It’s the Season of the Witch, the time of Samhain, Snap-Apple Night, All Saints Eve, or, simple, Halloween. That means it’s time for people to get pissed off about stupid things. Let’s go over a partial list of things that the All Hallow’s Eve wet blankets are being ticked off about this year.
Here We Go!
According to the New York Post:
A Pennsylvania homeowner is facing calls to remove his creepy Halloween decorations depicting bodies hanging from trees — with critics comparing the display to lynching victims.
The controversial decorations outside the unidentified Bristol Borough resident’s home feature phony bodies wrapped in bags hanging from a tree, NBC 10 Philadelphia reported.
The Bucks County NAACP has called on the homeowner to take down the decorations, saying the imagery of bodies hanging from trees “carries a painful historical significance” for black Americans.
“This is not about restricting Halloween celebrations or freedom of expression. It is about historical awareness, empathy, and respect for our neighbors,” the civil rights chapter said in a statement posted to Facebook.
The unnamed homeowner told the outlet that he didn’t mean for the decorations, purchased as a decorative kit online, to offend anyone.
And some residents told the outlet that the decorations are simply just another run-of-the-mill Halloween display.
“At first I looked at it, and it’s a little bit different. Like, but then I’m looking, it’s Halloween,” local Mike Wade said.
“My house is scary. My house is always scary. It’s always set up scary. Same thing. Dead bodies laying around, skeletons. It’s Halloween,” he told the outlet.
But other locals believe the decorations can evoke disturbing reminders of the racist lynchings that terrorized and killed black Americans throughout the 20th century.
Stop Apologizing
According to wyldfm.iheart.com:
Target is facing major backlash after selling a children’s Halloween costume that critics said resembled racist blackface and minstrel-show imagery.
The retailer removed the “Kids’ Glows Under Blacklight Circus Clown Halloween Costume” from its stores and website after images of the costume began circulating online. The outfit featured an orange-and-black design, black gloves and a mask with an exaggerated smile. Critics said the overall presentation echoed racist caricatures used to demean Black people during the Jim Crow era.
Target later issued a public apology, admitting the costume “should never have been part of our assortment.” The company said it recognizes the hurt caused to Black customers, employees and partners and is reviewing how the product made it through its approval process.
But actress Viola Davis made it clear that she was not satisfied with the response.
“I do not accept your apology,” Davis wrote on Instagram, adding that the imagery represents a painful history of dehumanization and racism. She ended her message by emphasizing, “We MATTER.”
The controversy has also renewed conversations about representation behind the scenes and whether diverse voices are present when major companies make decisions about products and marketing.
Don’t Get Involved in All This
According to the Jerusalem Post:
Spanish fashion retailer Zara removed a children’s Halloween costume from its website on Wednesday after social media users noted that the gray-and-blue striped outfit resembled prison garb worn by inmates in Nazi concentration camps.
Zara described the ensemble as “Kids costume featuring vertical stripes with decorative topstitching, a lapel flower and a distressed effect. Includes a cardigan and shorts. Gray / Blue.”
The post was visible via a Google search that continued to display an indexed version of the Zara product page after the listing itself had been removed.
The costume resembles the suit worn by Michael Keaton’s title character in the 1988 horror-comedy “Beetlejuice” and its 2024 sequel, “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.” Even so, social media users said the vertical stripes and shiny crisscrosses, which some media outlets described as “fake stitched scars,” resembled concentration camp uniforms and the barbed wire visible in many World War II photos.
Priced at $59.90 in the US, according to another indexed version of the listing, the costume drew criticism online in Europe on Tuesday. It gained wider attention Wednesday after Israeli journalist Dov Gil-Har, activist Hen Mazzig and others shared images of it on X/Twitter.
https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/article-910391
I Actually Like It
According to the California Post:
It’s a seedy little pumpkin.
Sure, sex sells. But peeved parents aren’t buying it from an LED-animated Halloween novelty that serenades trick-or-treaters with a “creepy” chant laced with sexual innuendos about kissing and pumping folks full of its “seed.”
“Let me de-influence you from buying this viral Jabberin’ Jack pumpkin if you have children,” spat a mother of three in a “buyer beware” bulletin, scaring up more than 1.3 million video views.
Representatives for Mindscope Products tell The Post that their kooky commodity isn’t a plaything for kids.
“Jabberin’ Jack was created and marketed as a high tech Halloween home décor product, not as a children’s toy,” a spokesperson said, in part. “The song being discussed is part of the regular programmed content and appears toward the end of the second song track. Customers can skip between tracks or hold the skip button to fast forward through the content.”
That’s not true. I looked it up on Amazon and it is recommended for children 0-3 years.
https://nypost.com/2026/09/17/lifestyle/viral-kiddie-halloween-decoration-bashed-for-sexal-innuedos
Are You Surprised?
According to the American Almanac:
A Raleigh homeowner says city red tape now demands a special events permit for his long-running Halloween display, a burden he warns could push the cost near $6,000 and end the tradition.
Jesse Jones has spent years building an elaborate Halloween setup at his home in a historic Raleigh, North Carolina, neighborhood. Crowds already show up in the weeks before October 31. He told local reporters the display draws annual visitors from as far as China and Dublin, Ireland.
This year the city is requiring a special events permit because nearby streets close during the festivities. Jones says that single demand changes the math and the spirit of what he has done for years on his own dime.
In prior seasons, Jones said he paid out of pocket for off-duty police and street closures. He did not treat the night as a city production. He handled the safety basics himself so neighbors and guests could enjoy the decorations.
Reporting this week laid out his new problem: the permit would force barricades and roadblocks on top of the street closure costs he already carried.
“So now with this special event, I would predict the cost would be around $6,000 some dollars to close the street, and I have to get the barricades I have to put out in front of the roadblocks. So it’s almost like, why even do it?”
That is the practical question hanging over a neighborhood tradition that never needed a city festival stamp before.
https://www.perplexity.ai/search/e2f4c138-d93b-41a5-a562-90b9951e3b52