In the past few years I have noticed two things, the first being trick or treating and the second being the horror movie line ups. They both have one thing in common, they seem to be disappearing :(

I am only 17, but it seemed like a few years ago when I went trick or treating with my friend and little sister, it seemed like there were a lot of kids out there with us. We had to wait in line at almost every door to get candy, and most of the houses around us had groups of kids on their doorsteps. Last year I took my sister trick or treating and there seemed to be no one out, just us and maybe three more groups.

As for the horror movie line ups, they still exist, but none of the good horror movies are being shown any more. The last couple of years a lot of channels, AMC in particular, has gone downhill with their horror movies. I think this year AMC is mainly showing Halloween and Friday the 13th, and if I remember correctly last year they had a thing with the movie Willard. I also remember SciFi, Spike, and I think also Ion had good horror movies on such as The Omen, The Exorcist, Psycho (1960), Hellraiser, Poltergeist, Rosemary's Baby, and then all the Halloween movies were shown on Halloween. TMC might still have good horror movies, but idk, we stopped getting that channel a while ago which kind of made me sad.

Regarding TOT (trick-or-treaters) it's been holding steady here for the last several years at 80-90.

I agree & disagree, On the one hand, Halloween seems to be more and more like a prelude to Christmas. That day use to be Thanksgiving, but now Halloween seems to be the beginning of the Holiday season.

On the other hand, I guess it all depends where you look some places really seem to go all out for Halloween.

Totally agree on the lack of good horror flicks lately, on Halloween. Time was nearly every major cable movie channel had marathons now almost none do.

The thing I don't like about modern trick or treating is the early hours for kids (often during sunlight the whole time). It doesn't matter that much to me but if I were a kid I'd hate it. Half the fun of TOT was running around after dark in a monster costume; doing it in the daylight seems really weak to me.

Probably because the world is getting too scary all by itself.

We're getting older....

Halloween is a children's holiday...IMO.

It's only fun for adults if you're invited to a costume party...or if you're a Druid/Wiccan.

I think the reason may be as you get older your perspective changes.

Its your age I guess, but in the TV world, which to me this site is all about that is why I will never understand why we have chit chat and politics boards which seem to cause the most heated debates...its called sitcomsonline...but i digress....

TV is celebrating Halloween in recent years more than ever, this weekend there will be addams family marathons, munster mararthons, tons of old horror movie marathons on cable and independents, hallmark has been counting down to halloween for 3 weeks as well as ABC family the 12 days of halloween (a sequel to the success of the 25 days of christmas).....pumpkins and costumes are in the stores by early september and costumes for adults are more popular than ever, its become an excuse for women especially to self-exploit themselves, if anything the holiday has become sexual with the top 3 outfits for girls this year under 12 are 1- katy perry 2- a character from twilight 3- lady gaga....all not meant for children, so no one flame me as I do not agree with this at all.....but halloween is now about sex for adults and less about children.

Here in NY, the famous halloween village parade has been on TV for years.

I agree with the age thing. It has just become more of reason for my friends to throw a party and get drunk, no different from over the summer when we went to Put in Bay or when ever someone turns 21.

There are a few of my friends trick or treating this year, me and 4 others. We think we might be going as Jack, Janet, Chrissy, and the Ropers, because we really don't have money to go out and buy costumes, we're all saving up for different things. I was chosen to be Chrissy because I'm the only blonde. I guess my problem is that we're excited, but no one else is. Everyone else is just concerned about the party and I don't even think we're going to watch any horror movies which disappoints me.

And to TeeVeeCloset, I'm obviously not with you on the TV thing, but you are right about the costumes and how they have to be sexual. Its really sad how a fun holiday has to turn into a slut fest. My eight year old cousin had a hard time finding a decent costume.

I agree with the age thing. It has just become more of reason for my friends to throw a party and get drunk, no different from over the summer when we went to Put in Bay or when ever someone turns 21.

And to TeeVeeCloset, I'm obviously not with you on the TV thing, but you are right about the costumes and how they have to be sexual. Its really sad how a fun holiday has to turn into a slut fest. My eight year old cousin had a hard time finding a decent costume.

Whatever, but I don't know how you can't be with me about the tv thing, when everything I mentioned is fact, guess you have not been reading Pav's hard worked on blog everyday, there are tons of halloween themed marathons of sitcoms and movies, so how can you not be with me re: fact? And at this very moment one of the most popular TV shows on television for young people "GLEE" is doing a Rocky Horror show and the CD came out this week. Also at this very moment AMC is running all the Halloween movies followed by "Dracula 2000" and then "The Sea Creature" from 1956 and it isn't even the weekend yet!

As far as trick-or-treaters, we're lucky if we get four kids now. That's not like it used to be. I think most parents have Halloween parties. That's a good idea since there are so many nutjobs out there.

Whatever, but I don't know how you can't be with me about the tv thing, when everything I mentioned is fact, guess you have not been reading Pav's hard worked on blog everyday, there are tons of halloween themed marathons of sitcoms and movies, so how can you not be with me re: fact? And at this very moment one of the most popular TV shows on television for young people "GLEE" is doing a Rocky Horror show and the CD came out this week. Also at this very moment AMC is running all the Halloween movies followed by "Dracula 2000" and then "The Sea Creature" from 1956 and it isn't even the weekend yet!

Well let's allow for the fact that she might not get all the channels you get.

Secondly, sure some channels have "marathons" but many are filled with slice and dice crap, poor quality films in general OR quality films of recent vintage that have been shown ad nauseum throughout the year.

I yearn for more esoteric horror marathons, like TCM's that features overlooked gems from all eras. You don't see much of that.

Also, it's the "She Creature", not "Sea Creature" from 1956. ;)

I agree with the age thing. It has just become more of reason for my friends to throw a party and get drunk, no different from over the summer when we went to Put in Bay or when ever someone turns 21.



I'd say that's an accurate description of most holidays anymore, unfortunately. :(

In my neighborhood we rarely have trick or treaters cause theyre all at huanted houses and stuff

Probably because the world is getting too scary all by itself.

100 million percent agree with you (and everybody that has said something) The world is full of nutjobs (like Janice said) It will not suprise me if some kid dies because their candy was drugged. Most people only trick or treat at people's houses they know, which is really a shame. But that's neither here nor their.
Plus, we're electronically blessed now. Who needs to go out when you have TV, computers, iPods, iPads, and iPhones? Even 5 year olds. ohno:
And, yes. A lot of Halloween shows are coming on TV. Thursday, 'It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown' is coming on ABC and the 'Shrek' Halloween special is coming on NBC. A lot of shows that are on now are having a Halloween episode (Modern Family, Glee, The Office, ect.) I didn't know about The Munsters or Addams Family marathons, tho. Thanks for the heads up. :)

In my neighborhood we rarely have trick or treaters cause theyre all at huanted houses and stuff
Listen, Cactus Jack, you've been suspended for having a filthy, disrespectful mouth. Using an alias is against the rules. I can gladly add another week or two (or more) if you want to play games. Take your suspension like a man. If you think you're going to mess with me, you're crazier than I thought.

I remember I made a similar thread last year about me noticing the lack of trick-or-treaters in recent years.

For 3 years in a row, 2007-2009, I didn't get a single person at the door.


As said before many people are taking their kids to school/church parties and other public events. For the trick-or-treating I've noticed that most have stopped going to houses and they now go to businesses and stores.



For the adults Halloween is definitely not dead in NYC; many clubs, bars, restaurants.... have a lot of functions going on.

Please, no discussion on board issues. It's between Cactus Jack and the staff.

Thanks.

I'm not sure if the holiday is disappearing - I think it will always be a big hit with kids - as for adults I dunno - won't disappear very much if you're a parent. For me, its a nice reminder of days past - but I don't get into the holiday that much myself. Maybe a very mild costume every now and then. But I do love the NYC Halloween Parade.

like someone said on this thread halloween is supposed to be a precursor to thanksgiving and xmas.

as for why it isn't celebrated as much, as well as all those other reasons stated, i also think it could be to do with halloween not being a serious holiday or one people get too excited, ready for. with thanksgiving and xmas, there is like an almost, how i'd put it, cultural and national theme that americans look forward to and can relate to.

thanksgiving is about being thankful, giving thanks as an american (or canadian) and xmas is the celebration of christ, but also of winter, santa claus etc. halloween on the other hand is about ghouls, ghosts, monsters, etc. though there is that dark aspect about halloween, it is still particularly enticing to others, because all that stuff like witches, spells etc is exciting and interesting for those who enjoy halloween.

I agree on both counts. I really do think Halloween is slowly dropping off the map; or at least in the way I remember it. We'd get tons of kids coming to our doorstep 'til at least 9 PM back in the day (hell, I remember my own parents letting us trick-or-treat way after dark!), but now it seems we barely get 3 kids all day. I see no trick-or-treaters on the streets at dusk either. It's sad to me. I'm a big Halloween fan and I hate to see the love for it disappearing. I guess we're all just getting older :(

Most of my relatives quit celebrating Halloween when they're in their teens or while they're in their 50s, and one of my grandsons hates Halloween, all the relatives (and myself) care about is the costumes (and not just the sexier ones). And I would usually be buried (literally) for 24 hours in some empty field) during Halloween.