Hands up all those who hate Halloween; what do the kids say, Boo!

_{Photo: https://www.purewow.com/family/last-minute-halloween-costumes-for-kids}

Halloween is a time of jump-up-and-down excitement for squealing kids and for sensitive adults a period to wonder why do we have this horror, ugliness, blood-thirstiness. Who’s to blame? At first we finger the Americans, but dig deeper and you see Halloween has been celebrated by the Scots and the Irish for centuries. Immigrants introduced the horrible festival to the Americans, who further corrupted it.

Around Sai Kung now you will see restaurants with spider webs strung all over the place and huge black spiders crawling about. Outside the everything-and-nothing shop near the town basketball court, severed bloody limbs lie about, ghoulish faces leer at you, every kind of nasty and creepy is there sending shivers down your spine. So too at Harrod’s. There’s always been something weird about Harrod’s.

_{Michael Keaton aka Beetlejuice was born at Halloween. True. Photo: https://screencrush.com/beetlejuice-dated/}

Only the brave should go to The Picture House at Halloween. It’s bound to be really creepy in there.

How did this all come about? Halloween is a celebration observed on 31 October, the eve of the Christian feast of All Hallows (Saints) Day. It is the beginning of Allhallowtide, the time of the liturgical year dedicated to remembering the dead, including saints, martyrs and the all faithful departed. Today, sadly, it has all become a celebration of horror, the macabre and the supernatural (some of the characters around town need no make-up).

The origins of Halloween are debated. Some say it comes from the Gaelic festival Samhaim, which has pagan roots. Others claim it for Christianity, the vigil of All Hallows Day.

_{Sai Kung is not Lan Kwai Fung, but is a lot closer, possibly more fun, and cheaper! Photo: HKTB}

On 31 October around town and in the villages, you will see kids out dressed up trick or treating, costume parties, pumpkins carved into jack-o’-lanterns, maybe a bonfire, apple bobbing, pranks beings played and scary stories told. Some people will attend church, then light candles on the graves of the dead.

Let’s lighten up:

Why don’t ghosts dance at parties? They have no body to dance with.

Why did the ghost go into the bar? For the boos.

Why do demons and ghouls hang out together? Because demons are a ghoul’s best friend.

What is a ghost’s favourite desert? I-scream.