A query about Halloween decorations on houses

[haggardhouseelf]

It does seem a little odd to have your home all decked-out for Halloween, and then close-up shop on the actual holiday itself.

We decorated for Halloween, not "all-out" but we made some homemade decorations that were pretty cute we thought. We also bought a ton of candy, mostly chocolate. There are a lot of kids in our neighborhood so we thought we'd get a lot of kids in costume at the door.

Well, everybody went to the mall, it seems. The mall has a big thing every year so kids can collect candy in a well-lit dry space (while enticing shoppers to spend money). We got maybe three groups of kids. And one group wasn't even wearing costumes. I asked, "Hey, where is your costume?" and the kids were like, "Mom said it was too cold so we couldn't wear them."

And one cutie-pie little girl who was very clearly dressed up as the wizard from Fantasia... she insisted that she was a WITCH not a wizard. She was so cute.

Anyway - who knows what to do on Halloween? It's kind of become this weird half-assed holiday for some people, or a way overblown trying to compete with Christmas for others. And I think pretty much every parent dreads the amount of candy/sugar they are left to contend with, as well as all those sticky wrappers and trash. And the costumes really aren't what they used to be. I feel sort of depressed just thinking about what has become of Halloween.

[theatergypsy]

I'm in PA. There is a house next to mine that for years was owned by a young couple who decorated for Hallowe'en from cellar to attic. There were tombstones in the yard and spooky figures and lights all over. And on Hallowe'en night, there was no one home. Ever. Every Hallowe'en. The young couple had children, moved away, still decorate like crazy at their new house. (I don't know if they're home on the 31st or not).

They still own the house next to mine and have rented it out for almost 10 years. This year, there's a new tenant. She's a relative of the owners and she, too, decked out the house with pumpkins, and ghosts and all manner of orange lights. Until last night, and the lights were out, the car was gone, the house was dark.

I guess it's in the blood.

[MisfitBanana]

I'm guessing that the homeowners shut down the lights because they're not home, and they don't want trick-or-treaters ringing their bell and standing around when no one will answer. They're probably off at Halloween parties, and don't have anyone left at home to answer the door.