Osijek-One Written by James Mac Donald A few years back one could easily say no Halloween does not exist in Osijek or Croatia for that matter. October 31 night remained quiet with nothing happening at all, in other words… another cold boring night in Osijek. In the years to follow more and more stores are starting to have widows decorated with the Halloween theme of skeletons and scary masks. The café bars have also fallowed the trend on the Halloween theme as well. Is Osijek and the rest of Croatia slowly catching on to Halloween? Halloween for young adults Halloween for many young adults in Osijek has become a party night with various clubs and café bars holding costume Parties. In the evening catching a tram, there were people actually dressed in costume, looking like something out of the movie? The older generation looking at the young adult dressed as Dracula can be completely shocking and did not know what to do. Dobra večer (Good evening) would break the ice but what to say next would be a mystery. They seemed just to shake their head not knowing what to say. With each year more places are picking up on the Halloween night as the place to be for young adults to have fun and dress up. With many newspapers in Osijek and the rest of Croatia letting party goers know of the latest Halloween party. The commercial side of Halloween. Osijek stores are now starting to see more costumes and decorations to sell. Larger chain store are opening up with many stores being part of the larger European Union. The shopping malls have tried to have some fun with Halloween, but it is something that will take time through trial and error. Costume parade and prizes for best dressed is slowly catching on. Movie theatres this year with some popular monster cartoons and action films did something that was fun. They invited their guests to dress-up in their favourite character to add to the experience of the movie. It’s not trick or treating in full spirit yet, but Halloween culture is becoming almost the entire month of October in the film industry. What about the Children. For many years the young staying home and do nothing but watching Halloween cartoons, had been the staple. (If the grandparents did not them from watching the Halloween shows. Sometimes however if the kids were caught the end result would be the grandfather simply change the channel to watch football.) The idea of trick or treat a few years back in 2015 felt worse than being a vacuum salesperson going and ringing the door. Often the lights would be out and no one answered…. However, a year later in 2016 things change to much surprise, with some young school kids actually got together and went trick or treat. The other similar event that takes place earlier in the year is called maškare (also known as Carnival.) For the children it’s almost like having Halloween twice a year. (The dentists may soon possibly be needing to hand out more toothbrushes instead of Halloween treats.) ![]() Decorations have not gone to the extreme. Some houses have put out some Halloween decorations, but the older neighbours seem to frown on it. (For various reasons) The young generation under the age of 40, are the ones that said time for a change and have fun. The good news is that they only have a pumpkin in the front yard or doorstep. The average house has not turned into a graveyard, nor has it giving way to looking like a horror movie film set. The one plus side is that the cities of Croatia do not have the haunted houses or the zombie walks to spread fear throughout the streets. All of which can make Halloween a bit too far and scary for some. There is nothing worse than being dared or called chicken. What will you be for Halloween this year, if you had the chance to have fun?
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October 2017
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