The Future of Halloween

[TheHallow1]

With all the controversy surrounding Halloween, what do you predict for the holiday 100 years in the future?

[Spookymufu]

I predict I'll be dead and not care any more

[Nikolantern]

Wow. In 100 years, we may be starting a new civilization of Mars. Heck, we may not even exist! In 100 years, I cat even imagine what Halloween would be like!

[jadewik]

I kinda want to be a zombie for Halloween in 100-years... but close to 100-years of decay probably wouldn't get me any friends... Yuck!

100-years is a long time to predict ahead. Halloween may be even bigger by then... or not even exist. If you did 5 to 10 years, I think it would be bigger than it is now. =)

[Nikolantern]

Think of what Halloween was 100 in the past, and now think of what it's like now.

[MacPhantom]

Honestly, I don't see that much controversy around Halloween any more. In fact, it seems like more and more people are getting into it each year, what with seasonal Halloween-themed stores and the proliferation of online Halloween shops. Yes, this year there were hardly any Halloween decorations in my neighborhood (my house excluded) compared to years past, but I also noticed there were less Crimbo decorations, so I'm thinking it was an economy thing, not an enthusiasm gap.

As for Halloween in the year 2110, I see robots. Robots giving out candy. Robot decorations. Even robots trick-or-treating on behalf of a bunch of chubby little kids, sitting at home controlling them by FutureNet. Pumpkins will be carved by robots. Horror movies will be about robot killers killing naughty co-ed teen robots, or robot ghosts haunting skeptical robots that used to not believe in ghosts. Or robot zombies.

[Belladonna]

Now that is a scary thought!
Roving bands of robots stealing bags of candy...3 In 1 Oil for punch at Halloween parties...oooh I just had a particularly nasty thought..all the women turned into Stepford Wives. hehehe

Yes it's too early for me. Back to your regularly scheduled programming.

[Nikolantern]

Halloween in the year 2110, I see robots. Robots giving out candy. Robot decorations. Even robots trick-or-treating on behalf of a bunch of chubby little kids, sitting at home controlling them by FutureNet. Pumpkins will be carved by robots. Horror movies will be about robot killers killing naughty co-ed teen robots, or robot ghosts haunting skeptical robots that used to not believe in ghosts. Or robot zombies.

Ha ha ha. Maybe in 50 years.

[Pumpkin_Man]

There are a whole bunch of directions that can take. I certainly don't think our beloved tradition of "Trick or Treat" is going to survive for the next 10 years because of all the sexual predators and other dangers out there. 'Politicfal correctness' could also change the face of Halloween. Even today, you see people taking offence at various costumes, and since Halloween was never really an actual holiday, it could fade into history, sort of the way "Ground Hog's Day" has.

With present trends, howeve, I don't think religious objections to Halloween are going to make any real difference, because 100 years from now, it's likely that there will be far fewer religious people. I can't sayt hat for sure, and sure hope I'm wrong, but ralisticaly, people are a lot less religious then they were only 40 years ago. I can remember when I was a child in the old neighborhood, Sunday Mass was allways crowded, and we had to get there early or we would have to stand all through the mass because there wouldn't be any seating left. I stood thorugh a lot of Masses. Now a days, it doesn't get that crowded even on Christmas or Easter.

Of course, we could lose oru civilization. Armagedden could happen. A world wide dictatorship could take over and outlaw Halloween and all other celebrations. OR, we coudl teach our children and grand children to love and be loyal to our beloved traditioons. Apathy is the greatest enemy of tradition, and Halloween is a tradition like any other holiday. We could STEADFASTLY REFUSE to give up the day we love, and we could STEADFASTLY REFUSE to give in to 'political correctness' or apathy, or the temptation to be lazy, which is what I am sure all of us will do. But we won't know until 100 years from now. Heck, on the britght side of that coin, Halloween could become as big as Christmas. Perhaps it could actualy become a major national holiday, and a week long festival.

It's all in how we handle our traditions today. We can keep it going, or we can cop out and it will die off.

That's my two cents on it.

Mike

[Alan Wake]

I think Halloween will be secure for a very long, long time due to the overwhelming amount of the population that participates and wants to continue participating.

However, I think Trick or Treating is going to eventually run out of support due to, as Pumpkin_Man said, sexual predators and the mass media brainwashing that every child is in danger. I do agree with that because the essential ingredient to Trick or Treating is trust. Trust is essential because at the end of a night of fun, you know the person jumping out of the darkness is not actually a monster. It's a human being that is trying to make it fun for you and himself, and not actually a murderer.

I think the first nail in the coffin (See what I did there? ) for Trick or Treating was the whole "Poisoned/Bladed Candy" debacle where most of it was absolute propagandizing BS, that made every set of parents paranoid.

But still, Halloween and Trick or Treating has made it through many trials. Surviving the fundamentalist Christian rhetoric ALONE was a massive victory for our side.

While I'm looking to the future with a certain sense of trepidation, always remember:

What doesn't kill something, only makes it stronger.

[Pumpkin_Man]

Good point, Delta. Trust in the human race in general has eroded, and a lot of the fear mongering about ToT is total B S, and has little or nothing to do with reality.

As for the Christian Fundamentalists, however, I don't see any problems there, because religion seems to be dieing, itself. Peaganism is making a come-back, but it seems that atheism and agnosticism are going to be the major belief systems of the 21st century and beyond. I certainly hop I'm wrong, but when you watch the tv shows, and observe the attitudes of people, that's what seems to be the case. For that reason, people will continue to enjoy Halloween before they will listen to some one preach a religion that they don't believe in.

Personaly, I truely do believe that Halloween, in one form or another will survive way past the 21st century. That's just my opinion, however.

Mike

[MacPhantom]

I agree with quite a lot.... in fact, most, of what you said, Mike!

[Murfreesboro]

Oh, interesting speculation, everyone.

I don't think Halloween itself will fade away. In one form or another, it's been celebrated for 3,000 years. It has real staying power, I believe, because it answers to something in our psyche that needs both to acknowledge and make fun of death and the dark side of life. A way of containing our fears, maybe, by ritualizing them.

In the U.S., Halloween has become our Carnival season. People need Carnival. It will never go away.

Mike, I agree with you to a point about the decline of traditional religion. I don't believe, however, that religion will ever vanish, because I believe that it, too, is based on something real. God is real. He will be there whether or not the majority of people acknowledge Him. (My opinion, of course, and one which is not shared by everyone here, I know.)

I think people become more inclined to seek God when times are tough. If the world gets as difficult politically & economically as I think it may, you might be surprised at how many people get religion!

[MacPhantom]

Hey! Now I agree with a lot of what Murfreesboro said!

[Pumpkin_Man]

Well, that is a good point, Murfeesboro, and I certainly hope you are right. I wrote that last post when I was feeling a little synical. Actualy I had gotten into an argument with one of my brothers about Good Fridy, and I don't want to turn this into a discussion on religion so I won't give the tetales, but sufice it to say, I am a Traditionalist Catholic. And you are right. People do tend to get closer to God when times are hard. The just of what I hear from my Agnostic brothers and sisters is that being a Christian and especialy a Catholis is "outdated," "out moded" and "andiquated," and it just won't survive too far into the 21st Century. Perhaps God won't let it die off all together, though.

Good point about Halloween, too. Ireland is credited with havign started Halloween, all though I'm sure other cultures had some form of it or another for 3000 years, as you said. I like to think of Halloween being Irish because I'm Irish, but that's neither here nor there. Halloween is an oportunity to laugh at and face our own mortality, as you pointed out, so logicaly the only way that it will ever cease to be observed is if we figured out the secret of inmortality and we all were to live for ever. And even then, Halloween could be a "remeberence" day when we look back on when humans had a limited life span and died.

Mike