By Emily Vescio
As soon as October rolls around the Christmas decorations hit the shelves. If you look past the people clambering to get their Christmas shopping done as soon as possible, you’ll find a small few wading through the red and white fur-clad piles of decorations trying desperately to make time for some Halloween festivities first. Don’t get me wrong – I love Christmas, but Halloween is so underrepresented in Australia it’s upsetting.
Trying to find simple decorations is impossible. The few plastic jack-o-lanterns and skeleton napkins tucked away in a corner display at Coles don’t cut it. I want proper scary decorations that’ll put the tragic spread of spider webs on my neighbour’s fence to shame. Enlisting some willing friends and my fantastic crafting skills I’ve put together some slapper pieces for a Halloween party perfectly entitled The Spook Gala. Crafting decorations is fun as hell and you come out with some super unique pieces – cue the (non-functioning) electric chair and ceramic-doll-limb garland we’ve made in the last couple weeks.
People laugh in my face when I tell them how keen I am for Halloween leading up to the big day. Hoards of people come together throughout this blessed month to slander Halloween enthusiasts claiming it’s “too American”. I’ve got some news for you pal – Halloween originated in Ireland so your argument is invalid. Halloween is fun and has literally zero strings attached. No presents required, you don’t have to traipse to your grandma’s house 3 hours away to sit around a table and be bullied by your aunt about your tattoos or your green hair – this is getting too personal, but my point still stands.
Literally the only necessary thing to put in effort for Halloween is a costume. The pure creativity that Halloween brings out in people is one of the best parts of the whole holiday. Zombie Bob Ross, Colonel Sanders and a slaughtered chicken (sorry vegans), Janet Snakehole from Parks and Rec – these are just SOME of the costumes that I know people are working on for this year’s festivities.
There’s nothing wrong with enjoying Halloween for more than an opportunity to drink – even though it’s that too I guess. Having a night where you can take on the persona of any character just for a while is also one of the best distractions at this time of year. A lot of things are coming to an end around November, and it’s just nice to take a night off from the stress of life.
Bringing people down and inserting your opinion where it wasn’t required is pure shit on your part. Sorry for swearing mum but it had to be done. Hating Halloween doesn’t make you cool or different, all it does is prevent you from having a good time.
Happy Halloween!
