We don't "do" Halloween. Not in this house, anyway.
And not really in Australia - not that you'd know it from entering your nearest supermarket or department store. It's been getting bigger the last couple years.
If you want to celebrate Samhain, and dance naked in your backyard around a giant bonfire with your neopagan friends... that's cool. Except in the southern hemisphere, you'd be six months too late. Or early.
The less-pagan-inclined can substitute a more family-friendly "harvest festival". But the six-month-too-late thing goes here too.
You might decide for your family that it's all about the lollies and the dressing up. But why limit yourself to "scary" costumes?
If you wear a costume because you believe you are hiding your true identity from ghosts walking the earth, that's cool... as long as you follow through with a church visit for All Saints' Day. Otherwise, you're just doing half a holiday.
All of the above are legitimate things to do this weekend - if that's your sincere belief. Just be careful you're not merely buying in to a mass-media-endorsed commercialised mess of cartoon jack-o-lanterns, child-sized Dracula costumes, and stringy spider-web decorations...
It is just as logical to expect stars-and-stripes bunting and "Happy 4th" cake decorations to appear in Australian supermarkets next May.
Now, having said all that, there is one thing associated with this time of year (just look at the "Sale" shelf in your nearest JB Hi-Fi) that I have been known to use October 31st as an excuse for. And that's to pick a horror film to watch.
There's a whole other post in that...
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