John Dickson offers his more measured take on Halloween over at The Punch.
So, is Halloween today ‘evil’? Sure it is, if it involves the glorification (or, worse, the trivialization) of things satanic, and playing nasty pranks on neighbours who simply forgot to pick up a bag of sweets earlier in the day. Beyond that, a community dress-up involving opening our doors to each other and giving sweets to kids in fancy dress is a lovely idea. It might even build friendships in a society hungry for community.
Just to clarify. I don’t think Halloween is evil. I just think it’s dumb. Stupid. And not becoming of Australian culture. Which I would like to think maintains a higher standard than Coles and Woolworths would lead us to believe.