Life is sometimes sort of okay because...

[JayzusB.Christ]

We always used to burn an effigy of a witch on the Halloween bonfire, in the same way you do with Guy Fawkes. Don't know if anyone does that any more.  It was always worth watching her sizzle and melt, even if it was a practice clearly derived from medieval campaigns of violence against women. Still, though, eh?

[maryanddavid]

Must be an east west thing JBC, no bonfires on this side.
Bonfires night is in June!
  When we were kids it was calling to houses in the area and you might get a bit of cash or fruit, but some of the calling contingent would have to have some form of party piece to preform!   
If any household gave nothing of were judged stingy they would endure endless ringing doorbells etc for the night.
Turnips were carved, pumpkins have nearly totally taken over, but its still common enough to see them carver.

[M.I.K.]

Turnip lanterns, 'guising', (with party pieces required depending on which house you visited), and dooking for apples aroond these pairts, where it's still just as popular as it always was, but pumpkins do proliferate.

I noticed something a bit weird a couple of years ago when I did an image search for "Scottish Hallowe'en". Up popped loads of post/greetings cards from a hundred years ago or so covered in bagpipes and thistles and folk in kilts taking part in Hallowe'en activities, but with pumpkins all over the place instead of turnips. I can only assume the cards are American and at that point in time the celtic origins of the day were more widely known than they seem to be these days.

[Dandontdare]

I noticed something a bit weird a couple of years ago when I did an image search for "Scottish Hallowe'en". Up popped loads of post/greetings cards from a hundred years ago or so covered in bagpipes and thistles and folk in kilts taking part in Hallowe'en activities, but with pumpkins all over the place instead of turnips.

indeed, just looked at those - why would a chap in a kilt be jumping over a pig with a pitchfork in his hand? (Strange folk the scotch  )

In our neighbourhood it's all flats so very little trick or treating - some of the parents organise a spooky parade for all the little kids though, who dress up and parade around the neighbourhood with lanterns and torches. This year, they seemed to have some activities in the community garden behind our flats so I put on my skull mask and cloak from a party last year, and lurked menacingly on my balcony. One of the grown ups spotted me and got all the kids to start shouting at me pantomime style. I'd duck down and then rise back up slowly and they'd all shout again. I love Halloween!

[Hawkmumbler]

Haha, thats bloody marvelous DDD! 

A trend i've noticed is with the increasing commercialization of Christmas, Halloween has started to make a comeback and is much more home grown and long may that continue.

[Proudhuff]

DDD, just dont do it the rest of the year 

[I, Cosh]

So has Halloween overtaken Guy Fawkes' night in terms of popularity in the UK?  While I prefer the idea of Halloween (a pagan festival that Christianity couldn't get rid of!) Bonfire Night is kind of cool too (partly thanks to Alan Moore and David Lloyd).

Hard for me to say as I don't have kids (or live in the UK) but for sure Halloween as something which adults do seems to have exploded in the last 10 years or so.

Yeah even as a kid I found fireworks boring. You go to the Glasgow Green one and its cold, mobbed, pricey and then you have to fight passed a huge mob to try and get home. Pure pish!

There's maybe a difference between growing up in the middle of nowhere compared to the big city. Organised firework displays weren't really a thing but collecting stuff for the bonfire in the park was a major activity for all country youths from mid-September onwards.

Come the big day, we'd toss a couple of stray council officials on the top before lighting it. The whole village would dance naked around it using sparklers as light sabres while people's dad's set off rockets from milk bottles and we all made hopeless attempts to bake potatoes in the embers.

[Satanist]

Actually as a kid growing up in the schemes we would break into the boarded up houses and rip out all the internal doors, cupboards, etc and build our own. The best one was built around a telegraph pole if I remember right. 

[I, Cosh]

Wouldn't it have been easier just to burn down the house?

[The Enigmatic Dr X]

I remember once throwing a dessicated Christmas tree onto a fire. We found it, dried out, in some woods where it had been dumped.

Did you know that a dried out fir tree explodes and sents flaming needles through the air? It was like Halo, only with the combined scent of pine and fear.

[I, Cosh]

Come the big day, we'd toss a couple of stray council officials on the top before lighting it. The whole village would dance naked around it using sparklers as light sabres while people's dad's set off rockets from milk bottles and we all made hopeless attempts to bake potatoes in the embers.

Can't believe I forgot the most important Guy Fawkes tradition of all. Every year my father would loudly complain that we shouldn't be celebrating him being caught.

[Satanist]

Wouldn't it have been easier just to burn down the house?

Funnily enough the reason they were all boarded up was the fact that a Junkie fell asleep and burned the roof off all the flats.

[JayzusB.Christ]

Must be an east west thing JBC, no bonfires on this side.
Bonfires night is in June!

Well I never. You learn something new every day!  What's the occasion in June, so?

I have heard of the idea of having to do a performance as part of the Trick-or-Treat thing; though it died out a long time ago in this part of the country.  We used to always carve turnips; pumpkins weren't too readily available back then.
When we got too old for the trick-or-treating, sadly, Halloween involved things like making petrol bombs, throwing eggs at houses, and making alarmingly loud bangers out of caps and firelighters.

But I've really appreciated how big it's become for adults in recent years.  Streets full of outrageous costumes and general fun, sexiness and merriment.  Long may it last.

[Theblazeuk]

I love Halloween. It is a night for watching horror movies whilst you get your make-up on, answering the door to the little ones trick or treating (and their excitement is amazing, I'll never forget the wee lad 2 years ago who was in tears because he couldn't keep up with his friends as they ran down the street so I gave him extra sweets and told him how terrifying his fangs were, or the tiny tiny girl who pushed her way through her older companions as they took handfuls of sweets to solemnly hand me a chocolate bar from her bucket) - and then hopefully heading off out around 9-10ish for some silliness around other drunkards in costumes.

[Hawkmumbler]

In a day of general lows and habitual drinking over kaiju films, I got a response from a job interview and am now a trainee barista. That right, i'm the stereotypical millennial ex-college student you all hear about!