We don't in my household. We always shut the lights off and leave for a night out with friends or take the kids to do something special. It's a bit strange for me having grown up in a family that always did trick-or-treat; my wife, however, never experienced it and doesn't feel at a loss. I loved being batman every single year and getting candy; but, I can't deny, this is no longer THAT Halloween. We have to avoid certain streets in our neighborhood because the decor has gone from cutesy/spooky pumpkins and bats to hellish ghouls and gore. The fear factor has been amped - I would guess for a few reasons, including desensitization and the fact that our world is full of much uglier, demonic realities (or at least demonic realities that are on the forefront). Who knows, maybe it's always been this way? What do I know?
Anyway, it seems that the debate of whether Christians should "do" Halloween at all keeps coming back and getting a bit more intense each year. Every year I seem to find more and more families who are abstaining from any engagement. While with them, I have to wonder if we are doing SOME disservice to our children by shielding them from any experience of fear. I know that at one point, in the West at least, Christmas was the time when we shared "scary ghost stories". I think we all agree that make-believe and costumes aren't the problems.
What about the knockoff versions of Halloween - trunk or treat, etc.? Does that become the same problem as when we do Christian versions of anything else, where they are, inevitably, never as good or as fun and leave kids longing to just participate in what all of the "normal" kids are doing?
What are your thoughts? What do you do in your family? And why? This seems like something we can have a fruitful discussion about.
