Do you celebrate Halloween?... and how?

This question came to me, cause i was reading some posts here about it and i never actually celebrated it. (which i think is a shame )

I guess here in Portugal, at least in the cities, is hard to do the "door to door" knock. Cause its basicaly all buildings with several levels, not actually "isolated" side by side houses like in other places in the world. ..And not so safe to let the kids wonder alone during the night (most parents would not permit that for little kids).

Since personally i never celebrated the thing (guess it's more like an north-american tradition than anything else), i never actually got any experience, and i feel quite isolated (in costume) to really try to. But i guess it would be fun.

So now i wonder.. what are your versions of halloween?

Greets

 

Only thing we do for Halloween is occasionally say "Happy Halloween" or something.

Pretty boring, but meh.

 

I see the american custom as yet another excuse to throw a horror/fancy-dress party.

The Swedish custom is otherwise to honor the dead. We light candles on our ancestors' graves.

 

But this "Sankt Martin"-thing Sabine talked about is somewhen in Novembe. 10th or 11th I think.

I think Germans started "celebrating" Halloween a few years ago. I can't remember anything like that from my kid time.
And we defenitly don't do the "door to door"-thing.
A few kids at my parents town tried it last yeear to collect candy. They didn't even wear costumes. My father gave them toothpaste

My guess is that Halloween is something the shops adopted from the americans and now behave like we always celebrated Halloween, selling costumes and stuff like that. Mainly because it's another way to make some money.

But like the swedish we visit the graves of our realtives and leave special decorations there on November 1st.

Nevertheless there will be many partys on monday.
A friend of mine is having a party so I'll go there but I won't dress up and it's defenitly not expected

 

Halloween is not a French tradition but it's getting there - shops probably see it as another occasion to sell more candies/costumes/rubbish
I know they do a knock knock knocking on your neighbours' door at my niece's, but otherwise, I don't know. I've never seen kids dressed as ghosts or vampires wandering in the streets at night with a candy bag in the hand.

 

here in italy halloween's just something commercial, for making money...everybody buy something but we just say happy halloween too. i'm going to have a little party (as always) with my friends, and we will all get costumes...i'll be a witch (classic, i know ). but i enjoy it...my father, on the contrary, hates halloween...

ps: happy halloween!

 

As far as European countries are concerned, it's quite clear that although Halloween is not what we see in most Hollywood flicks, it still is celebrated in one way or another. Greece on the other hand, is an altogether different kind of ball game... Here Halloween does not exist in any form, shape or colour, at least not anywhere near the 31st of October. What folks here do celebrate that involves dressing up is a complex orthodox thing that's located around the last days of February, which of course is not even remotely associated with the whole "trick or treat" ordeal... The matter of the fact is that "Halloween" is a term derived from "Hallowe'en", which is an old contraction of "All Hallow's Eve", so called as it is the day before All Saints day (formerly known as All Hallows). In many northern European pagan traditions the Holiday was a day of religious festivities until it was finally readjusted by Christian missionaries and brought to the measures of their Dogma. So it has become mostly a Holiday of Catholic Christians and is not historically connected with the Orthodox Dogma in any real ways. Therein lies the absence of Jack o' Lantern from the porches of Greek houses... which kinda sucks...

But Hey! since I ain't no orthodox... HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

 

wow! i thought in greece there was something halloween-ish...you like halloween don't you?

 

Yeah, sure I do... even though I've never really celebrated it...

 

Most interesting reading all your takes on Halloween.

Well I live in New York, and I can't remember not celebrating Halloween. I always did the whole door to door thing as a kid. Yeah free candy. I always find or make somekind of costume. This year I'm Pumkin man, with a real pumkin on my head. Haunted houses are always cool. The best one I went to was actually in Sweden though and not around Halloween. Anyways I have lots of great memories from previous Halloween. And every year there is always another adventure.

 

That sounds beautiful you know... I wish I was in NYC now. I'm quite sure it beats the crap out of Athens...

...But then again, it's not where you are, it's how you are. We always carry our shells with us, wherever we go, just like tortoises do...

Anyway, on a happier note... HaPpY hAlLoWeEn again!

 

we could celebrate halloween at a distance...
i'd like to see you as a pumpkin-man!post a photo!

 

Yeee, lets celebrate!

There, my lady, now I'm your pumpkin-man!

 

In the UK, Halloween is celebrated as it is in the States. Kids come round asking for sweets, parties, dressing up etc. Sadly my Dad never allowed me to go 'trick-or-treating' when I was a young lad, so I've never really experienced Halloween properly. But it's never too late I guess....let's just hope I don't get any toothpaste though (I bet the kids weren't too impressed with that ).

 

In the Netherlands, we don't celebrate Halloween. (Though there's probably some trick-or-treating in the larger cities). There are some Halloween parties, but that's about it.

Like the Germans, we have "Saint Marten" (Sint Maarten) on November the 11th. Children walk around with hand laterns, go from house to house and sing songs, and get candy for that.


Thinking about it, I think it is my turn to open the door and listen to horrible songs this year. Sigh.

 

i don't celebrate halloween ;D

 

I wear my Vader helmet and terrorise anyone who comes to the door

 

You the man SithLordDarthRichie! All right!

 

Tonight.... party

 

In Croatia we have something like halloween, but in January/Febuary/March (I dunno anymore... every year its a different date) and its called "ma?kare". Kids dress up and go from house to house for candy, money or eggs (its somewhat an old custom). It has something to do with scaring the devil away from houses and god knows from where else.

But for some reason, Halloween is starting to catch on even here. Don't know why... it isn't even our holiday.

Anyway, happy Halloween to all westerners.

 

so, what DID you do this Halloween?

 

No I don't.

I don't even know the date of it.

 

I actually was in the night life of Lisbon at the 31st October (due to a diferent reason) and I saw Halloween actually being celebrated for the first time . Many discoteques were decorated acordingly to the season and i did saw some ppl dressed as ghosts, mummys, claw like striped clothes, painted faces... near the and inside the discos. So thumbs up for that.

I saw you ppl talking about February/March, i know what that is, that we do celebrate, but definitly not halloween. Here it's called "Carnaval" (carnival) and it's basically mascarades, not as thematic as halloween. I did celebrate that and when a kid it's usual to see bad smell bombs, some little powder bombs, water ballons, and of course costumes and masks. The last one I did celebrate, was in 2003, and actually like a vamp.(would be great for halloween, and yes i do look a bit new and thineer ). The population does celebrate it, not full addition tough. And in lately years, I do complete hate those little cities that try to celebrate "brazilian" style, because it's a very lousy imitation. Brazilian carnaval? Go to Brazil. (I do like to watch it in live in tv, broadcasted to portugal, every year)