San Remo's 'Halloween House' ready for the big day (and night)

HOW spooky do you like to go at your place for Halloween?

Maybe you put a carved pumpkin or jack-o-lantern in your window.

Perhaps there’s a spiders’ web and a skeleton hanging from your front door.

Or, alternatively, you don’t do anything, it’s all just American commercialism.

Whatever your position on the annual celebration of all things creepy, ghostly, hair-raising and scary; there’s always someone who goes just that bit harder than the next person.

And locally, that person is San Remo’s Irene Penn.

A resident of the popular seaside town for the past three years, Irene and her family have brought their tradition for doing up their front yard (and their house) for the festival from Frankston and it’s getting bigger and bigger every year.

“It’s all just for a bit of fun,” says Irene with a ghoulish grin.

“We started out small but add 30 or 40 pieces each year to the point now where we can set up the front yard, the back and also the house.

“This year inside we’ve got the Butcher’s Room, a Clown Room, Spooky Room, Black Church, and a Ghosts and Witches Room.

“Outside we’ve got the big graveyard, with my old favourite ‘Happy’ in the coffin. There’s a spiders’ feature, lots of pumpkins, a guillotine, a couple of sets of stocks… there’s a lot of stuff there!”

And everyone is welcome.

“We open the house on Monday, October 31, which is Halloween, from 12 noon to 9.30pm, so come along and bring the kids or not. A lot of adults enjoy the fun of Halloween as well.

“We put on popcorn, fairy floss, pumpkin pie and 500 lolly bags.”

Entry is by “donation”, to go towards new features for next year.

“One of the new things we’ve got this year is a huge, blow-up horse with the Grim Reaper riding it out the front and there’s a smoke machine for atmosphere.

“We had 500 people through last year and, if the weather’s any good, we could have that or more next year.

“I love it. The ghosts, and the graveyard and all the other spooky things associated with Halloween. It’s a lot of fun.”

As much as people think Halloween is an American thing, it was first celebrated in Australia in Castlemaine in October 1858.

Halloween had its origins in Scotland and Ireland thousands of years ago as the festival of ‘Samhuinn’ – marking the end of harvest and the end of summer.

Despite Halloween’s rich history and the shared culture between Australia, Britain and the US, Australia hasn’t always embraced the festival but in recent times, it has really started to take off.

Locally, Coal Creek Heritage Village at Korumburra used to host a monster Halloween, before COVID, and while it’s missing again in 2022, the theme park is bringing it back again in 2023.

There is no straightforward answer as to why Australia has held back on Halloween, but the three most common beliefs pertain to the Victorian pushback against Halloween, the Australian seasons being upside down, and, to a lesser extent now, the Australian disdain for American imperialism.

An article in a US newspaper blames the British social conservatism of the Victorian era as a reason for the lack of enthusiasm for Halloween in Australia.

During the 19th century, the British Empire was at its peak and its rule was more absolute, blocking out what many also thought was a pagan tradition.

Some still don’t like the connection with death, spirits and spooks and the Grim Reaper.

But Halloween actually has its roots in mainstream Christianity, not only marking the change of seasons, but also celebrating the eve of All Saints Day on November 1 and All Souls Day on November 2, a time to honour our ancestors and the heroes of Christianity.

But, that’s all a bit too heavy!

It’s just about having some fun and many of the kids today (plenty of adults too) have embraced the idea of “trick or treating”, dressing up and making fun of the creepy, crawly, spooky things that go bump in the night.

Irene Penn’s Halloween House at 45 Ocean View Avenue, San Remo, will be open from 12 noon to 9.30pm on Halloween, Monday, October 31. See you there!