What to do when your kids get spooky?
Culture has been a bit of a theme of late. The 31st of October does nothing to alter that.
Halloween is a tradition that might date all the way back to the Celts, but it is relatively new to New Zealand, courtesy of the the good ole U.S.A.
American television has made Halloween a thing which has caught on here, something that is growing in popularity year by year while some of the older traditions fade.
Something like Guy Fawkes was the go to in my day and while it is still celebrated, if that is the right word for commemorating the actions of the figure head for a band of terrorists, it is certainly not as popular as it used to be.
Regulation and political correctness and rules have sucked the life out of something as explosively fun as Guy Fawkes. Civil authorities still put on a show in many centers and good on them. For me, Guy Fawkes will always hold a special place as my birthday falls just a day or two before, meaning blowing things up in sparkly detonations takes on a dual importance.
All Hallows Eve doesn’t seem to hold the same inherent danger as igniting tubes full of phosphorous and gunpowder. Despite the lengths some families seem to go to in celebration of a 2000 year old bow to the spirits of the dead, said to return to earth on the 31st, no one seems to be worried enough to put a halt to things.
Now would be the time I could enter into a rant about the Americanisation of the western world in particular. How American culture, delivered to us through the television, is shaping and influencing us, particularly our youth culture.
I could, but I won’t.
Sometimes it is just fun. Instead I will share with you the fun my crew had with a bit of dress-up and some clever face-paint/makeup from their creative Mother.
You have been warned!!
Michael Bracey 
No one, and I mean no one, is going to get me to participate in Halloween. Probably it’s because it’s an American import, but it’s just bad taste to me. Good Old Guy Fawkes was much more fun – especially back in the 1950s and 1960s. The best Guy competitions and then a huge bonfire on the beach as it got dark followed by fireworks which we kids were allowed to light.
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Even in the late 70’s and 80’s, when I was a kid, Guy Fawkes was a thing the whole neighbourhood got involved in. Good times and great memories. I am not against change and while I might not embrace Halloween to the the same extent my kids do, who am I to stand in the way of their fun?
My wife and I traveled through South and Central America and to see the Dia de Muertos, or Day of the Dead, in action is something special, even if it too is now timed to coincide with Halloween. A true festival and celebration and more akin to tradition and belief. And a heck of a lot of fun.
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