Halloween Plans?

Anyone have any Halloween plans they are looking forward to? It's the one day of the year where pigging out on candy and Cos-playing are social norms!!

Have a costume you're thinking of trying? A scary movie you plan to watch? Or maybe some other entertainment form with a scary theme you plan to enjoy?

I'm mainly looking forward to buying too much candy and "accidentally" opening all the bags so extras can't be returned.

I don't know that I'll do anything really thematic. I might edit together a special "paeter getting scared of video games" clip show for the youtube channel. Might also watch "Witches" with my boys. My oldest has read the book but not seen the movie. And it's free with amazon prime right now.

Other than that, I'm not really sure. How about you?

Going to hand out tracts telling kids they're going to Hell. Isn't that what all good Evangelicals do?

jorowi wrote:Going to hand out tracts telling kids they're going to Hell. Isn't that what all good Evangelicals do?

Of course!!!
Better than the monsters that give out raisins!

Paeter wrote:I might edit together a special "paeter getting scared of video games" clip show for the youtube channel.

I would enjoy that (as long as you'd be comfortable with it).

Halloween is a non-entity in China. I do like to watch a lot of horror/monster movies in October, but I can only do it when I'm alone because my wife is easily terrified. I did manage to knock out Unfriended, one of the movies I've been meaning to see, yesterday while she was at work, so there's one down.

Probably won't have a chance to do or watch anything on Halloween itself because I'll be working that day and my wife will be home when I'm done.

jorowi wrote:Going to hand out tracts telling kids they're going to Hell. Isn't that what all good Evangelicals do?

Holy crap, John. Lol of the morning, easy. Thank you for that.

Reed Benson wrote:

Halloween is a non-entity in China.

Yeah, I can see that with the general anti-supernatural feelings there. Does that cultural thing specifically have to do with scary supernatural stuff, or would they also frown upon something like the Bill Cosby comedy "Ghost Dad" or another light/comedic supernatural story?

You can PM or e-mail me if that's too sensitive an issue for public response.

BTW, Reed, I just realized that Extra-Life will I think be a year since we met! If I'm not mistaken you got on the chat in the middle of the night (for me at least) during Extra-Life last year and that was the first time we connected. Does that that sound right?

Anyway, so cool that you've now become such a regular on the forums! It's been great getting to know you and blabbing with you here. I'm glad you jumped into that chat!

Paeter wrote:

Reed Benson wrote:

Halloween is a non-entity in China.

Yeah, I can see that with the general anti-supernatural feelings there. Does that cultural thing specifically have to do with scary supernatural stuff, or would they also frown upon something like the Bill Cosby comedy "Ghost Dad" or another light/comedic supernatural story?

You can PM or e-mail me if that's too sensitive an issue for public response.

No, I don't think this is very sensitive, especially since this isn't a Chinese forum.

Younger Chinese people know about Halloween because it's Western, and Western things are hip and cool among the kids these days. But the only Halloween stuff I've ever seen has been in small displays at places like Wal-Mart. I don't think many of my coworkers even teach about it in their classes often (probably because some are uncomfortable with it).

Two reasons supernatural stuff isn't big here. The first is that the government is officially atheist and controls all the media. They have all sorts of rules about what can and can't be in movies and TV shows. Reincarnation is on the list of things that are banned from TV shows (not sure about movies). I think that might also include ghosts, zombies, etc.

The other reason is that, despite the atheist government, Chinese people tend to be very superstitious, especially if they come from the countryside. They revere their deceased ancestors and burn special "money" to give to them in whatever netherworld they may be in. They light fireworks at Chinese New Year to scare away the spirits that cause bad luck. And they rarely talk about death because they think it'll make it happen sooner or something. That's probably the main reason you won't see anything like Ghost Dad come out of China.

However, younger people are into things like Twilight and The Vampire Diaries, though I think that's more because they're love stories. And there are a lot of adaptations of ancient Chinese folk tales like Journey to the West that involve spirits and gods, though I don't think they have many ghosts or resurrected people. And I have seen ads for ghost-themed movies, but I never hear anyone talk about them. Perhaps, as the older generation passes on, younger people will be more interested in stuff like that.

Paeter wrote:BTW, Reed, I just realized that Extra-Life will I think be a year since we met! If I'm not mistaken you got on the chat in the middle of the night (for me at least) during Extra-Life last year and that was the first time we connected. Does that that sound right?

Anyway, so cool that you've now become such a regular on the forums! It's been great getting to know you and blabbing with you here. I'm glad you jumped into that chat!

Wow, has it been that long? Feels more recent. But I'm looking forward to the upcoming Extra-Life livestream. It looks like it'll start on my Saturday evening, so Lord willing, I'll have a lot of time on Sunday to join in!

Reed Benson wrote:Halloween is a non-entity in China.

Halloween is not part of our culture in Australia either, but for different reasons. (Apologies if I've talked about this here before, but I don't think I have).
Around here, Halloween is considered an "American thing", and it's celebration thought of as "un-Australian".
You'll often seem memes like the following float around social media.

This doesn't stop the supermarkets from putting on big Halloween sales on chocolates, despite the fact that nobody does trick or treating.

As I understand it, Christians in America generally view Halloween as just a bit of fun, or an excuse to cosplay (which as a geek I can totally get behind). The church in Australia looks at it more cautiously. Given that the whole "bit of fun" aspect is not present in our culture, the only people who really celebrate the event are practicing Wiccans. So it kinda takes on darker connotations.

So some things I'd like to understand from you guys.
1) The whole trick-or-treating thing. Kids knocking on strangers' doors and accepting food from them tends to fly in the face of what they are taught about 'stranger danger'. And the advice that you 'never accept candy from a stranger'. How are these things reconciled?
2) What about the 'trick' side. As I understand, if the homeowner can't or won't give a treat, the culture is to take revenge by performing an unkind act like egging their car or vandalising their home. Certainly not a good lesson to teach kids. Am I right in assuming this aspect is not part of the current tradition?

AdamCollings wrote:As I understand it, Christians in America generally view Halloween as just a bit of fun, or an excuse to cosplay (which as a geek I can totally get behind). The church in Australia looks at it more cautiously.

It's the same here, although secular British culture seems to be increasingly getting in on the Halloween goodness. I always have (and still do) ignore or avoid it, which as I think I mentioned last year is a bit of a personal dilemma given what's parked in my garage (although it's not currently taxed, so those Halloween spooks will be left unbusted again this year!)

UKSteve wrote:what's parked in my garage (although it's not currently taxed, so those Halloween spooks will be left unbusted again this year!)

Waitaminute! Is that a Ghostbusters-themed Cooper Mini? It's hard to tell from that tiny pic.

AdamCollings wrote:The church in Australia looks at it more cautiously. Given that the whole "bit of fun" aspect is not present in our culture, the only people who really celebrate the event are practicing Wiccans. So it kinda takes on darker connotations.

Ooh, wow. I can totally see how that would change the whole perception of the thing. Sounds like there's a good argument for either not doing Halloween there, or doing it while somehow differentiating your practice from Wiccans. That's a real live "idol meat" situation you've got there. God bless you as you navigate that!

AdamCollings wrote:
So some things I'd like to understand from you guys.
1) The whole trick-or-treating thing. Kids knocking on strangers' doors and accepting food from them tends to fly in the face of what they are taught about 'stranger danger'. And the advice that you 'never accept candy from a stranger'. How are these things reconciled?
2) What about the 'trick' side. As I understand, if the homeowner can't or won't give a treat, the culture is to take revenge by performing an unkind act like egging their car or vandalising their home. Certainly not a good lesson to teach kids. Am I right in assuming this aspect is not part of the current tradition?

1- We always go with the boys to each house, stay in view of both them and whoever answers the door, and check through their treat buckets for any broken seals or non-factory-wrapped treats (which are thrown away) before they are allowed to eat anything.

2- Well I suppose older kids (who should be done trick or treating anyway) might egg or toilet-paper houses, but that's very rare around us I think, and done more because the kids want to be jerks, not because they didn't get candy from someone. Really, the whole "trick" thing is a largely forgotten part of the tradition. My whole like that has never been taken seriously. Kind of like how plenty of atheists and agnostics still say "Merry Christmas", even though they aren't wishing you to have a good "Christ Mass" at church this Sunday.

jorowi wrote:Waitaminute! Is that a Ghostbusters-themed Cooper Mini? It's hard to tell from that tiny pic.

Well actually it's a Clubman Estate, but that technical detail aside, yes. Yes it is.

I'm sure there are some pictures lurking somewhere from when I first unveiled it, but since you (sorta) asked...

Dude, that is so cool! I'm drooling! You should contact Mighty Car Mods and The Unicorn Circuit to have them feature this!

That's so cool. I'm really not a 'car guy' but I love the idea of nerd cars reproduced from movies, like this.
There used to be a Herbie which drove around Launceston, but I haven't seen it in some time.

Halloween don't you mean Helloween?
What kind of Christian site is this that promotes the Devil's Christmas. You're sick and I'm unsubscribing to this "Christian" geek central.

Ok all joking aside I was going to say it depends on where I am but I think the only differences will be do I stay in and play video games or stay in and read

AdamCollings wrote:That's so cool. I'm really not a 'car guy' but I love the idea of nerd cars reproduced from movies, like this.
There used to be a Herbie which drove around Launceston, but I haven't seen it in some time.

Herbie is my dream car

Rickster wrote:
Ok all joking aside I was going to say it depends on where I am but I think the only differences will be do I stay in and play video games or stay in and read

Yeah, Halloween, like Christmas, changed quite a bit once I had my own source of income.

"Wait a minute... You mean instead of walking around for two hours in an uncomfortable costume to get a random assortment of mostly cheap candy, I can spend $5-$10, get exactly and only the candy I want, and stay home playing video games or watching movies? SOLD!!"

Although I do still like having some kind of Halloween themed event if it doesn't take too much effort, like a little party, or movie/game night.

Paeter wrote:

Although I do still like having some kind of Halloween themed event if it doesn't take too much effort, like a little party, or movie/game night.

I was trying to do an annual Halloween stream where I do a complete play through of the Haunted Mansion PS2 game but most likely won't happen this year.

My Wife and I were just talking about this on our car ride this evening. We were trying to figure out now with a one year old little girl and planning to have at least one more in the next year or so, how we should handle this as a family. The problem is our backgrounds growing up were very different. My background growing up was in a very sheltered conservative Christian household where Halloween was "teh eval" and instead we had very safe harvest parties at church with some games, but only the secular families that came by wore costumes. My wife on the other hand grew up in a very unsheltered secular house with almost no parental supervision. Any story she tells me about her life growing up contains the phrase "Where were the parents" talking about her own or the parent of friends who were supposed to be supervising. She did the whole Halloween thing...going around the neighborhood, dressing up, getting candy.

We're trying to decide where we stand on it. We haven't come to any conclusion. We don't want to make our child the pariah by saying "no you can't dress up or get candy from anybody even if its a school thing. We don't celebrate that so you must stick out like sore thumb." but on the other hand, why do a "Harvest Party" if you're not really celebrating anything. What are we supposed to be celebrating? I don't know. All I know is it requires more thought and discussion to make a decision.

These days though, especially here in New Orleans, the whole going house to house trick-or-treating has become less popular even with the secular crowd. Everyone is afraid of someone doing something horrible or violent or abducting their kids. Trunk-or-treats are a lot more popular because even though you may not know everyone, they are usually put on by an organization or community and generally the community is more trustworthy, especially because they get police details to work the events.


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Paeter wrote:1- We always go with the boys to each house, stay in view of both them and whoever answers the door, and check through their treat buckets for any broken seals or non-factory-wrapped treats (which are thrown away) before they are allowed to eat anything.

2- Well I suppose older kids (who should be done trick or treating anyway) might egg or toilet-paper houses, but that's very rare around us I think, and done more because the kids want to be jerks, not because they didn't get candy from someone. Really, the whole "trick" thing is a largely forgotten part of the tradition. My whole like that has never been taken seriously. Kind of like how plenty of atheists and agnostics still say "Merry Christmas", even though they aren't wishing you to have a good "Christ Mass" at church this Sunday.

Looks like you've really thought it through and have some wise boundaries in place.

Tim wrote:Trunk-or-treats are a lot more popular because even though you may not know everyone, they are usually put on by an organization or community and generally the community is more trustworthy, especially because they get police details to work the events.
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We've had years where that's the ONLY trick or treating our boys have done. And then maybe just a stop at grandma and grandpa's house for a "staged" trick or treat on the way to a trunk or treat event. I feel like, as far as safety goes, we've found a lot of great alternatives to traditional, "in the wild" trick or treating.

AdamCollings wrote:

Paeter wrote:My whole like that has never been taken seriously.

??? What the crap was I trying to say?

"My whole like that"?

What...the crap?

Okay, it's beginning to look like I typed too soon when I said Halloween was a non-entity in China. My school's principal sent us all a message that the holiday is becoming more of a thing here, so much so that all teachers who have Tuesday classes (the day Halloween is on this year) need to do something related in class. This will make the parents happy.

Also, I have noticed more Halloween displays at supermarkets than I remember from previous years, and I saw that KFC is marketing this:




That's an orange and grapefruit fusion drink served in a blood bag-type container.

Reed Benson wrote: ...need to do something related in class. This will make the parents happy.

Dude, let's get more of this "making parents happy" stuff in US schools! Lol!

(Pure selfishness of course. I was raised by two teachers. Some parents are never happy.)

LOVE that bloodbag! Is that a drink? Awesome!

What are those red things in the front of the photo? Something white with a red crusty coating.

I don't think I could bring myself to drink that drink.