In good spirit
Halloween has always been a special occasion for California native Stina Oliver, who grew up carving pumpkins, decorating her house in ‘spooky’ themes and trick-or-treating.
This Halloween will be extra special, because she is due to marry her fiancé Rob Holt in Horsham on Saturday.
The Holt family, which includes Alexis, 15, Pamela, 13, Willie, 8, and Joe, 6, has been busy decorating ahead of All Hallows’ Eve.
Stina said Halloween was a ‘big deal’ in the United States.
“It’s a fun thing for kids to get over being afraid of monsters, because they kind of see the silliness in it,” she said.
“And of course, there’s candy.”
Stina said she was surprised to discover Halloween was decidedly less popular in Australia.
“It’s definitely a little bit of a shock to the system because I’m used to walking into stores and seeing an entire Halloween section and we’ve had to hunt around to find all these different pieces for our house,” she said.
“I think we went to five or six different shops to get everything.”
Stina said she had enjoyed sharing her tradition with her family.
“The kids have loved it. They’ve been scaring their friends – it’s been great,” she said.
“We think Halloween is for everyone and we do it for everyone – we want everyone to get into the spirit of it.”
She said she was excited to officially become ‘Stina Holt’.
“Rob and I have been together for two years and my daughters and I moved here a year ago,” she said.
“We’re going to have a small wedding in Horsham, because no one can travel.
“We thought Halloween was a good time to get married. In the spirit of it all, we decided to go all out.”
– Sarah Matthews