Friday, October 31, 2025

Friday Funnies

This display of Halloween blow-ups was spotted in a store
Today, October 31, marks the day when Halloween is celebrated here and many countries worldwide in some way. Some in the Western world, the US, Canada, Ireland and the UK, have extensive celebrations with costume parties, trick-or-treating, pranks and games.
  Maxine, resident Hudson Senior Center member, is dressed for Halloween
Halloween is celebrated in downtown Nashua, NH, with lamp pole scarecrows along Main Street. I took photos on a downtown walk this week, some of which are shown below.


Other countries have traditions similar to Halloween that focus on remembering the dead, but with unique cultural spins, like Mexico's Día de los Muertos. Most countries in Asia, Africa and the Middle East, don’t celebrate Halloween because of religious or cultural reasons, also Iran and Russia which have restricted/banned celebrations.

Many residents of Clocktower Place apartments, our residence building, also display Halloween decorations which ranger from shelf size to larger-than-life size displays.

Some decorations include friendly-looking ghosts, akin to Casper the Friendly Ghost.
Other decorations have a more ominous theme, including the carnivorous pumpkin below.
On Halloween, it’s traditional to commemorate the dead in some Christian traditions. On our Portugal trip, we saw early Halloween decos notably at a hotel.  On November 1, All Saints' Day, Portuguese children go door-to-door with carved pumpkin lanterns asking for a soulmass cake. This small round cake, which resembles a shortbread biscuit, has spices like allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon or ginger as well as raisins or currants. Before baking, it's topped with the mark of a cross. Unfortunately, we left too early to sample one.

This year, Clocktower Place featured a pumpkin decorating competition with some unique entries. Residents will vote on the entries and the winning pumpkin will earn the resident a month of free garage parking.

There are 28 scarecrows placed along Main Street. While many are very original and creative, there are those that lack such features, which is why not all were shown in this post.
My particulate favorite for originality is this above scarecrow by the Nashua Transit System. It consists totally of transit system signage.
Full disclosure we don't decorate for Halloween only for Autumn with recycled annual decos. These will be changed only after Thanksgiving (a tradition from our childhood).

Your turn — Do you decorate for Halloween in any way? 

Enjoy Your Weekend, Everyone
Hope you all receive only 🎃 treats not tricks👻
We'll be setting back time ⏰ on Sunday, Nov 2

26 comments:

Ginny Hartzler said...

All the lamppost scarecrows are scary. But the haunted house looks friendly. We do not decorate for Halloween either. Except for a little corner for the grandchildren, which I will be posting.

David M. Gascoigne, said...

There are a few houses around here with “over the top” outdoor displays, but in general one sees little. Halloween seems to be less celebrated each year. The Chinese manufacturers of all the crap people buy must be very sad!

Tom said...

...Dorothy, I wish you a Spooktacular Halloween.

Anvilcloud said...

Our town did scarecrows on Main Street one year but didn’t repeat. They also had a parade for one year only. I was disappointed with downtown’s endeavour this year, but the community has done well enough as a whole.

Bijoux said...

That’s nice that your building sponsors the contest with the parking prize. I have a few Halloween items about that I’ve had for years. Tomorrow, my Thanksgiving decor will replace it.

Barbara Rogers said...

I like the Fall decorations you have out. No scary stuff for me, thank you!

Sandra said...

I enjoyed this, Dorothy. I do not decorate for Halloween nor autumn.

MARY G said...

Pumpkins on the porch. Very traditional and easy. I am in awe of the artistry and work involved in some of the decor you show.

Rita said...

I am not a decorator for holidays. The only one I ever did a little for has been Christmas. Mainly had a real tree and made some decorations when Dagan was little. He'd bring things home from school for other holidays that we put in the window or on the frig. I had a table tree but the legs broke on it. I guess I need a new one now that the boys are around regularly. ;)

Boud said...

I'm not a big decorator. Easter stuff fits on a tray. Christmas in a small box. Fall plus Halloween is my year round wooden stripy cat and currently a small real pumpkin to become soup soon.

The Happy Whisk said...

Sally and Jack. Two of my faves. Happy Halloween and boogie boogie.

mimmylynn said...

Don't you just love this time of year? I look forward to your scarecrow contest every year.

Marie Smith said...

We decorated for Hallowe’en when our grandkids were young. Not anymore. Love the pumpkins!

My name is Erika. said...

You have some fun Halloween photos today. Those pumpkins are great. Happy Halloween to you, or if you see this tomorrow, hope it was a good one. And Happy November to you.

Jeanie said...

Halloween decorations are among the most fun -- no expectations but a good time!

Kathyinozarks2 said...

what a fun post

nick said...

Halloween is a big thing in the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland, but isn't marked in the rest of the UK, where the big occasion is still Bonfire Night/ Guy Fawkes Night on November 5.

Coloring Outside the Lines said...

I don't really decorate much, but I do put out fall items. I'm not much for the skeletons and witches, but I do love the scarecrows and pumpkins. Your photos showcase some talents that I definitely don't have...some people are so artsy!

photowannabe said...

There is really some definite creativity in your area. I love the incentive of a free month's garage rental. That would make me want to get in on the action too.
I don't do Halloween decorations but do enjoy a few Fall do-dads around our house. They will be up until the Christmas bug hits me.
Sue

diane b said...

I like the scarecrows on the telegraph poles. The decorations in your block are nice too. Being Aussies we don't celebrate but it is creeping into the environment with stores jumping on the band wagon and commercializing the event so we do have many young people celebrating and trick or treating. Luckily we don't get disturbed in the village.

Lowcarb team member said...

Happy Halloween.
Happy weekend.
Happy November.

Isn't the year flying by!!!

All the best Jan

baili said...

Happy Halloween dear Dorothy 🥰
I really enjoyed the Halloween display in your city 🤗
So many intriguing ideas and faces 👍🥰
I hope you had wonderful trip and I will be looking forward to updates on this 🤗
The last few rows are fabulous more than others 👌♥️

Carola Bartz said...

There were a lot of Halloween decorations in my neighborhood this year, a lot of skeletons. I guess that people are seeking distraction from the current situation in the country and bring some fun and un-seriousness in their lives. When our daughter was little, we used to decorate for Halloween, had Halloween parties for her friends and parents which were always a lot of fun. Nowadays I put the same three pumpkins out that I decorated with ghosts and bats several years ago, and that's it. We do like to greet trick-or-treaters and always have some German goodies for them. When we still lived in Germany, Halloween wasn't celebrated (I think this has changed a little bit), but November 1st is the day when candles are lit on the cemeteries and I love that tradition.

Debbie said...

this is right up my alley, i LOVE halloween and these were all GREAT!!!

The Happy Whisk said...

OMG. My kinda post. Love all the Halloween goodies. And Sally and Jack, so fun!

Rain said...

Dorothy, thanks for sharing all of those lovely decorations! I honestly didn't do much this year, carved a few pumpkins and as you know ate some Halloweenie food. It's all about Christmas now for me since our Thanksgiving is over! ♥