It’s October 31st – time to dig out the costume, stock up on the sweets and prepare for the barrage of knocks on the door by overactive, sugar-hyped up kids.
Yep it’s Halloween.
Here’s how they’re feeling spooky in:
Australia
Apparently, Australians are only just beginning to embrace Halloween – but not at this house in Elanora Heights. It’s crammed full of skulls, tombstones, cobwebs and coffins plus a life-sized grim reaper. They’ve even stocked up on 1,500 chocolate bars to hand out – so if you’re trick or treating in Oz, head there.
That doesn’t stop Australians having a frankly bizarre sounding annual “The Australian Caterpillar Halloween Contest”. This year’s winner is the “skull” caterpillar of the Imperial Fruit Sucking Moth. It’s an endangered species currently fighting habitat loss in the Australian rainforest and features a painted skull and eyeballs on its enlarged head to scare away predators – and us, actually.
Canada
Turns out the Canadians, like their friends to the south, really go in for Halloween.
New Zealand
While in New Zealand, Kiwi kids aren’t doing it right – according to this advice from an American expat anyway. The golden rules of trick or treating include “costumes are mandatory” and to remember your manners. Sounds like good advice to us.
If trick or treating sounds a little tame to Kiwis (bearing in mind this is the nation who invented such heart-hammering activities as bungee jumping, zorbing and jet boating), they might be heading to Spookers instead. It’s a haunted attraction theme park where participants willingly agree to be scared witless by “visual, tactile, and sound effects intended to scare the yell out of you” in some delightful-sounding attractions – haunted house, freaky forest, disturbia or cornevil.
Er. No.