Halloween: Not for Children, Not Even Close

Halloween in Second Life is not what I would call child-friendly. There are a few areas appropriate for kids, but most of the sims and events are at least moderate. Many are adult.

What kinds of things happen in SL for Halloween?

Second Life has the expected haunted houses, many of them very well done. Second Life is a very graphics-intensive system. Because a lot of layers don’t have the most up-to-date graphics, if a sim focuses too heavily on graphics, those people will experience it very slowly. This makes the element of surprise nearly impossible. So SL haunted houses usually focus more on blood and gore than on fast-moving surprises.

Another popular event, not just for Halloween but for all kinds of holidays, is a hunt. A hunt in Second Life is more of a scavenger or treasure hunt. You have clues, and if you figure out the clues you can find prizes. These clues are usually riddles. Personally, I’m not very good at riddles, so I don’t do well in hunts. The prizes can be very good, though. Hunts are popular with merchants, because they bring in people who might buy something.

Everyone decorates for Halloween. Pumpkins and Jack-O-Lanterns are everywhere. Fog and bare trees are really popular. Ghosts are common, but the traditional witch isn't. Go figure.

Of course, now that Halloween is over, people are starting to gear up for Christmas. As in the real world, so in Second Life! I myself won’t do anything Christmas related until December at the earliest. I am looking forward to it, though.