Do we really want Halloween in Australia?

There was a murder recently in America. It seemed without motive.

But they showed a gruesome picture in the window of the house - a Halloween 'decoration.'  A figure with a raised knife, a figure of someone apparently in the act of stabbing someone.   It was not supposed to have had anything to do with the murder, but how could anyone think this any sort of a  'decoration?'

It was 31st October yesterday, and while Halloween was ignored in my own neighbourhood, I was still subjected to some gruesome images in the name of fun.  There was a zombie 'decoration,' the realistic figure apparently struggling along the ground, bleeding from its eyes.  Awful!

Children get dressed up as hideous creatures.

And then they wander around the neighbourhood collecting a bucket of 'treats,'  often enough to make them sick several times over.  That is not good for them, even if they don't get someone's pills mixed up with the 'treats' as happened to one unfortunate three-year-old.  (How could that have been an accident?)

So there are three issues of Halloween I object to.

1. The promotion of ugly and offensive images in the name of fun.
2. Children stuffing themselves with sweets to the detriment of their health.
3. The danger.  Even when the children are supervised, and often they would not be, they are knocking on the doors of strangers.  And some of the treats might be less harmless than the chocolate-covered  brussel sprouts that I saw suggested.

There is also the irritation of the promotion of it in stores and on the media. I suppose it is good for business, especially as in some areas, no doubt, it will become a competition for the best expensive costume or the best expensive house decorations.

But we already have the less offensive celebrations at Easter and Christmas.  Really, do we want Halloween as well?  We don't actually have to follow America in all of its most foolish trends, do we?

I usually like to put pictures in my blog posts.  But I am feeling quite grumpy, and have no desire to put any pictures of spiders or grave yards or skeletons and especially not - zombies! 

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