Great ball, but who invited the spook?
IF the ghost of William Larnach started groaning and roaming the halls of Larnach Castle during the annual Halloween Ball on Saturday night, it is possible few people would have noticed.
He would have ‘‘blended in’’ with the guests, who spent most of the night dancing in devilish, ghoulish and ghostly garments.
But among the 100 people at the ball were Waiheke Island couple Helio Locatelli and Nicola Hambley, who think they may have had a paranormal encounter with the late, great Scot during the ball.
‘‘I’m not sure about ghosts, but [on Saturday night] I didn’t want to go to the toilets because both doors kept opening and closing fully at the same time,’’ Ms Hambley said.
‘‘I went to have a look inside to see if there was a window open, and there wasn’t.
‘‘It was quite uncanny, how it was happening.
‘‘I think we might have had a ghost experience, or maybe it was a vent or something.
‘‘Let’s just go with a vent.’’ It was one of the more memorable moments of their holiday weekend in Dunedin, she said.
Despite the gruesomely wet weather on Saturday night, lots of children also got into the spirit of Halloween and went trick or treating — also known as the great candy collection — around the streets of Dunedin.
And, not to be left out, many adults held spooky fancy dress parties, such as the Mexican Day of the Deadthemed party at Kirsteen McLayKnopp’s Dunedin house.
Some of the colourful Mexican traditions proved popular with party visitors, although during an ODT reporter’s visit on Saturday, few people seemed keen to ask a guitartoting skeleton for music lessons.
‘‘It’s part of my interest in different cultures,’’ Mrs McLayKnopp said.
Her family had been celebrating Halloween for several years, but developing specific themes had made the annual parties and celebrations a lot more fun.
Last year, the theme was ancient Egypt.
‘‘The kids seem pretty excited,’’ she said.
Mrs McLayKnopp is well travelled and spent some years living overseas, including in Japan.
Something could be learned from the Mexican Day of the
Dead holiday celebrations, and a strong trend towards New Zealand funerals becoming celebrations of the life achievements of the departed was also positive, she said.
‘‘It’s more about celebrating the life of the person and celebrating their achievements.’’