highly visible decorations to signal that they're open for trick or treaters.
I don't know any of these cultural practices. How would Australians learn them if we're importing Halloween from the USA?
Even in the USA nobody is obligated to participate. People basically "opt-in" by placing Halloween decorations out, lighting up jack o' lanterns, etc. So it'll be obvious that you are allowing trick or treaters. Some people really go all out like on the Halloween subreddit. Hell, you can even be very obvious and put up a sign "Trick or Treaters are Welcome" or something to that effect. If you don't do anything they'll usually just skip your house.
So yeah, if there's anything Australians might need to know is that you can't make people participate if they don't want to.
Make up some halloween decorations and give them to a few neighbors either side of you.
In a way, D&D is like halloween. You pretend to be something else, kick down strangers doors, and demand their goods, killing them if they don't comply!
.....
That's what everyone does on Halloween, right?
Unless your busy selling salt!
I'm a little bit confused by this part.
The D&D is cool, and exciting... But eh... What did you mean about the bed?
Well in the US "shitting the bed" means really messing up and ruining something, so he could mean the games he plays involve the characters wrecking stuff..... or maybe they literally shit on beds
Heh. Never heard that term before. I'll try and remember it.
That's hilarious.
Over the Garden Wall is one of my favorite cartoons. It has that perfect combination of charm and creepy that makes for a perfect Halloween watch
I think I'm gonna go out as Finn the Human from Adventure Time, I love that show to death and want to celebrate it's legacy.
Nice! I really have to get back into Adventure Time.
My girlfriend and I are doing Star Lord and Gamora.
I love Halloween. My wife loves it more than I do. I had to give her a hard limit of just one more Halloween decoration each year since she would try to out-do herself each year. For as long as I can remember, the only time I missed dressing up was when I was instead visiting a friend/coworker that had just had a stroke.
One of my favorite dates ever with my wife was Knott’s Scary Farm. It was haunted houses and mazes and rides. Last year we took our daughter and some friends for her birthday. On actual Halloween our neighbors had an awesome haunted house that often made local papers and entry was a donation for a local food bank. When my kids were young, we had a block party where the whole street participated. People from infant to their 90’s got together to hang out. Adults had drinks and kids had candy. Even after we moved we hosted a party to get parents and kids together having a great time (costumes encouraged but not necessary).
Also, I grew up on a ranch just outside suburbia. My mom always had king sized candy bars for anyone who made the trek to our house. I’ve followed suit and even though I’m in suburbia I make sure the kids get too much candy.
I was (and still kind of am) a scaredy-cat as a child, so I didn't like anything about the Halloween aesthetic. I didn't like it when people disguised themselves, that made me nervous, and I had nothing with pumpkins.
In rural France Halloween competed with annual pumpkin harvest parties, and sometimes people would split the difference and add some webbing and spooky decorations but no major effort was put in.
In my experience Halloween here in the Netherlands is usually just an excuse to throw a themed party and not much else, like doing a 4th of July or St. Patrick's day party to act like stereotypes for shits and giggles. There's no guarantee everyone will go for trick or treating, especially since a similar tradition exists and people don't like it when the kids double-dip. So it's essentially just a marketed holiday with little to no cultural value like Amazon Prime day: it's something that mostly exists as a cultural artifact transmitted trough US media. In France it was roughly the same situation, a handful of kids would show up to our apartment and ring the bell and we'd tell them there was no candy and they'd move on.
Me I probably won't do anything, if there's a party that interests me I'll go. If I don't feel like it I won't. It really doesn't hold a place in my heart at all.
In the UK Halloween isn't as big as it in the US. It's mainly an excuse to dress up as a slutty vegtable and get wankered. Then again we don't need much of an excuse to get rat arsed.
I don't know this phrase. I know the verb "to wank" and its derived noun "wanker" (including its colloquial use as an insult), but I've never seen the past participle "wankered". What does this mean?
In this instance it's to get drunk. British English is incredibly versatile when it comes to words for 'drunk'
Some other examples:
Trollied
Blasted
Pissed
Bladdered
Spangled
Tanked
Off me trolly
Legless
Sloshed
There are many more but you get the idea ;)
We have a lot of words for it in Aussie English, too! I just hadn't heard or seen this particular one.
Halloween is actually one of my least favorite holidays, I've got no idea why, I really like candy! I just think that because I no longer go trick or treating it's less fun for me. I'm really excited for once I have kids and can get really back into it.
That said, I have an excuse to be dour about the holiday until then since it's the day my dad died.
That's not just an excuse, that's a reason that can last your whole life.
I don't really know what to say, something encouraging, letting you do what you want... Platitudes.
I don't think I could handle a holiday if it clashed with a day I lost someone.
Going trick ot trick-ing with the little one and taking her to a party.
Two years ago I went to my first concert on Halloween with my partners. I was dressed as Harley Quinn (though I got the costume kind of late, so it was more.. revealing than I would have liked). Last year me and my partners went out to see Rezz on Halloween night. I was dressed up as a rave-themed Princess Bubblegum and got high fives from various Finns.
So I guess this year we're going to see Rezz again. Costume is a rave-themed Lapis Lazuli from Steven Universe (specifically when she dresses up as 'Bob'). Hopefully it's just as amazing as last year.
We bought a house in a different neighborhood back in June, and they do a big Halloween block party every year. Still trying to figure out a coordinated costume with my 8-month-old son though - open to all ideas!
I'm planning on seeing if my partner wants to go out and spend it with me. We're relatively new together and they love halloween, so it would be a fun date-night. Sadly though it's not late autumn for us, it's late spring because Australia, so it's going to be hot and the sun won't set until almost almost 8pm...
Halloween is not really a thing where I live, except for some expat-oriented parties. I'll probably order some Halloween candy off of Amazon and watch scary movies with my wife.
I was going to dress up as Doomguy for my school's Halloween party.
I generally don't do much for Halloween. The first year I lived in my current place I went all out, tons of decorations, but barely any kids came by. The second year I tried again with fewer decorations, and still barely any kids. After that I didn't bother any more.
I haven't done something for Halloween in ages, which is a shame because it's my favorite holiday. It's my favorite holiday because I'm a slut in my heart, which means I can dress up as one and not get nearly as much judgement for doing so. I suppose in the end I'm just seeking validation, but what isn't there to love about a day where people can actually embrace their inner desires freely and openly? Society is too conformist to be there 24/7 regulating our behavior.