Halloween Discussion Forums, Costumes, Horror!

I love Halloween. It is probably my favorite holiday which may be because my birthday is two days later. I have noticed that Halloween falls on Tuesday this year and that kinda bums me out. I know that many will have their parties and such on the weekend previous but the kids won't go trick-or-treating until Tuesday.

I have always wished that they would make Halloween one of those rotating type holidays (like Easter or Labor Day) wherein a day is selected and it is always celebrated on that day. I want to start a national push to start celebrating Halloween on the last Saturday of October. That way you have the whole day to celebrate Halloween. Parties would be more likely, kids would be out of school on Saturday and off on Sunday so they won't get hyper excited on a school night and as Halloween trick-or-treating is a night time event the kids can have more fun with it and not worry about getting up early for school the next day after getting worn out the night before.

As for the economics of it I can see where many businesses would benefit if it was celebrated on Saturday. There would be more likelyhood that businesses would sponsor an event on Saturday than on Wednesday or Thursday and so on and the draw would be larger. More adults would probably get into the swing of things if they had the whole day to work things out instead of just the couple of hours after work that they spend getting the kids ready all the while dreading work the next day. With more adults involved more Halloween type items would be sold helping out the economics of it. More parties would be planned either for adults or kids meaning more costumes and Halloween related items sold etc.. If you think about it you can come up with hundreds if not thousands of ways that having Halloween celebrated on a non work/school day (for most) would help out the business of Halloween and as everyone knows if more money can be made from it, it is more to happen.

Now I know there are diehards out there that want it to be celebrated on the 31st. Well for them the deal is that officially Halloween is on the 31st but it has just become commonplace to celebrate it on the last Saturday of the month. Therefore if they want to do something on the 31st they can without being looked at sideways.

The day itself has already been corrupted and chosen as the likely day that was celebrated in the past as the Celtic New year (their calendar differs from source to source) when those that died the previous year came back to haunt and/or possess the living. So truly there is no hard fast rule that it is actually our October 31st, especially when you throw in things like leap year.

As it is many people do celebrate on the last weekend of the month with their parties and such. The biggest hurdle I think is getting it to be commonplace that the kids go trick-or-treating on that Saturday night and forego trick-or-treating on Halloween if it is on another day and just get the feeling going that it is okay to celebrate it on the last Saturday. Also the times that October 31st actually does fall on Saturday will make it that much more special.

Most people love Halloween and consider it the most fun holiday. It is second only to Christmas for the sale of decorations and related items. Having it celebrated on Saturday where everyone can enjoy it the whole day long, and as it is generally a night time holiday, not have to worry about going to work the next day after partying or trotting the kids around the neighborhood all night not to mention dealing with their sleepless sugar high and giving them a chance to burn it off the next day. That Sunday can be spent dealing with the candy and cleaning up and putting costumes away and...

So if you think this is a good idea go ahead and post a reply and give some ideas on what you think are the pros and cons of it and how to get the ball rolling like get the idea in the local press, get all your friends in on it, start putting up posts on the net that this is how it is gonna be (you know the post or chain email that says I heard from someone that heard that we are now expected to trick or treat and celebrate on the last Saturday of the month - I bet people will like the idea and take to it), anything you can think of.

I also believe that The fourth of July should be a two day holiday, the 4th and the day after, but thats another story. Anyway good luck to all and let me know what you think and have a HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

You make many valid points, but I consider myself a loyal Halloweenist; while I indeed prefer it on a weekend, I celebrate Halloween any day of the week.
In a way, I celebrate it 365 days a year . . .

Our schools around here are out for fall break oct.28-nov.6th.....and so am I......pretty cool.......my only concern is people will be traveling around here and we may not get such a good turn out for my yard maze.http://community.webtv.net/boswell7/doc0

I just don't think it would be the same, though you did point out that the 31st would still be official Halloween (really it was to be the eve before All Hallows, otherwise the name doesn't even work!)

I've just always thought the day after Halloween should be a school holiday. I mean, banks and post office are closed on Columbus day, but no one stops anything for Halloween? I think that's crazy.

As many of you may know from previous posts, I went to a Catholic grammar school. For Catholics, November 1st is All Saint's Day, so I never had to go to school. These days, if I have early commitments on November 1st, I just suffer through them. Having a good Halloween is SO much more important!

That fall break thing is shredding though! We should ALL have a fall break.

It seems to fall on a weekend or a Friday fairly often. And when it doesn't, I like the feeling of being inconvenienced by things, of wrapping up work and commitments and getting freed up so I can get out to wherever and have fun.

In other words, I like the fact that the holiday happens on whatever day the calendar says is the 31st, and I enjoy, to a degree, the inconvenience of it falling on a weekday. It sort of adds a sense of urgency. I remember going to elementary school on Halloween (back then, everyone used to come to school dressed up!) and being so excited and anxious. It was fun.

thislazylife i jhave to agree with you i too sorta [color=red][/color][size=24][/size]do halloween all year round i really like halloween. i like it when we have to write and do oral reports on our fav. holiday, hallwoeen , true down to the core.


a lot of my friends say that my heart is twister, it twistes your emotions

add an (a) inbetween is and twister!

Yeah on another site I was discussing it and think that having November 1st as a holiday would be better. I have been talking to people quite a bit about the whole idea and it ranks about 50/50 for celebrating on the last Saturday or leaving it be. Actually I wasn't saying that the celebration on the 31st should be done away with only that it become acceptable, even common, that people celebrate on the last Saturday of the month (maybe as well as the 31st -hee hee I'm all for an all week Halloween).

Most that have responded against celebrating it on the last Saturday go on to admit that they usually have their parties and such then anyway but want to keep Halloween on the 31st. Once again I am not suggesting moving the official date of Halloween only having it become commonplace to see the kids trick-or-treating on the last Saturday and normal and acceptable to have parties then as well. In all it really comes down to the kids trick-or-treating. As so many have mentioned they go ahead and celebrate on the last Saturday with their parties because it is hard to get many party goers on Tuesday night but they are against the children having the same leeway. I am sure there are many an elementary school aged kid that would like to go around the whole community and see all the decorations and stuff that everyone worked hard on but instead they get told "okay once up and down the block and that's it" because the next day is a school/work day. Therefore I find it funny that many that say no way to celebrating it on the last Saturday also go on to admit that they themselves are doing just that but just don't change the trick-or-treating which is in essence the kid's Halloween party.

The solution would be to have November 1st made a holiday. As New Year's Day is the holiday for the New Year's Eve celebration then Nov. 1st would be the holiday for Halloween (and it desrves a holiday being the second most celebrated holiday other than Christmas - according to sales of holiday related items). Isn't it all hallows eve? Therefore the holiday could be hallows day if that makes sense. The problem is that getting it made a holiday requires government involvement whereas the last Saturday celebration thing could start grass roots and grow. If someone can put together something that would cause government to declare the 1st a holiday then I am all for it but the last Saturday thing was a way to get it going without such a declaration and having to deal with all that government red tape trying to get it done.

Just some thoughts. I will enjoy Halloween either way but as many are claiming in heir posts around the web it just seems not as many are into Halloween anymore and I was just brainstorming an idea to possibly solve that. Thanks for the replies and thoughts on it.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!!!

Yes, dsgnz! We should celebrate Halloweekend! Genius!

I like it being Oct 31st...Cause October is my favorite month, and it feels like it is a tribute to the entire month for it to be the last day of the month.

Everyone seems to celebrate it whenever they want to anyway. Like I always do my Halloween party the Saturday before Halloween anyway, because it goes on all night...it is actually has become a tradition for us to really celebrate it all weekend long.

All day Friday I make all the food, I start at the beginning of the week on decorating for it...then when the party is here I have everything ready to go, to have fun, and then it is cool that TOT in my town is actual Halloween night, because it has fallen on a Saturday when we did our party once, we took all the kids in a group which was fun too, but it is more fun to have everyone here to do party stuff, and then go TOT on another night.

I agree Sppoky. Since Halloween is on a Tuesday this year, we can celebrate all weekend, maybe hit up a haunted house on Monday, then scare TOT on Tuesday.
It's like a four day weekend.

I vote to leave Halloween on the 31st. Guess I'm just a purist. I agree with Spooky, it just caps off the month of October.

I do like the "idea" of having a whole weekend devoted to Halloween but it's just that the 31st is something you look forward to all year. So I am in the leave it be category.