I'm so glad you brought up the Terrifier trend. I'm not precious about "elevated horror" vs. shock-value gore-porn, but I cannot understand why people have turned these films into a cult obsession. The first movie earned its flowers when Art pulled out a gun because it subverted expectations and made the filmmakers appear self-aware despite their gratuitousness. Continuing with two other shitty over-kill movies as a way to gross out audiences just seems cheap and cynical! It just feels like a dare to sit through a Terrifier movie now when there's no surprise pay-offs, just more gore
My neighborhood pops off on halloween and it whips ass. Ive always been ambivalent about halloween - i dont particularly like dressing up but i do like halloween parties/shows and the sort of block party feel of the holiday.
Now that i have a toddler i love it, we usually get two full trick or treats a year bc a friends city does the Saturday before and my city does the 31st and tbh id do a third if i could swing it just bc it rules to walk around with her as she pinballs from house to house. She usually takes a few houses to warm up but then watching her charm people for treats is a profound joy of mine
i love Disney (despite my issues with modern Disney) but i don't self identify as a "Disney adult". i do hate how people complain about them though, like god forbid someone take joy in something. what else am i supposed to be into? sports betting? is that a more appropriate pastime for an adult?
i do get the idea that some things should be explicitly for kids and that adults are creeping into them. Halloween is probably the best example of that. i think kids do need something that feels like it's just for them. most of them are probably getting that from online spaces these days.
it does also seem like people do certain things just to have something to post on social media. i hate that and i broadly think social media was a mistake, but i don't what we can do about it. that cat is out of the bag and not getting back in.
and Hollywood loves horror movies because they're cheap to make and horror fans will almost always see them in theaters. i'm not sure i would take that as an indicator of something larger though. despite how profitable these movies are, not *that* many people go see them in the grand scheme of things. there is a reason studios report box office earnings in dollars and not in individual ticket sales.
thanks for sharing your thoughts and allowing me to share mine. always good to hear them
Agree with Ciro, and also point out the explosion in costumes related to anime and video games. Most of the time I figure if I don't understand a costume, it's from one of those fandoms, and I'm usually right. :) Halloween always feels different when we grow up, and again when our kids grow up. The trends in costuming and entertainment surrounding it shift with the generations. But it isn't Disney or trunk-or-treats or anything else driving it; it's just the kids and their tastes. They watch scarier stuff than we watched, at a younger age, with nearly-unlimited access, but they make different choices. Except when it comes to Reese's pumpkins. Those are multigenerational.
As a person who grew up in walkable neighborhood with street lights and observed stop signs, I didn’t understand “trunk or treat” either…. until I moved to a neighborhood with zero street lights.
It is NOT safe for anyone to walk around here at night unless they are wrapped in reflective gear, and even then someone will probably still hit you because stop signs and speed limits are apparently optional.
Have to disagree with you. I think your observations can all be chalked up to you being an adult living in a big city. Of course from your perspective it seems like Halloween has become about elaborate parties and gay twitter costumes. Kids in suburban neighborhoods are doing Halloween exactly the same as they always have (besides getting hit by cars more often).
I'm so glad you brought up the Terrifier trend. I'm not precious about "elevated horror" vs. shock-value gore-porn, but I cannot understand why people have turned these films into a cult obsession. The first movie earned its flowers when Art pulled out a gun because it subverted expectations and made the filmmakers appear self-aware despite their gratuitousness. Continuing with two other shitty over-kill movies as a way to gross out audiences just seems cheap and cynical! It just feels like a dare to sit through a Terrifier movie now when there's no surprise pay-offs, just more gore
My neighborhood pops off on halloween and it whips ass. Ive always been ambivalent about halloween - i dont particularly like dressing up but i do like halloween parties/shows and the sort of block party feel of the holiday.
Now that i have a toddler i love it, we usually get two full trick or treats a year bc a friends city does the Saturday before and my city does the 31st and tbh id do a third if i could swing it just bc it rules to walk around with her as she pinballs from house to house. She usually takes a few houses to warm up but then watching her charm people for treats is a profound joy of mine
i love Disney (despite my issues with modern Disney) but i don't self identify as a "Disney adult". i do hate how people complain about them though, like god forbid someone take joy in something. what else am i supposed to be into? sports betting? is that a more appropriate pastime for an adult?
i do get the idea that some things should be explicitly for kids and that adults are creeping into them. Halloween is probably the best example of that. i think kids do need something that feels like it's just for them. most of them are probably getting that from online spaces these days.
it does also seem like people do certain things just to have something to post on social media. i hate that and i broadly think social media was a mistake, but i don't what we can do about it. that cat is out of the bag and not getting back in.
and Hollywood loves horror movies because they're cheap to make and horror fans will almost always see them in theaters. i'm not sure i would take that as an indicator of something larger though. despite how profitable these movies are, not *that* many people go see them in the grand scheme of things. there is a reason studios report box office earnings in dollars and not in individual ticket sales.
thanks for sharing your thoughts and allowing me to share mine. always good to hear them
Agree with Ciro, and also point out the explosion in costumes related to anime and video games. Most of the time I figure if I don't understand a costume, it's from one of those fandoms, and I'm usually right. :) Halloween always feels different when we grow up, and again when our kids grow up. The trends in costuming and entertainment surrounding it shift with the generations. But it isn't Disney or trunk-or-treats or anything else driving it; it's just the kids and their tastes. They watch scarier stuff than we watched, at a younger age, with nearly-unlimited access, but they make different choices. Except when it comes to Reese's pumpkins. Those are multigenerational.
As a person who grew up in walkable neighborhood with street lights and observed stop signs, I didn’t understand “trunk or treat” either…. until I moved to a neighborhood with zero street lights.
It is NOT safe for anyone to walk around here at night unless they are wrapped in reflective gear, and even then someone will probably still hit you because stop signs and speed limits are apparently optional.
Have to disagree with you. I think your observations can all be chalked up to you being an adult living in a big city. Of course from your perspective it seems like Halloween has become about elaborate parties and gay twitter costumes. Kids in suburban neighborhoods are doing Halloween exactly the same as they always have (besides getting hit by cars more often).
sure! I said as much!