Attack of the killer pumpkins

Why, oh why, is South Africa not all caught up in the helter-skelter of Halloween? Some kids knocked on my door yesterday in not-so-scary, well, maybe-a-bit-scary-because-they-were-crap Halloween costumes and I was totally not prepared for them!  All I had was a half a loaf of bread and some mixed nuts.

Now, I know we were all out in fancy dress this weekend, but did we stop to think about the children? Did we go stock up on pumpkins and sugary treats? No.

South Africa has a long history of letting kids down on this gloriously ghoulish “holiday”. Case in point, my very first Halloween at the tender age of 9. Me and some kids from my neighborhood were wrapped up in toilet paper and tomato sauce and prodded into the back of a bakkie. We drove around for a couple of hours knocking on the doors of a suburb that was not properly prepared. No one had treats and if I’m honest, our costumes didn’t really deserve much attention.

So next year I am going to go out and buy a couple pumpkins and turn my house into a Haunted House of Horrors. Never again will the poor defenseless South Africa kids suffer a bland and half arsed Halloween. Who’s coming with me!