I don’t know about you but I find it hard to believe that a man who makes a living from scaring tourists has a ‘Halloween phobia’ a condition called samhainophobia. In case you were wondering apparently the employee at The London Dungeons, considered to be the city’s most terrifying tourist attraction, might I add, claims to feel sick and breaks out in cold sweats during the Halloween season. My advice is simple; consider another field of work, because it sounds to me like you’re only scaring the living hell out of yourself and not the paying tourists!
Yes, Halloween is just around the corner and people in their millions, young and old will be waiting in anticipation for the macabre festivities which commemorate returning spirits. Halloween festivities are now part of the annual celebration calendar for numerous countries across the world. Such is the appeal that Halloween has gone to a whole new level. It’s no longer just about ghosts, ghouls, zombies, trick or treating and copious amounts of candy (as the American’s refer to it), it’s literally a contest to see who can create the ultimate ‘scare fest’ of the Halloween holiday. In fact I recently read that a famous pumpkin carver has paid a unique tribute to the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs, using a pumpkin!
Although some might say it’s a tad early to be thinking about Halloween mid-October, the ‘fright fest’ takes place on 31st October and I’m not one to sit back and let the fun pass me by, after-all it only comes around once a year and before you know I’ll be talking Christmas recipes. So here at Bubbles we’ve been searching the World Wide Web to see how Halloween is being translated in different cultures. We’ve found a few cool things that people get up to during this holiday in all its spiritual glory.
We begin our ghostly journey in Central America, where a Mexican custom, and their biggest holiday no less, is the Day of the Dead. Beginning on 31st October and lasting a total of two days the colourful festival is celebrated by Catholic Hispanics throughout Mexico in honour of deceased loved ones. Though it may sound a little gloomy and morbid, the Mexicans create an elaborate spread of food and offerings for the spirits and quite simply have a picnic. It sounds lovely, but I’m not sure that it would go down quite so well in the UK!
But how can I talk about Halloween and not mention the Americans! We all know if there’s an American party, then it’s done in style and it’s an all or nothing event. Americans of all ages will don elaborate costumes, from an American werewolf to a vampire bride, all in the name of fun! Entire families venture out on Halloween with Jack-O-Lantern carvings and trick or treat late in to the night.
Of course there is always a nation that will deem the festival as unorthodox or voodoo and I guess who’s to blame them, seeing as it’s celebrating the dead and not the living! Halloween in Russia has become a popular event for the young Russian generation. However this rise has unfortunately been met with controversy. Even though some celebrations do take place in schools for educational purposes and so on, the Government of the Russian Federation would much prefer the country’s people to focus their energy celebrating Russian culture and traditions instead. Throughout Moscow schools have been ordered to ban celebrating the festival which has been dubbed “cult of death”. Oh dear.
As you can see some countries love Halloween and others not so much. Either way if you and your family and friends are throwing a costume party, trick or treating, or simply staying in to have a fright fest movie night – then enjoy every moment!
Happy Halloween!
