Scary clown costumes mimicking the character Pennywise from Stephen King's horror movie It have been popular Halloween costumes in recent years. Photo / File
Scary clown costumes mimicking the character Pennywise from Stephen King's horror movie It have been popular Halloween costumes in recent years. Photo / File
It is the time of the year when the witches and evil elves and whatever go a-wandering...with little bags and baskets in hands.
A-wandering the land and a-knocking on the doors to seek anything with (they hope) sugar and chocolate in it.
Yep, it's edging toward Halloween, which has becomelike an out-take of The Simpsons over the past few years as this slice of Americana bites deeper year after year...like a vampire.
Them and the witches and the elves and the goblins and once there was even a kid with Mickey Mouse ears on...so I guess the whole concept had bewildered him.
This Halloween thing, which emerges every October 31, is now one of those annual events which has staked a place with kids in the way Christmas and Easter (eggs and buns) has.
And like those occasions it has also staked a sound place upon the advertising landscape because if you want the kids to look like a skeleton or a goblin or whatever then you're not likely to try and create something out of crepe paper, paint and an old sheet or two...you'll head for the store with windows filled with such eerie attire.
On the history front, this event was never intended to be what it has morphed into today.
It emerged about 2000 years ago as a Celtic celebration of the dead.
A blend of honouring those passed and timing it to coincide with the time of harvests.
Something along those lines anyway.
Not today though.
It's now, as noted earlier, a time of evil creatures and ghosts and goblins.
It has never sparked with me, although if it gets kids off the couch and meandering through some iPad fantasy landscape, and out on the footpaths and up strangers' pathways then all is good.
I think.
HBT16007229: Roger Moroney is an award-winning journalist for Hawke's Bay Today and observer of the slightly off-centre.
So we gather together a few things "just in case" the undead come-a-calling.
"Trick or treat?" the kids will occasionally say...otherwise it's a simple and to the point "got any lollies?"
To which I once replied that yes, I would like to see a trick.
So would the asker of this question like me to go and get a pack or cards or did he have one on him?
The older kid with him said they didn't really have any tricks and they didn't really know what it meant anyway and they began to step away.
Which was the moment I felt like a true goblin and told them to hang on...might have a treat inside somewhere.
Their faces defied the crude daubings of paint someone had applied hastily to make them look like skeletons and they broke into smiles.
Oh yes, a couple of Mallowpuffs will certainly wake the undead.
Another time, when our son was living at home and in his teenagehood, he decided to greet two or three little creature who approached the door wearing a quite horrific mask.
And after opening the door let out an equally horrific growl.
One kid backed straight off while the other two struggled for words.
Before one said something succinct like "that's cool" and they pushed their open bags toward us.
Another three Mallowpuffs gone.
Then there was the time I decided to make our doorstep look like the heart of Halloweenville.
Our son, then a lot younger, helped me hollow out a pumpkin to make it look just like one of those ones you see in Halloween films...or shop windows selling Halloween stuff.
And I put a candle inside it and we lit it and the glow could be seen through the eye opening.
It looked great.
Certainly drew some attention, as the door knockers a short time later confirmed.
For upon opening the door the first thing one of the kids said was "your chair's on fire".
The candle had fallen over and ignited the vinyl covering of it.
