Halloween

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nycfan

nycfan

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I haven't lived anywhere that has trick-or-treaters come for some years now, and don't really anticipate that we'll have a lot of that in my new 55+ neighborhood, but for all I know all the grandkids will descend on us. Hopefully there will be an announcement or something.

Anyway, I've always enjoyed Halloween, and thought this article about the origins of various Halloween monsters and traditions was pretty interesting (though not super-detailed):

getpocket.com

The Origins of 25 Monsters, Ghosts, and Spooky Things

From myths to literature to giant squid, here’s how some of our favorite eerie creatures and legends got their start.
getpocket.com getpocket.com

"... The name “jack-o’-lantern” comes from an Irish myth, in which a man called Stingy Jack tricks the Devil and ends up condemned to walk the earth, unable to get into heaven or hell. According to the tale, the original lantern was a carved-out turnip Jack used to light his way as he wandered in the dark. When Irish immigrants brought this story to America, they discovered that pumpkins, native to their new home, made an even spookier candle-holder. ..."

Turnips would be a pain to carve into a lantern! LOL.
 
"... In Irish legends, the dullahan is a frightening being indeed: sitting upon a horse, the man rides with his head held high in his hand so that he may scan his surroundings. If that wasn’t creepy enough, don’t worry. The dullahan also carries a whip made out of a human spine. Be careful if he stops and says your name—you’ll die instantly. ..."

dullahan-irish-headless-horseman.jpg
 
nycfan said:
I haven't lived anywhere that has trick-or-treaters come for some years now, and don't really anticipate that we'll have a lot of that in my new 55+ neighborhood, but for all I know all the grandkids will descend on us. Hopefully there will be an announcement or something.

Anyway, I've always enjoyed Halloween, and thought this article about the origins of various Halloween monsters and traditions was pretty interesting (though not super-detailed):

getpocket.com

The Origins of 25 Monsters, Ghosts, and Spooky Things

From myths to literature to giant squid, here’s how some of our favorite eerie creatures and legends got their start.
getpocket.com getpocket.com

"... The name “jack-o’-lantern” comes from an Irish myth, in which a man called Stingy Jack tricks the Devil and ends up condemned to walk the earth, unable to get into heaven or hell. According to the tale, the original lantern was a carved-out turnip Jack used to light his way as he wandered in the dark. When Irish immigrants brought this story to America, they discovered that pumpkins, native to their new home, made an even spookier candle-holder. ..."

Turnips would be a pain to carve into a lantern! LOL.
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Thanks for the story. I didn’t know the origin of the jack-o-lantern. I agree. I can’t imagine trying to carve a turnip.
 
Halloween's been my favorite holiday/season since forever. Even tho I don't believe in ghosts, I love a good ghost story. And none better than The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. I try to read it every year leading up to Halloween. My son loves it, too. Well, the Disney/Bing Crosby version, at least.

The Tim Burton one's fun, too. Didn't care for the Fox series from a few years back, tho.
 
nycfan said:
I haven't lived anywhere that has trick-or-treaters come for some years now, and don't really anticipate that we'll have a lot of that in my new 55+ neighborhood, but for all I know all the grandkids will descend on us. Hopefully there will be an announcement or something.

Anyway, I've always enjoyed Halloween, and thought this article about the origins of various Halloween monsters and traditions was pretty interesting (though not super-detailed):

getpocket.com

The Origins of 25 Monsters, Ghosts, and Spooky Things

From myths to literature to giant squid, here’s how some of our favorite eerie creatures and legends got their start.
getpocket.com getpocket.com

"... The name “jack-o’-lantern” comes from an Irish myth, in which a man called Stingy Jack tricks the Devil and ends up condemned to walk the earth, unable to get into heaven or hell. According to the tale, the original lantern was a carved-out turnip Jack used to light his way as he wandered in the dark. When Irish immigrants brought this story to America, they discovered that pumpkins, native to their new home, made an even spookier candle-holder. ..."

Turnips would be a pain to carve into a lantern! LOL.
Click to expand...
The 55+ neighborhoods are supposed to have the full sized candy bars.
 
UNCatTech said:
The 55+ neighborhoods are supposed to have the full sized candy bars.
Click to expand...
We moved into our home in 2000. One of our neighbors was a classmate of mine in high school. At the time his children were young enough to go trick or treating. He came to the door with them our first Halloween in the neighborhood. They wanted candy and he was trick or treating for beer. Fortunately, I had some Heineken in the fridge. After that, I made sure I had some beer in the fridge on Halloween night.
 
NYCBlueBlood said:
Nobody warned me when I bought my new place during Covid that my block is the epicenter of Halloween for the neighborhood. Houses are already decorating their yards in preparation. Last year I bought 65lbs of candy... and still ran out.
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That’s AWESOME! We lived in a neighborhood that was the local epicenter for trick-or-treating….each house went ALL-OUT……the adults had more fun than the kids…….some neighbors were 65-plus……and going strong with no kids or grandkids nearby!

Who knows?

You might meet your 12th wife! And her pre-made family!
 
Main Street in Wake Forest is great on Halloween. A lot of the people that live in the old historic homes go all out decorating, and they get hundreds of trick-or-treaters. I always thought it looked like the street Laurie Strode and Michael Myers lived on in the original Halloween.
 
I'd be absolutely shocked if we had trick or treaters. I can only see one neighbor's house and the the lights of two others.
 
Zoo_View said:
That’s AWESOME! We lived in a neighborhood that was the local epicenter for trick-or-treating….each house went ALL-OUT……the adults had more fun than the kids…….some neighbors were 65-plus……and going strong with no kids or grandkids nearby!

Who knows?

You might meet your 12th wife! And her pre-made family!
Click to expand...
There's not much time for chit chat to meet my next future ex... kids come too fast for candy. But it is really cool to live here. There are probably 75-80 houses on my block (long block where houses connect on each side), plus a K-8 Catholic school across the street from me which a lot of kids use as a rallying point. Probably about 80% of houses decorate, with at least 50% of them going over the top. The police shut the street down to car traffic, so it's one big long party going up and down the street.
 
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