Maybe we need a few “Horror Clowns” here to get in the mood?
George, here in Hungary like in most of Europe Halloween is big business – we bought “Halloween potato chips” for our granddaughter, they will go nicely with the duck that we bought from our neighbour, will have it today.
This long weekend is a kind of blessing here – usually most people are on their second and third jobs on the weekend, now it’s really quiet, many people visit their families around the country and of course the cemeteries tomorrow.
PS – a question for everybody:
What are you doing tonight? Trying to scare your neighbours (or even your partners …) or just waiting for children to give them treats?
Thee have been a lot of these horror clown stories around …
Wolf, same here! Horror clowns, too much booze, tons of candy, etc. Many of my neighbors will be having Halloween parties tonight. I’ll be handing out candy to kids who go door-to-door in Halloween costumes tonight from about 5 P.M. to 8 P.M. The Halloween weather forecast is 45 degrees, calm winds, and no rain. We bought about 300 pieces of candy. Hopefully, that will be enough!
Last night, our church (along with several others in various parts of town) hosted a Trunk-or-Treat in their parking lot for neighborhood kids. My husband (dressed as Jack Sparrow–please don’t ask for a picture, just imagine if the Village People had a pirate) and our oldest daughter (wearing a pink bed sheet toga) joined many other parishioners in the church parking lot and distributed candy to about 500 or so children. There were also games and a contemporary Christian band. Tonight, we will have our porch light on and will distribute candy to any trick-or-treaters, but neither of our neighbors ever participates in Halloween, so–while the street is filled with kids–we don’t get that many knocking on our door because the houses on either side don’t have their porch lights on.
Deb, mini-vans full of kids show up on our street every Halloween. Some of my neighbors resent the parents bringing their kids from miles away to our neighborhood. But, this is a good street to collect candy so the traffic is heavy all night long.
Our neighborhood has a lot of after-school trick or treating on the Avenue, with mothers taking the little ones around to all the stores and restaurants, most of which keep bowls of candy. We rarely get anyone in the apartment building these days, but I bought some Reese’s peanut butter cups just in case. I’ll probably have to eat them myself in the end.
Jeff, somehow the Peanut M&Ms and Snickers fall to the bottom of the bowl and I give out all the other candy–Twix, Oh Henry, Baby Ruth, etc.–before Diane catches me.
Stores and restaurants? Really? You’d get a lot of nothin’ if you tried that here. Reeves’s Peanut Butter Cups? Oh, Jeff, I thought you had good taste. I’m so disappointed.
My favorite is when kids go into the Chinese takeout places. When this first started years ago, they were the Scrooges of Halloween, but now most places at least offer lollipops.
You don’t like peanut butter? It isn’t my top choice but it was on sale. I had Kit Kat last year.
Jeff Meyerson
Also, the local schools have (supervised) kids paint Halloween-themed pictures on the windows of stores that choose to participate, which add to the festive air.
Jeff, Diane was never a fan of Halloween when she was a teacher. Nothing has changed in retirement. Diane is annoyed when teenagers show up at our door. She believes Halloween should be for “little kids.”
We’re a 10 and under house, but that’s who lives on our somewhat isolated street, so it works fine. New neighbors are really into it, but their kids meet our age limit. If teens ever come to the door, we just say “little kids only, we’re old fashioned.” So far not eggs or other tricks (vandalism).
Rick, we usually give the teenagers the “Fun” (smaller) size candy bars.
Jeff Meyerson
We’re in Starbucks and two teens -and not 13 either, at least 15-16 – just came in with masks and a bag for candy. I think Diane would have said, “No candy for you!”
Jeff, Diane would have given those teenagers a lollipop, not a candy bar.
Jerry House
I hope you have a spooktacular day, George!
I think I’ve figured out the origin of the word “Halloween.” It’s a combination of the following: “Hall” — a long narrow room, “ow!” — the sound you make when you triover a body in said hall, and “een” — which had me stumped until I realized it was a corruption of the German “ein,” meaning one. Therefor it means you can only have one body to trip over in the hall on October 31st (corpses were evidently in short supply on that first Halloween). To quote Paul Harvey: “And now you know…the rest of the story.”
In my neighborhood, I’m not opening the door after dark. When there are small kids living here, I take them a full size candy bar during the day. There are a few houses here that decorate, not many. I remember visiting on the east coast near Halloween and being amazed by the large majority of houses that are decorated, even if it’s just a pumpkin.
I used to go to friends houses if not for parties, then to pass out candy. I always had to buy something i didn’t like (mini mounds or almond joy) to give out so there would be something left.
My elderly friend who moved to WY and is living in an assisted living place said on Sat they had a hundred or so trick or treaters. They sat in the hall outside their rooms with bags of candy and enjoyed the costume parade and gave out candy.
Maggie, our turnout is totally dependent on the weather. We have almost ideal conditions tonight so at least 150 trick-or-treaters will be at our door.
This afternoon (we are 6 hours advanced from you) we walked the dog through the Hungarian village we live in (part of the year) and saw a few pumpkins, a witch and a figure clad in black with a scythe in a garden – that looked really threatening!
But for children to come bye for treats is unheard of here – it’s just in the family.
A bit OT:
My wife has a sweet tooth for snickers and Twix as they are called over here- I laid of sweets (except the lovely Black Forest ice cream …) and enjoy salted peanuts, cashews etc …
Even more OT:
On the political blog about Hungary that I’m on (it’s in English, many contributors are Hungarians who went to the USA, England, Australia etc, that’s hy we went OT on the POTUS question/election) someone called Hillary a witch today …
That brought him a shitstorm of course from the regular contributors (me included …).
And it reminded me of the famous novel by one of my favourite authors: Fritz Leiber: Conjure Wife and the movies they made from it.
Wolf, I usually reading some spooking stories around Halloween, but there year has really been hectic. CONJURE WIFE would be a great book to reread for HALLOWEEN next year!
We turn on the porch light at dark and off at 8:00, about 2.5 hours. We only hand out candy to 10 and under (judging by looks of course), and since our street is a bit out of the way we get few visits. Last year I think we got four or five, total. More this year as new neighbors with 3 kids have moved in. We don’t decorate, usually we have a pumpkin, but not this year. It will be windy and raining tonight, which will discourage things. Our neighbor – the really obnoxious, noisy one – will probably have a party, since they do so at every opportunity. Those teens will be out of luck if they try to mooch here.
We have Kit-Kat bars, Mounds, Snickers and Butterfinger bits to hand out. Unfortunately, all things we like.
I like almost any sweet candy but I’m not that keen on the sour ones! Love Reese’s, Buttrfinger, Snickers, Almond Joy, Mounds, Kit-Kat, Kisses, Milky Ways, and many more. I’m trying to lay off sweets right now so Linda is hiding the candy until the monsters come by. If they do! We get anywhere from zero to six kids most years!
Rick, I’m taking our leftover candy to the College today and give it to my students who will be taking exams today. A little shot of carbs might help them!
Wolf, you’re right on all counts. Halloween trumps “All Saints Day” in consumer America. Thanksgiving is devoted to football games and then shopping as stores open early for Black Friday sales.
A haunting beauty!
Bob, I liked the skull. Nice touch.
That’s Halloween? When I saw the skull I thought she was doing the Graveyard scene from HAMLET.
Dan, there are more things in heaven and Earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy. Like Halloween!
Maybe we need a few “Horror Clowns” here to get in the mood?
George, here in Hungary like in most of Europe Halloween is big business – we bought “Halloween potato chips” for our granddaughter, they will go nicely with the duck that we bought from our neighbour, will have it today.
This long weekend is a kind of blessing here – usually most people are on their second and third jobs on the weekend, now it’s really quiet, many people visit their families around the country and of course the cemeteries tomorrow.
PS – a question for everybody:
What are you doing tonight? Trying to scare your neighbours (or even your partners …) or just waiting for children to give them treats?
Thee have been a lot of these horror clown stories around …
Wolf, same here! Horror clowns, too much booze, tons of candy, etc. Many of my neighbors will be having Halloween parties tonight. I’ll be handing out candy to kids who go door-to-door in Halloween costumes tonight from about 5 P.M. to 8 P.M. The Halloween weather forecast is 45 degrees, calm winds, and no rain. We bought about 300 pieces of candy. Hopefully, that will be enough!
Last night, our church (along with several others in various parts of town) hosted a Trunk-or-Treat in their parking lot for neighborhood kids. My husband (dressed as Jack Sparrow–please don’t ask for a picture, just imagine if the Village People had a pirate) and our oldest daughter (wearing a pink bed sheet toga) joined many other parishioners in the church parking lot and distributed candy to about 500 or so children. There were also games and a contemporary Christian band. Tonight, we will have our porch light on and will distribute candy to any trick-or-treaters, but neither of our neighbors ever participates in Halloween, so–while the street is filled with kids–we don’t get that many knocking on our door because the houses on either side don’t have their porch lights on.
Deb, mini-vans full of kids show up on our street every Halloween. Some of my neighbors resent the parents bringing their kids from miles away to our neighborhood. But, this is a good street to collect candy so the traffic is heavy all night long.
It’s a graveyard smash.
Our neighborhood has a lot of after-school trick or treating on the Avenue, with mothers taking the little ones around to all the stores and restaurants, most of which keep bowls of candy. We rarely get anyone in the apartment building these days, but I bought some Reese’s peanut butter cups just in case. I’ll probably have to eat them myself in the end.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
Jeff, somehow the Peanut M&Ms and Snickers fall to the bottom of the bowl and I give out all the other candy–Twix, Oh Henry, Baby Ruth, etc.–before Diane catches me.
Stores and restaurants? Really? You’d get a lot of nothin’ if you tried that here. Reeves’s Peanut Butter Cups? Oh, Jeff, I thought you had good taste. I’m so disappointed.
My favorite is when kids go into the Chinese takeout places. When this first started years ago, they were the Scrooges of Halloween, but now most places at least offer lollipops.
You don’t like peanut butter? It isn’t my top choice but it was on sale. I had Kit Kat last year.
Also, the local schools have (supervised) kids paint Halloween-themed pictures on the windows of stores that choose to participate, which add to the festive air.
Jeff, Diane was never a fan of Halloween when she was a teacher. Nothing has changed in retirement. Diane is annoyed when teenagers show up at our door. She believes Halloween should be for “little kids.”
True. The teenagers are sometimes out looking for trouble. I remember when I was a kid getting hit with an egg by a teen on a bike.
Jeff, not a Halloween goes by without houses and cars getting egged. Just last week 50 cars in Buffalo had their tires slashed.
Jackie says she totally agrees with Diane. Fifth grade is her limit!
Jeff, Diane taught Grades 2-5. She retired from Fifth Grade after she survived the Class from Hell.
We’re a 10 and under house, but that’s who lives on our somewhat isolated street, so it works fine. New neighbors are really into it, but their kids meet our age limit. If teens ever come to the door, we just say “little kids only, we’re old fashioned.” So far not eggs or other tricks (vandalism).
Rick, we usually give the teenagers the “Fun” (smaller) size candy bars.
We’re in Starbucks and two teens -and not 13 either, at least 15-16 – just came in with masks and a bag for candy. I think Diane would have said, “No candy for you!”
Jeff, Diane would have given those teenagers a lollipop, not a candy bar.
I hope you have a spooktacular day, George!
I think I’ve figured out the origin of the word “Halloween.” It’s a combination of the following: “Hall” — a long narrow room, “ow!” — the sound you make when you triover a body in said hall, and “een” — which had me stumped until I realized it was a corruption of the German “ein,” meaning one. Therefor it means you can only have one body to trip over in the hall on October 31st (corpses were evidently in short supply on that first Halloween). To quote Paul Harvey: “And now you know…the rest of the story.”
Jerry, you have a “spooktacular” day, too! What’s your favorite Halloween candy? I’m into Peanut M&Ms and Snickers.
In my neighborhood, I’m not opening the door after dark. When there are small kids living here, I take them a full size candy bar during the day. There are a few houses here that decorate, not many. I remember visiting on the east coast near Halloween and being amazed by the large majority of houses that are decorated, even if it’s just a pumpkin.
I used to go to friends houses if not for parties, then to pass out candy. I always had to buy something i didn’t like (mini mounds or almond joy) to give out so there would be something left.
My elderly friend who moved to WY and is living in an assisted living place said on Sat they had a hundred or so trick or treaters. They sat in the hall outside their rooms with bags of candy and enjoyed the costume parade and gave out candy.
Maggie, our turnout is totally dependent on the weather. We have almost ideal conditions tonight so at least 150 trick-or-treaters will be at our door.
This afternoon (we are 6 hours advanced from you) we walked the dog through the Hungarian village we live in (part of the year) and saw a few pumpkins, a witch and a figure clad in black with a scythe in a garden – that looked really threatening!
But for children to come bye for treats is unheard of here – it’s just in the family.
A bit OT:
My wife has a sweet tooth for snickers and Twix as they are called over here- I laid of sweets (except the lovely Black Forest ice cream …) and enjoy salted peanuts, cashews etc …
Even more OT:
On the political blog about Hungary that I’m on (it’s in English, many contributors are Hungarians who went to the USA, England, Australia etc, that’s hy we went OT on the POTUS question/election) someone called Hillary a witch today …
That brought him a shitstorm of course from the regular contributors (me included …).
And it reminded me of the famous novel by one of my favourite authors: Fritz Leiber: Conjure Wife and the movies they made from it.
Wolf, I usually reading some spooking stories around Halloween, but there year has really been hectic. CONJURE WIFE would be a great book to reread for HALLOWEEN next year!
We turn on the porch light at dark and off at 8:00, about 2.5 hours. We only hand out candy to 10 and under (judging by looks of course), and since our street is a bit out of the way we get few visits. Last year I think we got four or five, total. More this year as new neighbors with 3 kids have moved in. We don’t decorate, usually we have a pumpkin, but not this year. It will be windy and raining tonight, which will discourage things. Our neighbor – the really obnoxious, noisy one – will probably have a party, since they do so at every opportunity. Those teens will be out of luck if they try to mooch here.
We have Kit-Kat bars, Mounds, Snickers and Butterfinger bits to hand out. Unfortunately, all things we like.
Well, I like. Barbara doesn’t like Snickers or Butterfingers.
I’m with Barbara on the Butterfingers.
Rick, those Mounds bars wouldn’t last long around here. Yum!
I like almost any sweet candy but I’m not that keen on the sour ones! Love Reese’s, Buttrfinger, Snickers, Almond Joy, Mounds, Kit-Kat, Kisses, Milky Ways, and many more. I’m trying to lay off sweets right now so Linda is hiding the candy until the monsters come by. If they do! We get anywhere from zero to six kids most years!
Bob, with the mild weather we had a ton of kids. Over 90% of our candy is gone!
It’s 9 pm, and we have had NO visits. Barbara bought 6 bags of candy. Six! So now it’s all sitting here. I’m tempted to toss it in the trash barrel.
Rick, I’m taking our leftover candy to the College today and give it to my students who will be taking exams today. A little shot of carbs might help them!
George, isn’t “All Saints” a holiday in the USA? I’m kind of surprised …
Here it’s the big thing – everybody’s on the road to visit the graves of his parents etc – that goes for most of Europe.
PS:
Just realised – for you it’s probably Thanksgiving that has a similar function.
Wolf, you’re right on all counts. Halloween trumps “All Saints Day” in consumer America. Thanksgiving is devoted to football games and then shopping as stores open early for Black Friday sales.