@dawnbc1, I gave my opinion strictly my own. I am quite aware of old legends, but also read Bible fully and most chapters 10th and more times and didn't find any indication of nowadays way of celebrations, including Christmas, btw in other parts of the world it's not about shopping, and people don't even know what is that halloween. Good for them, no need to propagate scary stuff in our crazy world with more and more crime and mentally ill people. I stopped reading daily newspaper because I felt depressed from morning from all that news. Talking to my new friend, she admitted that she stopped too because she developed sort of paranoid, was afraid to stay home alone and such, then slowly got back to normal.

We do one man haunts. One of us takes our son trick or treating and the other does the haunt. I try to do cute in a spooky way. Here is a few photos: Baby Jason Voorhees and Daddy Jason Voorhees. Daddy Voorhees would push baby Voorhees on a tire swing. Baby Voorhees is actually a 1965 Ronald McDonald doll. I also did a floating head one Halloween with a cute mummy puppet. And my favorite prop I use every year, 3 haystacks with ivy and 3 lighted pumpkins.

Here is the mummy puppet. Happy Halloween!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And the 3 haystacks at the beginning of my driveway!

In Australia, the only thing Halloween is a celebration of is lolly companies selling more products - and supermarkets thinking they can force a whole bunch of cheap tacky foreign-inspired products on us. I much prefer to celebrate the AUSTRALIAN festival of dressing up and eating that happens at this time of year: MELBOURNE CUP WEEK.
There's no Halloween in my calendar this year - just Derby Eve. I just don't get why people enjoy being hoodwinked by multinationals and huge companies into unnecessary spending on unnecessary stuff . . .

I'm with you Susan!

.....and I'm with Susan and Joy!!

Stock up on the lollies, especially the black Wizz Fizz, and make my own decorations which I can use year after year and add to as my imagination goes wild. I just wish we didn't have daylight saving then it would be dark(ish) when the kids come around and my glow in the dark headless bride (from chicken wire) would be especially awesome.

As an Aussie of convict heritage, I don't see any need to copy all things American. I do appreciate some of the cultural changes other races have brought to our country, particularly their cuisines, but we don't need to adopt any more commercialism than we already have.

Halloween means nothing to Aussies, other than the kids wanting lollies and costumes. Besides I see it as a dangerous thing to allow kids to wander the streets at night, knocking on strangers' doors. Maybe it's different in the USA, but that's how I see it here in Australia.

As an American [who loves Aussies, BTW] I especially loved this holiday back in the 50s. This was partly because I was a kid and had a creative Mom. Same for Christmas. The creative potential for both holidays [and the food] is quite appealing but the outrageous commercialism is not. Younger folks have only known this highly commercial society we live in now and may not agree with me, but there are a lot of Americans who yearn for a simpler time.

I felt the same as most of you who said it is another commercialised holiday, it isn't an Australian holiday and I do feel it is being forced somewhat on us. I will, however, put out a pumpkin and buy lollies and be open to our neighbours children and their excited faces at my door. It is silly to me, but in a lot of ways so is all the stuff we do for Christmas these days. If it makes the kids happy and its a bit of fun for them I am happy to go with it. I also think it might be a nice thing for the neighbourhood in general, a way to meet and great the people who live around us, I might hate it, I'll have to wait and see.

As one who collected candy in a pillowcase as a kid, wearing nothing more complicated than an old sheet and some charcoal and lipstick, I think it's a wonderful FIRST WORLD we enjoy, where it is even a topic for discussion..

Had fun getting candy and dressing up as a kid. Since witchcraft, death, the supernatural have become more popular and ever so slowly taken more seriously, we do not choose to celebrate. I could lighten up but when something dark becomes popular and more and more accepted we like to give it a bit more thought, not just go with the flow. Now, Christmas has become less and less celebrated from its true meaning. Surprise, Halloween has also has become a huge money maker for companies (right behind Christmas) so yes, it is being pushed on us to consume. I prefer Thanksgiving. Gathering with loved ones, expressing gratefulness and enjoying a meal together. Thats my kind of celebration

Everyone is entitled to their own beliefs and opinions. However, let's not cast judgement on those who choose to partake in Halloween festivities. Let's also remember that this is a home design site.

I do it for the kids....I much prefer to celebrate/decorate for life rather than death. =)

Jan Moyer - I too was a kid that grabbed a pillow case, maybe some old clothes of my dad to dress as a hobo or a long skirt of my mom's and strands of necklaces to "be" a gypsy, then out the door to join a gang of friends and laugh ourselves silly. Some neighbors would make popcorn balls or caramel apples and we would oo and ah over their generosity.

There were a couple of times we had a good scare (one neighbor appeared at the door with a shotgun) and we screamed and ran to our moms waiting at the sidewalk. Another time a neighbor hid around the side of his house with a water hose while his wife rocked in her chair paying us no mind. It was all in good fun and made great memories.

Now, we have so many distractors and creators of evil, razor blades in candy...I'm even hearing of marijuana laced gummy bears. So the holiday becomes twisted and turned from the fun of our "simpler" times. Tis the way of all things, I suppose. It makes me sad. Although I'm hearing over the grapevine that my grandson is loving the word "hobo" now. :)

As a transplanted Yank in Australia, I have to say that I enjoyed Halloween as a kid, in simpler times. We enjoyed the aspect of dressing up, roaming our own neighbourhood for

Sorry! Let me continue...we roamed our own neighbourhood and presented ourselves for lollies... Always supervised by our parents. The social aspect I recall was neighbours admiring our costumes. There was a familiar ritual of carving the pumpkin which I love. Since I've lived in Oz, I've noticed progressively more commercialisation around Halloween, but in the my own neighbourhood only a few children have presented themselves over the years... Lately not at all. Because of this aspect I've not encouraged my own kids to trick or treat... But I've never gotten the impression they've missed out!! I taught them to carve the pumpkin - they love this and we do it every year... And have lollies on hand in case. I love putting the Jack O lantern out. But I respect the lack of interest shown in my neighbourhood, have tried to fit in to my new culture over the years. My kids instead enjoy the lengthening and warming days of October springtime den Unda and look forward to summer beach time at Christmas...

Maybe I'm missing something. The way this question is worded sounds like it is directed to Aussies only. ???

I can't stand Halloween. I love the fall, but can do without the spooky and the candy. Didn't even like it as a kid. Don't understand the huge following it has.

I love Halloween much more that Christmas, which to me is the waste of money season. I love to decorate and especially getting dressed up! Its the chance to dress up and be whoever you want to be! Oh to be a little girl again, its not just scary stuff. I have been Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, a tiger, Snow White and many, many more over the years. This year I will be Lekshmi, a Hindu goddess, just about have the costume together. Yahoo!!!

I hate it, kids love it of course.
Depends on neighbourhood and how it's arranged - it can be a fun community thing to do. Our area has one where kids are told to only take one lollie and always say thank you etc.
Reluctantly I go along with it and force a smile.
Hate+++ the cheap, artificially, coloured/flavoured lollie-fest that it is and all the one-off cheap plastic decorations that go with it.

I know Halloween has pagan origins, but how many pagans went door-knocking for lollies? It's a marketing ploy and I will not be encouraging my children to go asking people for lollies when the other 364 days of the year I warn them against taking lollies from strangers.

@almostjane - the question appeared on the Australian Houzz site, so yes, it is directed to Australians. We know Americans celebrate Halloween, Fourth of July, Thanksgiving and - somebody's birthday (Martin Luther King?). On the other hand, Australia has Australia Day, Anzac Day, Queen's Birthday - and many large cities also have a Cup Day (Adelaide and Melbourne do, so does Geelong). So while it's nice to learn of Americans' recollections of how they celebrated Halloween in their childhoods, it's not quite on topic: no adults in Australia celebrated Halloween in their Australian childhoods because, until supermarkets started to trying to foist tacky costumes on the public about 15 years ago, Australians did not take any notice of Halloween (with the exception of Americans living in Australia).

@lindalinda1: a Hindu goddess for the Christian makeover of a Celtic pagan ritual - that's some multiculturalism! In Australia, fancy dress is not restricted to Halloween - people can and do hold costume or theme parties at any time. And a lot of men in particular like to dress up in costumes for Melbourne Cup - I particularly remember the group of guys who went last year as Smurfs . . .

Grew up in Canada so carve a pumpkin each year to sit on the post box. Other than that, I give it a miss.

Sorry - Halloween is an American tradition, not an Australian one. And totally agree with the commercialism aspect of it, not to mention (a )encouraging our kids to take lollies (candy) from strangers and (b) encouraging all that sweet stuff. Boy oh boy, do I sound like a party-pooper! I'm all for a good party and love celebrations, but all of the above, combined with the ghosts, witches, blood, guts and ghoullies - sorry, I am definitely NOT a Halloween fan.

Last year I saw a carving of a face in a watermelon instead of pumpkin (latter seem to go mouldy quickly).

As I child I loved Halloween, especially dressing up and trick-or-treating. As an adult I loved watching the kids parade down the street in the costumes, some so spectacular I knew someone had lovingly made them. I took great joy in decorating our house for Halloween, sometimes I could barely restrain myself from putting up our decorations in early September. My children loved dressing up and would agonize over just the right costume. Unfortunately, the few kids in our neighborhood quickly grew up; being in an almost rural area with no sidewalks, few others ventured into our streets in search of candy. The last 10 years have gone by with no one ringing our bell. So today, I decorate our house in more of a fall/harvest theme (with occasional nods to ghouls and monsters). I do it for myself. Do what you think is best for yourself.

What difference does it make what you believe in? We think to much about what people celebrate. can't we have fun and not be a Grinch about it! Time for the PC police to stop. And let the rest of us have some fun, we aren't hurting anyone, "Happy Halloween".

It's a bit of fun and not to be taken too seriously. Have never celebrated Halloween but do like the idea of having a great costume party with all the decor & everyone dressing up. But looks like a couple of good old scary movies will be the go. Do love a great horror movie good excuse to get to the video shop..

I love Halloween! It is a fun, light hearted children's holiday. The trick or treating is so nice in my community because the neighborhood is very close knit and the neighbors are so happy to see the kids and I love seeing the children of friends I grew up with. It really is the one holiday that is an all inclusive community celebration instead of just family. No stress, no presents to buy, no dinners to sweat over - just costumes and fun!

More on the origins: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween

I put a sign out yo say trick or treaters welcome, this year I've put eyes and teeth on the front door .. I'll be wearing a mask and gave a HUGE bowl of lollies at the ready. It's a lovely way to get to know people in your neighbourhood. Remember - teenage boys still like to trick or treat. They can fill their childhoods slipping away so let them. My son is 15 & wants to go again.

Hey...BTW... we don't that that many children - maybe 25-30 or so. But a few years ago I've discovered that buying those "fun size" bags and giving each a few bits was more expensive than just getting a wholesale box (at Sam's Club) of full size candy bars. We give out one full size candy bar to each and they are saying "Wow! A real candy bar!".

My 32 yr old son still hasn't outgrown Halloween. He decorates his home with all the gory, icky, scary things he can find. He has a fog machine and creepy music and dresses to the hilt to give out candy to the kids in the neighborhood. He loves it and his neighbors do too. Happy Halloween's Eve, everyone!

When I was about 9 years old I went trick or treating in a country community that didn't expect anyone to knock on their doors. An elderly man answered our knock but had to tell us they didn't have anything to give us but he quickly thought of a solution...and into his house he went, returning with a portion of a bag of bread. He divided the bread between us and off we went, but not before he confided in us that since he'd given away all the bread, his wife would have to make biscuits for their breakfast the next morning and he greatly preferred her biscuits! Those slices of Mrs Baird's bread were the best as we had sampled candy and wanted something different to eat...and all these years later I still remember the old mister giving us their bread.

Great story! That is the kind of Halloween I remember!

Halloween isn't just celebrated in the US. On holidays in Germany we were treated to Halloween at Euro World, great surprise, the kids were scared stiff but loved every moment. I prefer organised community groups that do it for a bit of social fun and community fund raising. Trick or treating is an Irish tradition celebrated by Irish immigrants in the US and has no real value in Australia

Great article, I've always wanted to celebrate haloween, but it's rarely people celebrate it in here in Australia. Even though actually some shops sell the haloween decoration such as this http://www.lombard.com.au/category/special-occasions/halloween-/decorations/

I'm amazed at the fuss about Halloween, if you don't like it then celebrate the original Celtic/ European celebrations. I'm also amazed that people have mixed feelings especially the Americanization of the festival but no gives a second thought about the modern version of Father Christmas which is actually a 1930's Coca Cola ad campaign. It's a pity that people don't give proper reverence to the original FC and his genuine charity

There are a lot of posts here from Americans saying how great Hallowe'en is, and how great is (or was in their childhoods) - which miss the point of original question (do Australians celebrate Hallowe'en). So, I'm going to ask all American (and other non-Australian) posters to answer this question: I am fully aware that Melbourne Cup Day is not a traditional US or Canadian holiday, however I'm curious to know if you celebrate it or not?

Susan_66, Halloween did not originate on the North American continent. Its origins trace back to Celtic roots in Northern Europe. I agree many of us probably did not take into account that the question was asked by an Australian but I don't think that comparing Melbourne Cup Day with Halloween is an apt comparison. In the US we do have the Kentucky Derby though it's not a national holiday.

Why, I invite you to Melbourne Cup here. There is nothing like it in the world.

I give chocolates at the door, just because I like sharing. We aren't into Halloween ourselves, but observe All Souls Day according to our denomination , and pray for our deceased loved ones.

Chook, I imagine everything in Australia is like nothing else in the world. I've always felt it must be a magical place.

Come to visit on the second Tuesday in November with a fabulous hat and frock and I will show you .

Thank you.

Genie is out of the bag in our area :-(

There was no halloween in Australia until maybe 9-10 yrs ago here. I hated it starting. First time 'cos I didn't have any lollies for a couple of teenage kids who came to the door - I was like, "You want lollies for what - oh right - hang on..." and returned with some dried apricots being the sweetest things in the house - very daggy. I then promptly closed the garage gates and curtains to deter any more visitors.

Now though the whole neighbourhood has kids dressed up running around - there is certainly some fun in it but certainly some a lot of very cheap and nasty lollies full of colourings, preservatives, flavours and of course a tad more than 5% sugar :-) !

So i reluctantly wander the streets with forced smiles trying not to rain on everyone's parade - there is neighbourhood fun to be had though, people to chat and laugh with, and some fabulous decorations by those who really try hard. Not into the scary stuff for under 7s yet - poor little things can't tell if Santa is real or not or so how are they to know those scary ghouls and fantasy not fact... I fear there is no chance of stopping the halloween tsunami here any more than stopping xmas - choose your battles I suppose. At least there is no "tricking" as far as I have experienced.

Nice little idea for warm climates like October in Sydney - instead of a pumpkin which goes mouldy quickly - use a watermelon to cut out a face.

Sure. . . . whatever rings your bell, but I think there are more culturally relevant ways to remember and honour our dead. If all the money that is spent on spooky costumes and decor, not to mention tonnes of confectionary, were to be spent on . . . . blah blah blah.

I gave my visitors individual boxes of sultanas a couple of years ago and they haven't come back. I didn't plan for that outcome, but. . . . .

lhh