Whats Up With Halloween?

I can't believe its the middle of October already. Hobby Lobby has not only had Christmas stuff out for at least a month, but its already 40% off. There's a jumble of seasonal goods to be had in the aisles; Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas all together. Next time I look Valentine's Day stuff will probably be in the aisles.

But the other day I was thinking about Halloween. What the heck has happened to it. I don't really have this idyllic vision of Halloween when I was a kid, but has anyone else noticed that it has been completely over taken by adults and is exceptionally frightening?

At my new job I sometimes have free time and I will flip through the Oriental Trading Company catalog. We had one that was all themed for Halloween, but I was taken back by how gruesome or gross some of the items were. And last Halloween every day on my way to work I passed a life-sized mannequin who was hanging off a tall tree over the street. I won't even get into the suggestive/obscene costumes that I saw at a Halloween store in recent years. Every year I see more and more Halloween decorations (even more than Christmas now) but less and less trick-or-treaters.

I'm really not someone who gets up in arms about Halloween as this horrible holiday. * I have fond memories of going around with friends and family to neighbor's houses and bags and bags of candy and I don't seem to be adversely effected by it all. I do remember getting chased away from an older lady's house once for knocking too loudly on her window (I have no recollection as to why I was knocking on the window, except maybe we thought the bell was broken?). But I do question how Halloween can be fun for kids, especially younger kids, when it is not a little creepy or scary and is instead grotesque and frightening.

* I respect people who feel that way. And also the people who instead to have costumes about positive people like the Saints or other things like that. My sister went as St. Joan of Arc for a couple of years at the end of her trick-or-treating days.