The worst part of Halloween, according to my American friends, is when 4 "kids" arrive at your door, wearing no costume at all saying "TRICK or treat", emphasis on the Trick part of things. Teenagers - don't trick or treat. If you're over 14 you should under no circumstances be trick-or-treating, unless you are there to safeguard a younger sibling. By all means, celebrate halloween if you're 10, 20, 30 or even 70 or whatever age you are - just don't go trick or treating.
I'm just lucky we don't have trick-or-treating here in Australia. Australians are starting to celebrate Halloween, due to us kids who were raised on American TV reaching Adulthood. Right now, it's usually confined to halloween parties or horror-themed movie nights. And that's fine. That's fun. I have nothing but good will to those who wish to celebrate all things spooky (even if the bright green grass and sunny blue sky here in Australia fails to evoke the mood of Halloween. It's summer here guys. Halloween just doesn't feel right in summer).
But now the goddamn super markets are trying to push Trick-or-Treating on to us, selling us costumes for kids and cheaper candy. NO. I WILL NOT TOLERATE THIS. To hell with Coles and Woolworths trying to foist this American tradition on us!
First of all: Australia has no traditional folklore creatures that would fit the Halloween motif.
Second: Pumpkins aren't iconic or seasonal here. They're damned expensive to buy too. What would we carve? Pavlova's? Coconuts?
Third: It's not autumn here. No red or yellow leaves. No cold nights. In fact, it regularly storms around this time of year. We've had, what, about 5 thunderstorms in the past 2 weeks where I live. And it's been raining a lot too.
Fourth: If Halloween takes hold, the next thing you know the super markets will be trying to convince us to celebrate Thanksgiving. Given our history of what European Australians (90% of us, and half of me) did to the Aboriginals (it was even worse than what you guys did to the Native Americans), such a celebration would be a very cruel joke.
Five: I don't like giving my candy to children.