my relatively strict, religious parents had no problem with Halloween as many evangelical, ultraconservative churches do. We decorated for Halloween and I was always allowed to go trick or treating around the neighborhood (and with its roughly spherical shape, it's a great neighborhood to trick or treat in). I don't recall if my church objected to Halloween back then...I *do* recall my brother's evangelical, ultraconservative church doing so. The only trick or treating my brother's kids did is when they came over here Halloween night and I took them to a few trusted neighbors for candy. Otherwise, it was all "fall festivals" or "harvest festivals" for them.
In the past handful of years, and for no reason I can really recall, I started getting annoyed with how big Halloween was getting and how it's becoming as much a holiday for adults as it is for kids, maybe even more so. I also started getting annoyed with the decorations intended to scare the pants off of folks. Gone were the cheery jack-o-lanterns or whimsical witches or cartoon ghosts; instead, many people around here started decorating with everything skeleton (and very realistic looking ones at that) and fake blood and mutilated creatures. NOT that there's anything wrong with that per se--everyone should decorate as they see fit--but I began to push back by ridding myself of Halloween decorations and switching to fall decor: lots of pumpkins (LOTS), fall foliage, maybe a scarecrow or two. The only thing I have left that's "Halloween-ish" is a giant plastic jack-o-lantern I used as a mere tot to tote home my Halloween haul.
Incidentally, the neighbors that keep not one but TWO giant skeletons up in their driveway year round (I'm guessing they never use their garage as the skeletons stand right in front of it) have added a giant dog skeleton to the display.
