ANDERSON COUNTY — In a survey of 1,500 adults conducted in mid-October those surveyed said that their kids thought of Halloween as their favorite holiday by a whopping 82 percent.

Easter came in second and Christmas was a distance third.

The survey, conducted by StudyLogic, a scientific polling organization, on behalf of Four Points by Sheraton Hotels, was meant to focus attention on Halloween statistics and poke fun at trends about the holiday.

Instead it may have sparked a firestorm of disbelief about the popularity of the pagan ritual originally known as the Day of the Dead.

“Halloween has never been more popular than Christmas in the South,” said Walter Smith of Seneca, a 20-year old auto mechanic. “I would like to talk to the people in that survey and see where they are from,” he said.

“Christmas has always been the favorite holiday of children as long as I can remember,” said Charlie McDuffie, 71 of Anderson and retired. “I can not fathom how someone could say Halloween is more popular than Christmas or Easter.”

Other findings of the study revealed that 60 percent of parents feel guilty if they miss trick or treating with their kids.

Seventy-five percent of parents felt their kids would be disappointed if they missed Halloween and 66 percent of parents surveyed said they left work early to hit the streets with their kids on Halloween. Seventy-six percent of parents in the study admitted to rearranging their work travel schedules to be at home during Halloween.

Seventy-three percent surveyed admitted pilfering candy from their kid’s candy stash after trick or treating.The survey said that adults appear to like Halloween as much as kids, with 66 percent admit to dressing up on Halloween and 71 percent admitted to going trick or treating with their kids.