Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween Holidays for the many hers of many lifestyles.

By Tania Prestidge

Ah Halloween. The story of Halloween starts thousands of years ago in which the holiday itself was held by the Celtic druids who would ask for protection from evil spirits for the many families and help them prepare for such an event. Influenced by the many religions, finally Christianity, Halloween, also known as All Saints Day, was used to honour the saints. Later on that night, bonfires would start and people would dance around the fires, dressed up as saints, angels and devils. From this the modern day Halloween was born and the traditions have remained very much alive and carried on to what it is known as today even when we were all very young children.

As young children we trick or treated dressed up in costumes, like angels, devils and now many other characters and beings such as vampires, zombies and fairies. We screamed at the scary stories told to us and jumped at pranks pulled on us or we pulled and laughed. Now we're older I am pretty sure a lot of us still want to celebrate the holiday that we grew up with. The question most people ask is how do we celebrate it as adults?

Of course, we wouldn't be able to trick or treat now we're older (unless you're with young nieces, nephews, sons and daughters), and we have probably grown out of telling scary stories or have actually ran out of horror stories to scare people. We won't be able to pull pranks as perfectly as we did when we were younger. Or we just don't feel like playing anymore pranks and want something new to do in our ever changing life.

However, even though it feels like there aren't many ways to celebrate Halloween or feel limited to what we can do on Halloween, there are many ways to celebrate. Here are just a few:

* Cemetery walks anyone? For those who love exploring different places, even at night. An example of the cemetery walks offered here in Australia is Queensland's well known Toowong cemetery walks, but any local cemetery night walks at night are good and are just one of the many ways to get that adrenaline rush for something spooky and scary. If you're lucky, you might have some ghost or paranormal scare there. Hey it's Halloween and the ghosts might want to say hello. It can cost a little bit, but it's well worth the money. Although if the cemetery isn't your scene but still want the adrenalin, haunted houses such as the Monte Cristo in New South Wales and the old Melbourne Jail in Victoria as well as the Boggo Road Jail are other examples of places you can go and get a feel for the paranormal without having to feel the cold or getting bitten by mosquitoes.

* Party time! For those who think Halloween deserves a party of its own, have a party with friends and get dressed up for the holiday. There are costume shops that sell costumes and will even allow you to hire them for the special spooky night. Hire a room with a dance floor and dance the night away with friends to music that a DJ would play. Or have the party at a friend's place and play music that's would get all you monsters, or an agent, as a friend of mine is going to dress up as, James Bond style, on the dance floor. Still as good just cheaper for those who want to save money.

* Not much of a person to get out and party? Neither are some of my girl friends so they came up with another way of celebrating. Stay inside, turn off the lights and watch spooky movies while curled up with blanket, popcorn, candy and your special someone, friends or family. I'm pretty sure by the end of the night you would want to cuddle up with someone from all the frightening scenes you watched in the movie. Great movies would be 'the ring' movies, the 'saw' movies, the 'scary' movies series (if you want humour as well as something that would keep you on the edge). There are many others out there such as 'Chucky', 'The exorcism' (or exorcist') and the recent movie 'Paranormal Activity' that are sure to also give you goose bumps and make you jump at bumps in the night

* For those with young families or are single mothers, I'm pretty sure a night out partying is out of the question. But that doesn't mean you can't have fun on this holiday. Have a get together with other young families who have babies and other single mothers would be a great idea to try out. It can even be more fun than a night out. Try dressing the young babies or children up in costumes and take photos whilst all the while enjoying some nice drinks and baked goods decorated in a Halloween theme. Dress up too and have a competition to spice things up!

* For those that want a very 'special' night in with their loved ones, kick off your heels and find something almost gothic or classy to wear to spice things up. Corsets or any clothing that have black lace would look very stunning that even the other half would make that night one of the best nights ever. Enjoy a glass of dark red wine and a bowl of dark chocolate and take it from there if you wish. They even say a kiss on the neck is a turn on. Maybe that's why vampires bite there so often, who knows? No harm in trying that little trick it might even work!

These are just many suggestions for all women to try when they want to have a good time this Halloween. No women should miss out on this holiday, so grab your brooms and hats and get out the cauldron to stir up some Halloween fun (or spooks) this month.

Costumes available at www.halloweencostumes.net.au/