Halloween parties

[philmophlegm]

Judging by my facebook homepage this morning, many, many of my facebook friends went to Halloween parties last night.

When did this start?

I don't remember there being Halloween parties when I was at university or in my twenties. I thought of Halloween as something vaguely American and mostly for kids or an opportunity for chavvy teenagers to throw eggs at your window.

All the parties seem to be fancy dress and horror-themed. My impression from American TV is that American Halloween fancy dress is not confined to horror themes. As far as I can tell from facebook though, it's all horror themed - slutty zombies, that sort of thing, often with quite elaborate makeup.

Comments

[foradan.livejournal.com]

I don't know about Halloween parties, but the young trick-or-treaters who came round last night here in Columbus, Ohio, were certainly not confined to horror themes.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

We had halloween parties every year when I was a kid in Swansea. :-P

It was very much scary ghost outfits, not fluffy bunnies though.

[philmophlegm.livejournal.com]

Yes, for kids - but when did horror fancy dress Halloween parties for students and adults start in this country? Or did I just miss them when I was younger?

[bunn.livejournal.com]

I think I attended at least one Halloween party at university, though I could be wrong. It was a loooooong time ago.

[philmophlegm.livejournal.com]

Either I wasn't at the same party, or you didn't go dressed as a slutty zombie. I'm sure I'd remember...

[fearmeforiampink]

See, I can remember Halloween costume parties going right back into the start of my student days. Trick or treating, no, that's an American thing. But there being a party on or near Halloween where you dress up in costume, that's been around a while, at least for me.

[ladyofastolat.livejournal.com]

While it's not the sort of thing you're talking about, I've noticed more and more adverts for Halloween parties for all the family, explicitly offered as a safer, more sociable alternative than having everyone out on the streets demanding sweets from strangers - something which many of our (many) older residents find very threatening. So in this case, the rise of trick and treating for children has led to a rise in Halloween parties for families.

Or maybe there are just more fancy dress parties around now, in general. I don't remember there being New Year's parties around when I was young - although I might just have missed them - but now there seem to be loads and loads of the things. The town I live in is the local capital for this, and every pub and venue hosts a party, and everyone goes in fancy dress.

[philmophlegm.livejournal.com]

BT has certainly spotted the trend as well:
http://www.tellyads.com/show_movie.php?filename=TA15587

[cheekbones3.livejournal.com]

I concur, it seems to have come almost from nowhere. My parents and their friends didn't do this sort of thing, why has my generation suddenly decided that this would be fun?

[cheekbones3.livejournal.com]

There's a large element of marketing involved I reckon, since when has it been possible to buy relevant decorations rather than making paper chains and wearing a bin-bag?

[firin.livejournal.com]

I can confirm that Halloween costume in the US is not the slightest bit horror-centric. There are some horror costumes, but only because that is one among many different popular genres. The yard (lawn/house) decorations etc do all tend to be spooky though.

[chainmailmaiden]

There were Halloween parties at my junior school when I was growing up.

I've seen some comments over here about when did it turn from a kids thing to an adult thing. It seems to be a chance to go to a party in any costume you want, with the option of a slutty version if you like. The parties I've been to have a mix of costume types and the trick or treaters were mainly in cute costumes rather than scary. There were lots of pink princesses...

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

I don't remember such things either; but then, I was never a great party-goer.

[tobyaw]

I reckon that as more and more people don't have to dress smartly for work, a void is left in their lives, and they increasingly jump at any opportunity to dress up.

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

My current employer has had a "business casual" dress code as long as I have been there (3.5 years), but the proportion of smartly dressed men seems to have fallen in that time.

[eledonecirrhosa.livejournal.com]

There was always a Halloween tradition in Scotland (it was called Guysing, rather than Trick or Treating) but it was very much a kid's thing and parties tended to be of the "At your weekly cub scout/girl guide meeting everyone comes in horror themed fancy dress and bobs for apples" sort. Party tacked onto event you'd go to anyway.