Halloween Pearl-clutching

[ThisOlGirl]

I wasn't a fundie-watcher at this time last year, so I've been anticipating many snark-worthy blog posts about Halloween, aka Satan's birthday (or however the fundies like to refer to it). I checked the usual suspects (PaZuZu, GC Kelly, Ken-dull), but nothing just yet. Who should I be watching for some really good Halloween hysteria? Or do the fundies like to save all their energy for all the crying they'll surely be doing about "The War on Christmas"?

[GeoBQn]

I recommend a documentary called "Hell House." That's where conservative churches try to have Christian alternatives to haunted houses, with each room showing what happens to young people who eschew Jesus for things like rock music and drugs. The tour through the Hell House usually ends with some church officials trying to get the visitors to become Christians. The documentary looks at one long-running Hell House, from planning sessions all the way through show time. It's pretty funny to see a bunch of aspiring young actresses clamoring to play "Abortion Girl."

[Austin]

It is getting to be that time of the year, isn't it :D

[CelticGoddess]

I wasn't a fundie-watcher at this time last year, so I've been anticipating many snark-worthy blog posts about Halloween, aka Satan's birthday (or however the fundies like to refer to it). I checked the usual suspects (PaZuZu, GC Kelly, Ken-dull), but nothing just yet. Who should I be watching for some really good Halloween hysteria? Or do the fundies like to save all their energy for all the crying they'll surely be doing about "The War on Christmas"?

Last year, there was a crazy blog post about halloween that had me rolling. It was featured here. I remember Samhain being mentioned in the post which led me to dressing in Celtic garb and carrying a small pumpkin with a candle in it. I can't remember who it was but it was good.

Generation cedar blog has a screed against halloween. It's not new. But, it's a start.

[gardenvarietycitizen]

Hell House is one fundie response to Halloween. Another is to ignore Halloween entirely (well, supposedly) and celebrate Reformation Day instead, in celebration of Luther.

Some churches that do the Reformation Day thing will have the kids dress in Puritan costumes though, so... not quite all the way gone.

If you like Hell House, there's an episode about organizing a Hell House that gets played on This American Life (the radio show) around this time of year. Back episodes are archived (just search on This American Life, you should be able to find it).

[WanderingStar]

Where can I watch Hell House? Would I have to rent it or can I find it on YouTube?

[The Archivist]

I am really hoping for a Candy-licious Halloween post. I believe she's done them in the past, mentioning how they would hand out Chick tracts to trick-or-treaters (though I believe they handed out candy along with, so at least it wasn't completely evil.)

I totally want to watch Hell House too.

[AnnoDomini]

When my family lived in the suburbs, we turned our lights off on Halloween night, then when that didn't work and trick-or-treaters kept coming to our door, we put up a sign explaining we didn't celebrate the holiday, and something about Hell, as I recall. We never celebrated Halloween or bothered with 'Harvest Festivals' except one year when we were staying with a family in Florida. The father was a pastor whose church put on a Harvest Festival so taking part required no 'bothering' on the part of my parents so we went. That remains a wonderful memory.

Also, my family celebrated Oct 31 as the day we moved into our new house that (at the time) was roomy and big enough for all of us. There was also some talk of Reformation Day.

Hell Houses are sick.

[The Archivist]

God I love Halloween.

[GeoBQn]

I rented Hell House through Netflix, and it looks like it's on YouTube in parts. It's from 2001.

[WanderingStar]

I rented Hell House through Netflix, and it looks like it's on YouTube in parts. It's from 2001.

Cool, thanks.

I love Halloween too! My favorite holiday of all time is Christmas but Halloween has always been a VERY close second. I'd been celebrating it since I was about two years old. My parents would usually take me to a different neighborhood to go trick or treating though since our neighborhood doesn't really get as much into Halloween...doesn't have too many fundies, just quite a few older people that can't stay up to hand out candy. But there was this one family that had all these signs in their yard about how Halloween is the devil's holiday...and the family would turn their porch light off and watch all the trick or treating "heathens" from the window.

I never did understand why fundies are so against Halloween. I researched the holiday once when I was in elementary and found out it was started by Catholics as the night before All Saints Day where they would dress up as things like witches and goblins to mock the evil forces surrounding them to show that they don't fear Satan. If you ask me, that seems even more Christian in practice than what Christmas has become today! But then it hit me...it was started by Catholics. No wonder they don't like it. :P

[Guest Anonymous]

Halloween to me was about dressing up, running around my neighborhood getting as much candy as I could. Now that i'm a parent, it's the same way with my kid..we don't get that deep when it comes to halloween. To me, it's just a fun night!

[Want More Babies]

Lisa Metzger did a blog post last year on Halloween where she interviewed two ex "witches". It was her October 18, 2010 post. I think there is some imagination on their part.

[longskirtlotsakids]

It's not Halloween.

It's Hallelujah-Ween!

[O Latin]

They seem to get the most riled up when Halloween falls on a Sunday, which happened last year.

When I was a kid, my church had a plain old Halloween party. I don't know if they actually called it that, but that's how we referred to it (i.e. "Are you going to the Halloween party at church?"). We wore costumes and played school carnival type games and often, depending on how organized the youth group was that year, we had a legit "haunted house" where you stuck your hand in bowls of goo (in the dark, so you couldn't see what it was) and got chased by some teenager wearing a mask. And I think cake was involved. It was tons of fun. I think they've made it more into a "Harvest Festival" type thing now, but I think that might've had more to do with fog machines setting off the fire alarm than with objections to Halloween. In high school, when Halloween landed on a Sunday my choir director told us we could wear costumes to rehearsal if we wanted, and a couple years later, when it was on Tuesday, my mom and I "dressed up" (meaning we wore enormous silly hats) to direct the kids' choir. Actually, now that I think about it, most of my Halloween memories happened at church.

As an adult, I could take or leave Halloween. Dressing up would be fun if I had anywhere to go, which I don't. And unless it falls on a Friday or Saturday, I'm usually to busy with homework to go out and do anything anyway. I do love to read the anti-Halloween letters to the editor of the local paper. Those are always funny.

[WanderingStar]

As an adult, I could take or leave Halloween. Dressing up would be fun if I had anywhere to go, which I don't.

Same here. I'm too old for trick-or-treating, have no kids to take trick-or-treating (except maybe my niece, but she lives too far away from me), and would do a Halloween party but most of my friends also live far away from me. I miss putting on fun costumes :( there's always the many horror movies on TV and available online at least!

[GeoBQn]

I'm just not a fan of holidays where you are expected to find a party, like Halloween or New Years. Give me pajamas, hot chocolate, and a Twilight Zone marathon, and I'm happy.

I went to an Orthodox Hebrew school where they lightly encouraged kids not to celebrate Halloween, but Purim makes up for it. I'm actually surprised America never co-opted Purim--it's a holiday where you are COMMANDED to drink!

[emmiedahl]

We do Halloween and Purim in my family. You can repurpose costumes and get twice the candy! I carry a drink with me while I take my kids trick-or-treating, so it is very similar to Purim.

[zeebaneighba]

I love Halloween! Our street goes kind of overboard on the decorating, and it's a big attraction. We had over 4000 (yes, four THOUSAND) trick or treaters last year. It's insane, but it's a blast! I'm kind of surprised there aren't objections to the whole thing -- I live in a very conservative state. The only complaints I've heard of are from the noise and the crowds. Our street and a few others are closed off on Halloween, but there is a lot of spillover to the surrounding neighborhood. I haven't heard any objections on religious grounds, though.

[GeoBQn]

King of the Hill had a great episode where Hank clashes with a fundamentalist Christian who wants to get Halloween cancelled. She sets up a "Hallelujah House" where children watch skits like the following:

[Family sits down to dinner.]

Dad: Somebody get grandpa!

[Man in a gorilla costume sits at the table, making monkey noises.]

Fundie Woman: THAT's your grandpa?

Dad: Haven't you heard? We're all descended from monkeys.

[Gorilla man takes a baby doll from a high chair and starts chewing on it.]

Mom: Stop him! He's eating the baby!

Dad: We can't. It's against the law to teach creationism.

[darkplumaged]

There was an SAHD blogger named Lacy who had some super-silly posts about teh eeeevil of Halloween (and Christmas), but her blog appears to be defunct.

My "favorite" fundie Halloween post is the one in which the Servens confront "pictures of death" (i.e., Halloween decorations) in a hotel lobby. servenclan.blogspot.com/2005/11/were-goin-to-san-antonio.html

[doe]

There was an SAHD blogger named Lacy who had some super-silly posts about teh eeeevil of Halloween (and Christmas), but her blog appears to be defunct.

My "favorite" fundie Halloween post is the one in which the Servens confront "pictures of death" (i.e., Halloween decorations) in a hotel lobby. servenclan.blogspot.com/2005/11/were-goin-to-san-antonio.html

Lacy has a brand new blog and it's pretty boring so far, although she did post a video of Michael Pearl talking about headcoverings.

[margiebargie]

There was an SAHD blogger named Lacy who had some super-silly posts about teh eeeevil of Halloween (and Christmas), but her blog appears to be defunct.

My "favorite" fundie Halloween post is the one in which the Servens confront "pictures of death" (i.e., Halloween decorations) in a hotel lobby. servenclan.blogspot.com/2005/11/were-goin-to-san-antonio.html

Oh yeah. I remember that one. I think Papa Serven had such a hissy the hotel took the decorations down. Lol.

[Bella99]

Anyone who doesn't like Halloween is just a killjoy - kids, costumes and candy - can't beat that trifecta! Our neighborhood does Halloween. We have a party, several of our neighbors have truly amazing decorations (darn you cute young couple for moving away so she could do her medical residency and taking the electric chair with you!), and a whole group of maybe 10 kids plus trailing parents get together to "pillage the village".

The best lazy prank I have seen so far was when my neighbor hid one of his walkie talkies on his porch while taking the other with us while his little girl was pillaging with the mob. Heehee, "Why are you at my hooouuuuuse?"

For the first time in ages, Her Maj wants to be something besides a cat. The Amazon Princess Costume complete with fighting staff is in the planning stages! :dance: I may have to break my own rule about posting pics of her for this one.

[brashchick]

I love Halloween. There has always just been something so wonderful in the autumn air that just gets under my skin and makes be happy. When my kids were little, our Catholic school (Our Lady of Solace in the Bronx for any of you who watched Regis Philbin) did a great Halloween Carnival and there were no classes that day. That is among my best memories of their childhood. This year, my partner and I are going to Asheville because there is an annual public Samhain ritual.

As for fundies and their issues with Halloween, ugh, phooey. I just don't have the energy to bother with them.