Halloween Grotesquery

 

Halloween used to be more fun than scary. Ghosts were little more than a sheet with two holes. Little cowboys ran around with cap guns, bang bang, as they trick or treated.

Yard decorations, when you could find them, were almost always benign: a grinning pumpkin or two on the front steps, perhaps a friendly witch propped up in the front yard.  Boo!

That was then. This morning as Marie and I walked Bob the Dog, it struck me how much scarier Halloween is these days. It seems to me that adults are trying to outdo one another for the title of Most Grotesque Halloween Decorations.

I think the adult who arranged to have this poor guy hanging by his tongue, his bottom half cut away, wins the title.

But others come close to Mr. Tongue Man. I can’t decide if the skeletal mortician below is scary or just merely clever. Note the bleached-out spider next to the skeleton and the black ghost in the background.

And here two skeletons on their way to or from a burial site. They seem to have forgotten the corpse.

You don’t come across a werewolf very often on Halloween, but here’s a particularly scary one.

So what do you think? Are Halloweens becoming scarier? I think they are. I blame it on the adults who think that Halloween is their holiday.

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  1. Jimmy Carter Member
    Jimmy Carter
    @JimmyCarter

    KentForrester: I blame it on the adults who think that Halloween is their holiday. 

    It is an adult day traditionally. Until the wussified leftists started making it all about “the children.“ Like they always do.

    • #1
  2. KentForrester Coolidge
    KentForrester
    @KentForrester

    Jimmy Carter (View Comment):

    KentForrester: I blame it on the adults who think that Halloween is their holiday.

    It is an adult day traditionally. Until the wussified leftists started making it all about “the children.“ Like they always do.

    Jimmy, when I was a kid, Halloween was a kid’s holiday — centered, of course, on trick or treating. 

    • #2
  3. sawatdeeka Member
    sawatdeeka
    @sawatdeeka

    I’ve been seeing some gross horror decor in my area, as well. Today, I saw red handprints on windows with the message “Help Me” traced on the glass.  Not fun or clever, just horrifyingly violent. Doesn’t speak well of the homeowners.

    • #3
  4. Marjorie Reynolds Coolidge
    Marjorie Reynolds
    @MarjorieReynolds

    sawatdeeka (View Comment):

    I’ve been seeing some gross horror decor in my area, as well. Today, I saw red handprints on the windows with the message “Help Me” traced on the glass. Not fun or clever, just horrifyingly violent. Doesn’t speak well of the homeowners.

    My neighbours have a similar thing on their front door. It’s such bad taste. 

    • #4
  5. Hang On Member
    Hang On
    @HangOn

    I don’t find the hearse decoration anywhere close to the tongue-hanger. I also think it’s driven by the movies. It’s also perpetual teenager driven. Not adult driven. 

    Happy Halloween to you, Marie and Bob. 

    • #5
  6. 9thDistrictNeighbor Member
    9thDistrictNeighbor
    @9thDistrictNeighbor

    Its the obvious next step for some of the ones who like to turn their front yards into graveyards.  Then the plastic hand sticking out of the trunk of the car.  And I think its guaranteed that whoever does that sort of decorations doesn’t believe in an afterlife.  This isn’t Beetlejuice. 

    I hate Halloween when it revolves around death.  Kids trolling for candy, fine.  The first picture is really awful.  

    I prefer the next two days.  It is so sweet to see large Mexican families have a picnic at the cemetery with their loved ones.   The Italians also have some delicious clove cookies, Ossa dei morti.  There is a bakery in Manhattan, Veniero’s, that makes the best.

    • #6
  7. Vance Richards Inactive
    Vance Richards
    @VanceRichards

    I think the message that a lot of adults need to hear is, “Grow the @$#%!! up!”

    • #7
  8. Chris O Coolidge
    Chris O
    @ChrisO

    9thDistrictNeighbor (View Comment):

    I hate Halloween when it revolves around death.  Kids trolling for candy, fine.  The first picture is really awful.  

    I prefer the next two days.  It is so sweet to see large Mexican families have a picnic at the cemetery with their loved ones.   The Italians also have some delicious clove cookies, Ossa dei morti.  There is a bakery in Manhattan, Veniero’s, that makes the best.

    Wait. Doesn’t everything you described in the last paragraph revolve around death? Dia de los Muertos?

    • #8
  9. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    KentForrester: I blame it on the adults who think that Halloween is their holiday. 

    I’ll agree with you there. Same with haunted houses. Now, they are big money attracting young adults.

    • #9
  10. BDB Inactive
    BDB
    @BDB

    sawatdeeka (View Comment):

    I’ve been seeing some gross horror decor in my area, as well. Today, I saw red handprints on windows with the message “Help Me” traced on the glass. Not fun or clever, just horrifyingly violent. Doesn’t speak well of the homeowners.

    Sounds like Benghazi.  

    • #10
  11. Chris O Coolidge
    Chris O
    @ChrisO

    Old school = fun school

    The O House, moments ago.

    • #11
  12. BDB Inactive
    BDB
    @BDB

    Chris O (View Comment):

    9thDistrictNeighbor (View Comment):

    I hate Halloween when it revolves around death. Kids trolling for candy, fine. The first picture is really awful.

    I prefer the next two days. It is so sweet to see large Mexican families have a picnic at the cemetery with their loved ones. The Italians also have some delicious clove cookies, Ossa dei morti. There is a bakery in Manhattan, Veniero’s, that makes the best.

    Wait. Doesn’t everything you described in the last paragraph revolve around death? Dia de los Muertos?

    Yes, but at least DdlM has roots in pagan practice.   Like the Buddhism or Zoroastrianism in Afghan Islam (hence the Wahhabist purifying fury), Latin American Catholicism incorporates older local practices.  Same with European Protestant and Catholic practice.  “Pure” practice would look more Levantine.  

    • #12
  13. Buckpasser Member
    Buckpasser
    @Buckpasser

    Too many adults put more effort into celebrating Halloween then Christmas or Easter.

    • #13
  14. Lilly B Coolidge
    Lilly B
    @LillyB

    In our old neighborhood, there was a very scary ghoul that was up in the yard for at least a month. It scared our dog and we had to avoid that route on walks. I like the fake pumpkin patches and blow-up ghosts in our new neighborhood. Even 10 ft inflatable cartoon spiders are fine. Not scary – just festive. 

    • #14
  15. sawatdeeka Member
    sawatdeeka
    @sawatdeeka

    Lilly B (View Comment):
    It scared our dog

    Okay, that’s not funny, but it kind of is.  That a Halloween decoration would be so scary, it would creep out your dog. 

    • #15
  16. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    Chris O (View Comment):

    The O House, moments ago.

    I like the cat-o-lantern.

    • #16
  17. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    Lilly B (View Comment):

    In our old neighborhood, there was a very scary ghoul that was up in the yard for at least a month. It scared our dog and we had to avoid that route on walks. I like the fake pumpkin patches and blow-up ghosts in our new neighborhood. Even 10 ft inflatable cartoon spiders are fine. Not scary – just festive.

    I remember there was one a few years back where a woman had hung herself in a tree just before Halloween and everyone thought it was just a decoration for a few weeks.

    • #17
  18. Chris O Coolidge
    Chris O
    @ChrisO

    Arahant (View Comment):

    Chris O (View Comment):

    The O House, moments ago.

    I like the cat-o-lantern.

    You’re gonna love this: it’s an owl. Unfortunately, I might have said “baby chick” and I carved it!

    • #18
  19. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    Chris O (View Comment):

    Arahant (View Comment):

    Chris O (View Comment):

    The O House, moments ago.

    I like the cat-o-lantern.

    You’re gonna love this: it’s an owl. Unfortunately, I might have said “baby chick” and I carved it!

    That works, too. I wondered about the mouth. 😆

    • #19
  20. Gossamer Cat Coolidge
    Gossamer Cat
    @GossamerCat

    Yes, the decorations have gotten scarier and more gross.  But also more elaborate and often more clever.  I enjoy them.  

    • #20
  21. BDB Inactive
    BDB
    @BDB

    In all of these, the one I really object to is tongue guy. I thought the bone morticians were cute.  The werewolf is objectionably stupid, but not otherwise offensive.  Just the same, I wouldn’t want to take small kids around it.  I wouldn’t take an adult around tongue guy.  That’s just horror porn in public.  Says a lot about whatever loser has it on display.

    The owner of the werewolf probably just has crap taste in music.  The owner of tongue guy is somebody I wouldn’t want around my kids, my house, my whole neighborhood.

    • #21
  22. 9thDistrictNeighbor Member
    9thDistrictNeighbor
    @9thDistrictNeighbor

    Chris O (View Comment):
    Wait. Doesn’t everything you described in the last paragraph revolve around death? Dia de los Muertos?

    Death as part of life and the gateway to eternal life.  Not gore for the sake of fear.  The popular culture takes El Dia de los Muertos and makes it about nothing but sugar skulls.  Ossa dei morti are Sicilian treats for children on All Soul’s Day so they would know that Grandma still loves them.  

    • #22
  23. J Climacus Member
    J Climacus
    @JClimacus

    Simple is effective on Halloween. I put a burlap sack on my head, don my wife’s black cape, and sit on my front porch playing Irish tunes on my fiddle. I toss candy to the kids who are too scared to approach. If you are spending more than $10 on Halloween (excepting the candy), you’re missing the boat.

    • #23
  24. Hoyacon Member
    Hoyacon
    @Hoyacon

    Halloween is about “scary,” but that term is open to definition.  It doesn’t have to mean grotesque, but it’s a different shade of just fun.  See The Haunting of Hill House. That’s Halloween.

    • #24
  25. Doctor Robert Member
    Doctor Robert
    @DoctorRobert

    J Climacus (View Comment):

    Simple is effective on Halloween. I put a burlap sack on my head, don my wife’s black cape, and sit on my front porch playing Irish tunes on my fiddle. I toss candy to the kids who are too scared to approach. If you are spending more than $10 on Halloween (excepting the candy), you’re missing the boat.

    You could tune your e-string down a half step and play Danse Macabre

    • #25
  26. Cow Girl Thatcher
    Cow Girl
    @CowGirl

    I enjoy the fun parts of Halloween and I have fun decorations. Most of the Trick-or-Treaters in my neighborhood come from another part of town where it isn’t as nice and you don’t get as much candy. I still don’t care…come and get the candy! You won’t have to face down something bloody and gross to do so.  This is many years ago….this girl just started college…but here’s how I like my Halloween!

    • #26
  27. JoshuaFinch Coolidge
    JoshuaFinch
    @JoshuaFinch

    I have heard that horror appeals to kids from dysfunctional/abusive families. Does that explain the increasing delight in the more sordid aspects of Halloween culture?

    • #27
  28. OmegaPaladin Moderator
    OmegaPaladin
    @OmegaPaladin

    I visit a gal who loves Halloween, with fairly elaborate decorations – no gore, but some scares.  Think stock horror / haunted house stuff – spider webs, vampires, ghosts, some of which make noise.  It’s about giving the older kids the thrill of a good scare, like scary stories around the campfire.  Nothing slasher themed or like the tongue spike.

    • #28
  29. Ansonia Member
    Ansonia
    @Ansonia

    I’m sorry about the decorations that seem to flaunt human suffering. I don’t remember anything like that when I was a kid. I don’t understand the desire to destroy Halloween, especially for kids, but that seems to be the purpose of putting up tongue man. He’s disturbing and depressing. Who does that ?

    I love the skeletons. (We all should remember that we’re going to die.) I love the ghosts. (If there are ghosts, by the way—-I think there are—-then doesn’t that mean there must be a purgatory ?) I love witches. (Originally meant to present people who dabble in magic in an unlovely way.) I’m okay with vampires and werewolves. ( Like ghosts, those figures suggest not everything spiritual or supernatural is good.  True.) I like spiders (the decorations, I mean. It’s in October in Connecticut that real spiders seem to be all over the place. Spiders mean October is here.)

    Who doesn’t love pumpkins ?

    • #29
  30. Ansonia Member
    Ansonia
    @Ansonia

    Cow Girl (View Comment):

    I enjoy the fun parts of Halloween and I have fun decorations. Most of the Trick-or-Treaters in my neighborhood come from another part of town where it isn’t as nice and you don’t get as much candy. I still don’t care…come and get the candy! You won’t have to face down something bloody and gross to do so. This is many years ago….this girl just started college…but here’s how I like my Halloween!

    ❤️

    • #30
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