# Say NO to corporate halloween



## Arob (Feb 23, 2008)

I read in the paper again where the shopping malls have applied to host parties on October 31st and invite the communities to the mall for prizes and fun as a safe alternative to neighborhood trick or treating.

THIS MUST STOP!

Do not allow this to happen. Halloween should be all about meeting your neighbors and celebrating their costumes, property and family - its safe!
The only people who want you to believe that it is unsafe are the retail shopping merchandisers looking for a bigger share of the fourth largest spending holiday in North America.

JUST SAY NO TO CORPORATE HALLOWEEN


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## Liam (Mar 23, 2007)

I totally agree with you, Arob. The corporations have seen the money that people are spending on the second biggest retail holiday, and want a piece of the pie. Then there are the religious nutjobs who don't want their folks out there celebrating this satanic holiday that totally buy into it.

Ugh, I should quit while I'm ahead. /rant off

L


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## slightlymad (May 25, 2006)

Thats why I live in a town where halloween is never observed on halloween.


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## Hawks Hill Haunter (Apr 1, 2007)

And to add to the fury...we all know that Halloween is frequently being pulled out of the schools. They don't allow kids to wear their costumes to school (somewhat understandable considering the violence in schools these days) and they don't have Halloween parties or carnivals like they used too.

Now this is going to bake yer noodle...did you know that approximately more than 90% of American children celebrate this holiday? How is it that less than 10% of american families have a louder voice than than the majority of more than 90%? This pisses me off. Growing up we always go by "majority rules"...so how is we don't as adults?


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## CreepyCanmore (Mar 27, 2007)

I hate that stuff. I feel like kids are getting robbed of such a great tradition. It was always way more than just getting candy for me and I sure hope my kids get to experience the same sense of excitement and mystery that Halloween is about. Thankfully our town is still excited about Halloween.


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## Bloodhound (Oct 16, 2007)

Keep doing what you do and try to get your neighborhood involved to. I know It's Lonely on my street


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## skeletonowl (Aug 8, 2006)

it's lonely on my street too not many people want to even put out one decoration 

If the malls start doing this we could lose TOTs and I already don't have many. At least Halloween is on a Friday this year


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## pyro (Oct 7, 2006)

Hawks Hill Haunter said:


> And to add to the fury...we all know that Halloween is frequently being pulled out of the schools. They don't allow kids to wear their costumes to school (somewhat understandable considering the violence in schools these days) and they don't have Halloween parties or carnivals like they used too.
> 
> Now this is going to bake yer noodle...did you know that approximately more than 90% of American children celebrate this holiday? How is it that less than 10% of american families have a louder voice than than the majority of more than 90%? This pisses me off. Growing up we always go by "majority rules"...so how is we don't as adults?


ill tell you how 10% are louder -they make the most noise and they dont stop, and they rally together


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## Abunai (Oct 28, 2007)

pyro said:


> ill tell you how 10% are louder -they make the most noise and they dont stop, and they rally together


They really don't even have to be louder. This discussion could get very political, but I'll try to contain myself.

It's a matter of Political Correctness and inclusion. We are so afraid to stand by our traditions and our point of view for fear of offending others, that we won't fight to preserve what we have grown up with and want to pass on to our kids.

It's your property. It's your Yard Haunt. If you build it, every one that deserves to come will come. Haunt on!


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## Night Owl (Feb 28, 2008)

Around here, we have a pretty good balance between mall/downtown and neighborhood Trick or Treating. The only problem you might encounter is when Halloween falls on a Sunday, and then celebrating would be moved to the night before... Bible Belt thing, I guess.

I live in a really kid-friendly subdivision, and the first year we TOTed it was straight out of a movie... every house seemed to participate, and decorations were fabulous. People were carrying their kids on decorated four wheelers or flatbeds full of hay! Parents were dressed up as much as their kids, and candy was of the premium variety. Loved, loved, loved it.

I'm going on a little too long on this one, but I just wanted everybody to know that all hope is not lost. If we want Halloween to continue in the way we remember it, we have to be sure to expose our kids to the same kind of magical moments that we we experienced with wide eyes and open hearts. That, we _can_ do.


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## Bloodhound (Oct 16, 2007)

> Originally Posted by
> Abunai
> It's your property. It's your Yard Haunt. If you build it, every one that deserves to come will come. Haunt on!


 I think this is spot on!!


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## Spookkid (Dec 27, 2005)

Speaking of schools, at my school, your only allowed to wear costumes that dont have masks. What is a costume without a mask? And, they dont even put up orange crepe paper.


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## skeletonowl (Aug 8, 2006)

well spookkid at my school it is strictly forbidden and we can't decorate for any holidays anymore but we rebel anyway.


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## Death Master (Jul 1, 2007)

We also have a mall that has a Halloween nite, and I agree with you, it should be for the neighborhood, but I didn't see a decrease in TOTs because of it, the only thing that seems to effect the amount of TOTs I see is due to weather and/or the day that Halloween is on, this year I expect to have one of the best turn outs, because Halloween will be on a Friday this year.


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## EMU (Dec 4, 2007)

Okay, this year the new fad was frozen paint-balls. In my neighborhood most people dont open their doors its depressing! and the mall crap if you think about it its worse, figure all of the people with a mask and fake weapons who knows one could be real. But it was sad last year i had hardly anyone come to my house and i spent about $200 in candy and it was awesome candy, how am i supposed to have fun if im sitting scaring myself im trying to land the paper this year, try to tell parents that its okay, and my house could be a safe haven. My friends and i if we see violence of any kind we stop and do something.. okay i should stop complaining now LOL


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## slimy (Jul 12, 2006)

We have to compete with mall -o-ween here as well as church sponsored 'fall festivals'. Oklahoma is the buckle of the bible belt so to speak. 

We have had as few as seven ( yes that says SEVEN ) trick or treaters. Last year I had almost 800. 

Keep doing what your doing. People will find you. People are usually only politically correct when others are watching. Most of the time, they just want to have fun. Make your yard fun, and they will eventually come around.


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## Ghoulbug (Apr 24, 2007)

There is no mall around here (unless you want to drive 45 minutes) but we do have a boys and girls club that has a to-do..But the kids still come out for the candy. They seem to know where the "good stuff" is being handed out. I hear them talking about it about a week before. it is funny.


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## Dark Star (Nov 6, 2007)

Halloween is contagious and it only takes a few to spread the excitement, just look at these, and other boards! 

5 years ago when we started really going all out, we were the only house on our street/neighborhood that decorated at all, now there are about 5 of us. We went from having 25-30 TOT's to having over 250 last year. People from in and outside of our neighborhood start driving by the first week in October just to see the progress.


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## Bilbo (Dec 13, 2007)

I'm up in northern Minnesota and a lot of the parents bring their kids to the mall to avoid the weather. It's almost always cold and it allows them to show off their kid's costumes without hiding them under heavy parkas. Oh, and that way they hit 100 spots in 45 minutes. Too bad everyone is giving out tiny Tootsie Rolls and Dum Dums

Luckily I moved about 20 miles away from the "big" city of Duluth into a small town with enough children to feed into my need for spooking tots. First couple years we only got about 20 hits, but last year made it up to about 120. This year I am planning on bigger props and animations to hopefully double that. 

Damn malls.


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## Spookkid (Dec 27, 2005)

Bilbo said:


> Damn malls.


Amen.


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## Arob (Feb 23, 2008)

*I found this article on business journal*

This article really spells out the spookiness.
http://www.bizcovering.com/Business-and-Society/The-Rise-of-Retail-Halloween.54652

Big corporations dont want you to trust your neighbor - they want you to bring the kids to the shopping mall for a SAFE retail halloween.


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## Spookkid (Dec 27, 2005)

I don't even know what they do at the mall during halloween. What do they do? Have the kids go to the cashiers or something?


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## Dr Morbius (Sep 21, 2004)

I'll be setting up my props at the mall this year!


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## Spookkid (Dec 27, 2005)

Dr Morbius said:


> I'll be setting up my props at the mall this year!


Then get complaints for "Damaging their children's mind, and leaving them emotionally scared."


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## Austin:) (Jun 13, 2007)

It's insanity. I remember the days when everyone decorated and everyone went trick or treating, and you were excited to wear you costume to school. Every year, when my decorations go up I am so excited to see the other houses on my way to work. A couple here, one there, a big one here ( of coure, full of store-bought items.) Its a dissapointment. It really is sad.


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## Revenant (Mar 17, 2007)

Resist. Resist resist resist. Defy.

Change (or the resistance to it if it's a bad change) is only effective at the grass roots level. Keep on doing what you do; be Those Crazy People In The Halloween House On The Block and the kids will love you for it. And they might still go to Malloween if their parents are total zombies but they'll still insist on coming to your house at least. And the teens and grownups will still come since there's not a "Protect the Teens and Grownups" hysteria blitz on TV.

The corporations and special interest groups will only defeat The People when The People give up and stop defying them. They can't stop us if we don't let them. They need us.

BTW brilliant article.


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## Bilbo (Dec 13, 2007)

Spookkid said:


> I don't even know what they do at the mall during halloween. What do they do? Have the kids go to the cashiers or something?


In the Duluth mall the kids all line up and file from store to store to store. They have an employee or two sitting out front handing out cheap ass candy. The mall is essentially closed for shopping because it's near impossible to cross rank to get into the stores.


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## Verno77 (Apr 6, 2008)

That's horrible, it will just kill the hoilday. Whats next “Your uncle could be trying to poison the turkey, come to the malls for thanksgiving instead.”


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## Spookkid (Dec 27, 2005)

Verno77 said:


> That's horrible, it will just kill the hoilday. Whats next "Your uncle could be trying to poison the turkey, come to the malls for thanksgiving instead."


Yeah, and they'll give you a piece of turkey jerky, and a cup of water.


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## Bloodhound (Oct 16, 2007)

"Why bother to save Halloween?"
Written by Richard Seltzer 
Halloween is in trouble. Each year editorials in magazines, newspapers and on television warn of the dangers of trick-or-treating. Almost everywhere you look, cities set 'trick-or-treating hours' only during the early afternoon in broad daylight and each year more communities want to 'ban' Halloween. 
So what? Who needs it? What is Halloween anyway? It's just an excuse for big kids to make trouble, little kids to eat too much candy, and candy companies to peddle their wares. Bah, goblin-bug! Not! 
When children go trick-or-treating, often times the people they visit are folks they only see at Halloween, even though they live only a few doors away. Most people, the elderly especially, buy large quantities of candy and wait at home to hand it all out. Children are excited to come up to the door to get candy and the adults are happy to see them. But nowadays, that happiness can be short-lived. By the end of the night, most people are giving out two or three times as much candy per child as they had originally intended, because there are so few kids out trick-or-treating. 
Seeing all of this, I can't help but wonder what has gone wrong with Halloween. And it occurred to me that it wasn't just a handful of crazy people who were endangering this tradition and the joy it can bring to little children, and adults as well. It's the fault of everyone, and their failure to recognize that Halloween plays an important function in our society, and their unwillingness to speak out in defense of Halloween when the media is so unanimously against it. 
So what's so important about Halloween?
Maybe at one time, Halloween helped exorcise fears of death and ghosts and goblins by making fun of them. Maybe, too, in a time of rigidly prescribed social behavior, Halloween was the occasion for relatively harmless socially condoned mischief -- a time for misrule and letting loose. Although such elements still remain, the emphasis has shifted. These days, neither adults nor children understand the true meaning behind this great holiday tradition. Trick-or-treating has been reduced to a meaningless, mechanical daytime activity where children receive mass quantities of candy for no apparent reason. 
Nowadays people often don't know their near neighbors, much less the neighbors a few blocks away. For little children these strange houses and strange people are a source of fear and anxiety. Children have been taught not to trust or talk to strangers, to beware of them. But on Halloween that prohibition is lifted; and, with fear, but impelled by curiosity and greed for candy and other loot, little ones ring doorbells at houses of strangers to find time and again that these strangers are really friendly people like the people they know well. In the course of the evening they gain confidence in themselves and in their neighborhood and come away not only with bags full of candy to be enjoyed for weeks later, but also a warm feeling about their neighborhood and people in general. 
As for adults, especially the elderly and those who never had children or who haven't had young children at home for some time, children in the neighborhood are normally a source of anxiety and distrust. What mischief and vandalism might this strange new generation growing up with television violence be capable of? On Halloween night their fears too are exorcised, as wildly and imaginatively costumed kids parade to the door, a reminder of what they themselves did as children -- a common link of experience. 
Looked at another way, Halloween is a time that reconfirms the social bond of a neighborhood (particularly the bond between strangers of different generations) by a ritual act of trade. Children go to lengths to dress up and overcome their fear of strangers in exchange for candy. And adults buy the candy and overcome their distrust of strange children in exchange for the pleasure of seeing their wild outfits and vicariously reliving their own adventures as children. 
In other words, the true value and importance of Halloween comes not from parading in costumes in front of close friends and family, but from this interchange with strangers, exorcising our fears of strangers, reaffirming our social bond with the people of the neighborhood who we rarely, if ever, see the rest of the year. 
So when you hear all those warnings about pins and poison, use caution and common sense. But don't just abandon a tradition that you yourself loved as a child, that your own children look forward to months in advance, and that helps preserve our sense of fellowship and community with our neighbors in the midst of all this madness.


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## IshWitch (May 31, 2006)

Abunai said:


> They really don't even have to be louder. This discussion could get very political, but I'll try to contain myself.
> 
> It's a matter of Political Correctness and inclusion. We are so afraid to stand by our traditions and our point of view for fear of offending others, that we won't fight to preserve what we have grown up with and want to pass on to our kids.
> 
> It's your property. It's your Yard Haunt. If you build it, every one that deserves to come will come. Haunt on!


Mega Dittos!


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## IshWitch (May 31, 2006)

Spookkid said:


> I don't even know what they do at the mall during halloween. What do they do? Have the kids go to the cashiers or something?


We mall-o-weened in St. Pete way back in the 80's. So this is nothing new. We did it because we were from a small town moved to a "big city" and we lived in an apartment complex so didn't have the "neighborhood atmosphere" that we were used to tot-ing in.

The kids hit the apt's that had lights on then we went to the mall.There was a costume contest but we had missed it. Someone from each store was standing in it's opening in costume and handing out candy. It was like a production line and we hated it, we never went again. But we did get to see Sir Graves Ghastly and his hearse. That was cool.


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## Bilbo (Dec 13, 2007)

Hey, nothing like a well lit food court and a Payless to scare the poop out of the little kiddies, right??


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## eanderso13 (Apr 10, 2008)

*Travesty...*

I've heard of another thing that is totally new to me, since moving to Kansas three months ago. Trunk-or-Treating...Our realtor brought this to our attention while out looking at neighborhoods because our main concerns are:
1) Is the neighborhood family Friendly? i.e. Lots of kids, potentially
2) Is the yard big enough, and has a good layout for a display?
3) are there any HOA restrictions that would not allow us to decorate to large scale that we MUST?
4) Is there enough space in the garage for our hearse?

So she told us about when her kids were invited by some freinds from school to go "Trunk-or-Treating" at their church...apparently people parkt heir cars, pop the trunks, decorate their trunks sometimes, and kids go from car to car in the parking lot to get candy...THE PARKING LOT?!?!?! All I can say to that is...WTF?

Luckily, her kids relayed to her that it was the stupidest thing they ever did and they promptly went Trick-or-Treating for REAL at dusk.

So who's up for finding some trunk-or-treat parking lot and setting up some pneumatic popups in the woods? I'm sure we can all still be back to our haunts by dark!


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## Arob (Feb 23, 2008)

*This year I will be ready.*

Like that 'Rise of Retail Halloween' article said, I will be watching for the _your neighbor is evil _story planted in the newspaper this year. Check the paper now for reference - there is no such story posted in April or May; its only in September and October that neighbors can be really scary.

The shopping mall retailers love that story - and as society gets further and further segmented, and gated communities rise around premium real estate, Halloween will end as a bloated hedonistic festival of cheap confectioneries.


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## eanderso13 (Apr 10, 2008)

Hmm....now may be a great time for everyone to start flexing their literary and grammatical brain muscles and start coming up with editorial rebuttals to be submitted to local papers on first sight of such heinously incorrect corporate hogwash! We can maybe have a section on the forum for people to submit writings for proofreading and help with ideas from other forum members on irrefutable evidence of the good of Halloween. It's that whole "point/Counter-point" thing...and usually, any local citizen can submit an editorial for publication. Although the smaller papers are more likely to pick them up, but still...

Or, we could always preemptively strike with Halloween-positive articles before the retails have a chance to get their claws in for the season!

Fight the power, and take back Halloween!


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