# So Halloween is Halloween unless it's Sunday? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 15, 2004, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-halloween-is-halloween-unless-its-sunday/269456 "2004-10-15T21:02:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2004, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-halloween-is-halloween-unless-its-sunday/269456/1 "2004-10-15T21:02:11Z")
Some parents will not let their kids go trick or treating on Halloween this year because it’s a Sunday. [http://apnews.myway.com/article/20041015/D85O199O4.html](http://apnews.myway.com/article/20041015/D85O199O4.html) I vaguely remember this happening when I was a child, and some folks in the neighborhood were quite adamant about not handing out candy. We have a simple rule with my kids, “No Porch Light, No Candy.” We only hit those houses with lit porch lights. If you have religious objections to ToT on a Sunday, fine, don’t go. But don’t try to move it a day. There’s plenty of people (like me) who don’t care one way or the other what day Halloween falls on. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2004, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-halloween-is-halloween-unless-its-sunday/269456/2 "2004-10-15T21:33:18Z")
If I were still young enough to go trick or treating, I’d be behind this all the way. Sunday comes, you go out trick or treating. Then, on Monday, you go out again and hit all the houses that didn’t want to do it on Sunday. On second thought, though, the sort of people who would refuse to celebrate Halloween on a Sunday are probably the same bastards who gave out pennies instead of candy. Hmm. Well, that’s what the eggs are for. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2004, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-halloween-is-halloween-unless-its-sunday/269456/3 "2004-10-15T21:37:54Z")
Good lord…you still have trick or treat on Halloween night?! I don’t think my hometown has done it on the 31st for at least 15 years. It’s usually the Wednesday or Thursday night before Halloween. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2004, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-halloween-is-halloween-unless-its-sunday/269456/4 "2004-10-15T21:42:27Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Good lord…you still have trick or treat on Halloween night?! I don’t think my hometown has done it on the 31st for at least 15 years. It’s usually the Wednesday or Thursday night before Halloween. Hmm, in Kansas City they trick-or-treat on the 29th. ---
**Author:** ![Ilsa\_Lund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a6a055/32.png) [@Ilsa\_Lund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ilsa_Lund)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2004, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-halloween-is-halloween-unless-its-sunday/269456/5 "2004-10-15T21:47:09Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > Hmm, in Kansas City they trick-or-treat on the 29th. And they say “Everything’s Up To Date In Kansas City!” Pah! ---
**Author:** ![Stuffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@Stuffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stuffy)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2004, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-halloween-is-halloween-unless-its-sunday/269456/6 "2004-10-15T21:47:46Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > If I were still young enough to go trick or treating, I’d be behind this all the way. Sunday comes, you go out trick or treating. Then, on Monday, you go out again and hit all the houses that didn’t want to do it on Sunday. I did precisely that one year. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2004, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-halloween-is-halloween-unless-its-sunday/269456/7 "2004-10-15T21:48:39Z")
Heathens! ---
**Author:** ![Strainger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strainger/32/244_2.png) [@Strainger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strainger)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2004, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-halloween-is-halloween-unless-its-sunday/269456/8 "2004-10-15T22:00:18Z")
You know, if any kids come by my house trick-or-treating on Saturday or Monday night, said rugrats are getting empty beer cans and condom wrappers. Not that they’ll get much from me on Sunday either–this year anyway. Kenny Wayne Shepherd is going to be here that night. ---
**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2004, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-halloween-is-halloween-unless-its-sunday/269456/9 "2004-10-15T22:01:20Z")
What complete and utter idiots those people mentioned in the OP’s link are. Just morons, the lot of 'em. If you, for whatever misguided religious reasons you may have, don’t wish to celebrate Halloween, then good for you. Have the fuck at it, or not, as the case may be. If, as a rule, you _do_ celebrate Halloween and you’re getting all up in arms because some want to trick or treat \ on the day it falls on you, sir or madam, are a fucking idiot. > [@](#): > > “You just don’t do it on Sunday,” said Sandra Hulsey of Greenville, Ga. “That’s Christ’s day. You go to church on Sunday, you don’t go out and celebrate the devil. That’ll confuse a child.” Sandra Hulsey of Greenville, Ga, here’s your sign, ya moron. ---
**Author:** ![CRich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@CRich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CRich)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2004, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-halloween-is-halloween-unless-its-sunday/269456/10 "2004-10-15T22:07:04Z")
I’ve never heard of anyone trick-or-treating on the 29th before & I’ve lived here most of my life. It’s always been on Halloween night, this year same as always. I haven’t heard anyone fussing about it being on a Sunday yet, either. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2004, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-halloween-is-halloween-unless-its-sunday/269456/11 "2004-10-15T22:35:56Z")
AFAIK most people who have trouble with trick-or-treating as a Sabbath activity figure out something else to do and keep the kids happy–something in the way of a private event. My church, for example, is holding a huge trunk-or-treat on the 30th; everyone drives to a parking lot, decorates their open trunk in a suitably scary manner, and the costumed kids go from car to car gathering as much loot as they can stagger with. Games and prizes too! Those who have no problem with trick-or-treating on a Sunday can then do so if they want to, while the stricter families stay at home munching candy and perhaps giving out treats as well. It’s up to the individual family that way, but everyone gets something. I can quite see the problem myself; Halloween is a huge deal for kids and I loved ToTing (OK, I still do). But, ‘devil’ stuff aside, is it an appropriate activity for a family that feels strongly about the Sabbath? If you feel that spending money, eating out, working, playing sports, and watching TV/movies are not OK for the Sabbath, what do you do with a beloved but not-exactly-reverent activity like trick-or-treating that falls on the wrong day? (For myself, we’re going to the trunk-or-treat and then going out to our close neighbors on the 31st. I love Halloween as a neighborly community event and have no problem taking my kids to see a few friends. But I would feel weird about trekking through the whole neighborhood in search of infinite amounts of candy. Call me wishy-washy, I guess.) ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2004, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-halloween-is-halloween-unless-its-sunday/269456/12 "2004-10-15T22:47:24Z")
That’s bizarre. BTW, for “strict Sabbath-keepers,” may I encourage you to contact **cmkeller** or **zev\_steinhart** for the proper rules on really keeping the Sabbath? If you’re going to do it at all, do it righr! :rolleyes: (BTW, that would be from sundown Friday…) On the other hand, there’s nothing out of line with celebrating the weekly feast of the Resurrection in the morning, and then letting the kids go out for some costumed fun and treat-collection that night. “Devil’s day,” my Anglican ass! Dollars to donuts she can’t tell you either of the contributing factors to the present Hallowe’en celebration! ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2004, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-halloween-is-halloween-unless-its-sunday/269456/13 "2004-10-15T22:51:04Z")
> [@](#): > > “You just don’t do it on Sunday,” said Sandra Hulsey of Greenville, Ga. “That’s Christ’s day. You go to church on Sunday, you don’t go out and celebrate the devil. That’ll confuse a child.” But it’s okay to let your children celebrate the devil on the following Monday? What the hell kind of sense does _that_ make? To hell with the child, now _I’m_ all confused! ---
**Author:** ![MaddyStrut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dbc845/32.png) [@MaddyStrut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaddyStrut)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2004, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-halloween-is-halloween-unless-its-sunday/269456/14 "2004-10-15T23:05:07Z")
My neighborhood does the trick or treating on the Saturday preceding Halloween. It’s not for any religious reason. The parents don’t want kids out late and then gorging themselves on candy on a school night. I don’t get the logic of the group in the OP. If you think it’s a devil’s night, why celebrate it at all regardless of whether it’s on a Sunday? You’d still be flat out silly in my opinion–but at least you’d be consistent. ---
**Author:** ![Siege](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@Siege](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siege)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2004, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-halloween-is-halloween-unless-its-sunday/269456/15 "2004-10-15T23:13:39Z")
Actually, I did hear a DJ on the radio asking if Trick or Treating could possibly be done on Saturday this year, but for a different reason. You see, on Halloween, the Steelers play New England at 4:30. Now, if the Steelers have a 5 and 1 record at that point and New England’s still undefeated, the game could have rather important ramifications and since Trick or Treating tends to start around 6:00 around here, you can see the poor hard core Steeler fan’s dilemma. Me, I’ll be curious to see what the sermon’s like at my new church on Halloween, then I’ll probably go over to a Wiccan friend of mine’s house to hand out candy. Yep, you read that right. The person handing out candy at the home of a real witch on Halloween will be a Christian. 😉 Oh, and one quick note for the pedantic: the term for a male practictioner of Wicca really is “witch” not warlock. CJ ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2004, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-halloween-is-halloween-unless-its-sunday/269456/16 "2004-10-15T23:34:32Z")
[Hijack] I can’t stomach Christians who insist that Halloween has anything to do with their devil. I would pit them independent of this thread, but I’m sure it’s been done. **Polycarp** :All Hallows Eve (5th century Celtic) = bonfires, cold houses, vigilance for demons and occasional sacrifices of humans thought already to be possessed and … what’s the other? [/Hijack] ---
**Author:** ![Dijon\_Warlock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9a28c/32.png) [@Dijon\_Warlock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dijon_Warlock)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2004, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-halloween-is-halloween-unless-its-sunday/269456/17 "2004-10-15T23:42:20Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > On second thought, though, the sort of people who would refuse to celebrate Halloween on a Sunday are probably the same bastards who gave out pennies instead of candy. Or Chick tracts. > [@](#): > > Hmm. Well, that’s what the eggs are for. Yup. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2004, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-halloween-is-halloween-unless-its-sunday/269456/18 "2004-10-16T01:28:42Z")
> [@Siege](#): > > Actually, I did hear a DJ on the radio asking if Trick or Treating could possibly be done on Saturday this year, but for a different reason. You see, on Halloween, the Steelers play New England at 4:30. Now, if the Steelers have a 5 and 1 record at that point and New England’s still undefeated, the game could have rather important ramifications and since Trick or Treating tends to start around 6:00 around here, you can see the poor hard core Steeler fan’s dilemma. > > Me, I’ll be curious to see what the sermon’s like at my new church on Halloween, then I’ll probably go over to a Wiccan friend of mine’s house to hand out candy. Yep, you read that right. The person handing out candy at the home of a real witch on Halloween will be a Christian. 😉 Oh, and one quick note for the pedantic: the term for a male practictioner of Wicca really is “witch” not warlock. > > CJ The irony in that situation is Titanic – just what I’d expect from you, Sis! Give Bill a hug for me! 🙂 > [@Inigo Montoya](#): > > I can’t stomach Christians who insist that Halloween has anything to do with their devil. I would pit them independent of this thread, but I’m sure it’s been done. > > Polycarp:All Hallows Eve (5th century Celtic) = bonfires, cold houses, vigilance for demons and occasional sacrifices of humans thought already to be possessed and … what’s the other? Implicit in the name – it’s the Eve of All Saints Day, to be celebrated with feasts and parties and general merrymaking. Insofar as I can make any sense out of miscellaneous traditions never well documented, the two events seem to have converged on the cross-quarter date of 10/31-11/1, neither being ancestral to the other and both contributing to the traditions associated with the day. And this, for **Siege** and **Steve Wright**" > [@Lesbia Scott](#): > > “You can meet them at school, or in shops, or at tea, > Or even making posts on the SDMB, > for the saints of God are just folk like me, > and I mean to be one too.” ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2004, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-halloween-is-halloween-unless-its-sunday/269456/19 "2004-10-16T01:33:31Z")
Why can’t people do what they want, or not do what they don’t want, and be left alone? It seems every no life, no good, miserable busybody just has to lord it over everyone else. To Sandra Hulsey of Greenville, Ga and anyone like her, I say “Mind your own business”. ---
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2004, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-halloween-is-halloween-unless-its-sunday/269456/20 "2004-10-16T03:01:54Z")
> [@Siege](#): > > Me, I’ll be curious to see what the sermon’s like at my new church on Halloween, > > CJ New church?Tell us! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-halloween-is-halloween-unless-its-sunday/269456.md?page=2)