# How has halloween gone from scary to horror? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 20, 2023, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-halloween-gone-from-scary-to-horror/990433 "2023-09-20T19:47:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2023, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-halloween-gone-from-scary-to-horror/990433/41 "2023-10-23T18:45:32Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > some people remembered that the original holiday (holy day) was All Saints Day (aka All Hallows) and the day before All Saints was All Souls Day All Souls’ Day is actually Nov 2, the day after All Saints’ ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2023, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-halloween-gone-from-scary-to-horror/990433/42 "2023-10-23T21:07:25Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > All Souls’ Day is actually Nov 2, the day after All Saints’ oh yeah, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2023, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-halloween-gone-from-scary-to-horror/990433/43 "2023-10-23T22:15:29Z")
Yeah, there’s a guy in our neighborhood whose lawn is covered with (plastic) rotting, severed, bloody human limbs. WTF?? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2023, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-halloween-gone-from-scary-to-horror/990433/44 "2023-10-24T11:58:00Z")
> [@Thing.Fish](#): > > WTF? Some people aren’t religious, but are spiritual. ---
**Author:** ![teelabrown](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teelabrown/32/8412_2.png) [@teelabrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teelabrown)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2023, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-halloween-gone-from-scary-to-horror/990433/45 "2023-10-24T13:19:15Z")
> [@Thing.Fish](#): > > Yeah, there’s a guy in our neighborhood whose lawn is covered with (plastic) rotting, severed, bloody human limbs. WTF?? Yes, I’ve seen a lawn similarly decorated, including a bloody headless and limbless human torso nailed to a fence, near here. It’s going too far, in my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2023, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-halloween-gone-from-scary-to-horror/990433/46 "2023-10-24T14:05:27Z")
> [@Thing.Fish](#): > > lawn is covered with (plastic) rotting, severed, bloody human limbs. Suburban sky burial? ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2023, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-halloween-gone-from-scary-to-horror/990433/47 "2023-10-24T14:46:04Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > But I have seen both Sexy Witch and Sexy Maid, so… I think the “women’s sexy costume” thing is somewhat overdone at this point. e.g. I just searched for “women’s vampire costume” and the vast majority are the same, or less, revealing than typical party clothes IMO. Cosplay is much more sexualized, but that’s a whole different topic. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-halloween-gone-from-scary-to-horror/990433/48 "2023-10-25T18:27:30Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > I think the “women’s sexy costume” thing is somewhat overdone at this point. It’s not so much that the outfits are particularly more revealing, it’s that most costumes for women are specifically “sexy\_\_\_\_”. There doesn’t seem to be a normal version. That, and certain people will act totally out of character for themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-halloween-gone-from-scary-to-horror/990433/49 "2023-10-25T18:33:28Z")
> [@Thing.Fish](#): > > Yeah, there’s a guy in our neighborhood whose lawn is covered with (plastic) rotting, severed, bloody human limbs. WTF?? What, you don’t remember the days when there were _real_ severed heads and body parts displayed for children to see, and it wasn’t even Halloween? Man, time have changed. Yes, some things are too intense for four-year olds. Our culture is in a phase of testing those limits again. We live in an age where I’ve seen “fuck” on t-shirts and a bumper sticker “I like MILFs”, but then there are “can’t say gay” laws. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-halloween-gone-from-scary-to-horror/990433/50 "2023-10-25T18:59:37Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > It’s not so much that the outfits are particularly more revealing, it’s that most costumes for women are specifically “sexy\_\_\_\_”. There doesn’t seem to be a normal version. That’s what I think is an exaggeration. e.g. I’ve just searched for various women’s costumes: witch, vampire, spider, skeleton\* For all of these, the first page of google results are about 2/3rds just representing the thing and pretty conservative IMO. The remaining 1/3 I guess are sexualized to one degree or another but presumably they exist because some women choose to wear that, and that’s fine of course. But clearly there are plenty of non-sexy options. \* Interestingly, I also did a generic search for “Women’s _Halloween_ costume” and that came back with the highest proportion of sex-ish outfits. Go figure. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-halloween-gone-from-scary-to-horror/990433/51 "2023-10-25T19:10:22Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > > [@solost](#): > > > > What search terms are you using? > > None. I am a vine reviewer and get a list of things they’d like me to review. > > [https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CBZQQD11](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CBZQQD11) > [https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CC2X7XDV](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CC2X7XDV) > > True there are still 'scary" items, but I am not liking this trend. So give them bad reviews. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-halloween-gone-from-scary-to-horror/990433/52 "2023-10-25T19:31:59Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > So give them bad reviews. Well, I try not to give reviews to stuff I havent actually owned and tested. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2023, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-halloween-gone-from-scary-to-horror/990433/53 "2023-10-27T19:35:02Z")
Finger-wagging in a Wall St. Journal op-ed today, calling out Halloween as an “industrial cartoon death cult”. “Forgive my Puritan sensibility, but I find the whole spectacle ugly and offensive and vaguely sinister. What sort of “holiday” deliberately terrifies children with images of murder and ruin and treats torture and death as a joke?” Won’t _someone_ think of the children? 😟 😭 Actually, most kids have a relaxed view of scary Halloween stuff compared to pearl-clutching hyper-religious adults. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2023, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-halloween-gone-from-scary-to-horror/990433/54 "2023-10-29T14:50:31Z")
[![](https://i.imgur.com/Jmk9ucs.jpg) ](https://i.imgur.com/Jmk9ucs.jpg) At a brewery last night. For just a second I forgot about Halloween. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-halloween-gone-from-scary-to-horror/990433.md?page=2)