Halloween generally passes me by because it has not traditionally been celebrated outside the US. Over recent years I find the retail Halloween hysteria a bit much, particularly as it will be followed by Black November (another new-ish phenomenon outside the US) and the Christmas all over the shops.
All Saints’ Day (1 November) is also a very spiritual day for the otherwise very secular Swedes, so the juxtaposition of taking a moment to honour departed loved ones with candles and memories on 1 November is very jarring.
Having said that, this little Halloween display really warmed my heart and made me smile today. It was outside an apartment doorway on my way to work. I think it appealed to me because it was a small, genuine, gesture and a bit of coziness and colour on the last day of autumn as Sweden pitches headlong into the darkest (and my least favourite) month…November.
I also liked these two display windows in a local café, Gunnarsons.
Princess Cake has become rather popular in other countries too.
And here are some little ghost balls.
Those little Amanita muscaria (fly agaric) mushrooms are fantastic!
It looks like a nice, original collection of goodies, not some corporate product line.
These are from a traditional old-timey Swedish café that really lean into the different holidays in a way that is not commercialised. I love walking past their windows.
Halloween was celebrated in Scotland before the colonies were settled in what is now New England USA. The veil between this world and the next thins at Samhain (the so-called Witches New Year) and that is why I celebrate, not only, Halloween but also All Souls Day on 1 November. It allows me to “catch up” with those dearly departed souls from my youth and those of my ancestors who I never knew. If there wasn’t a Fascist take over in the USA today I would have liked to spend the entire month of October celebrating the dead in New Orleans.