Halloween in Korea – The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

When I think about Halloween many memories of childhood come to my mind, usually in my country Halloween is a celebration for kids so the last time I really enjoyed it, was almost twenty years ago. The first Halloween I spent in Korea by chance I ran into a crowd of young people that made of the streets a runaway of costumes. I was amazed how Koreans with no shame were showing off their much elaborated costumes, walking in the streets and taking pictures with anyone that request them.

During that night you can find several parties and special events in bars and pubs, where you can get special services if you assist with a costume besides most of them do contest to award the best costume. In the most popular neighbors people exhibit their creative costumes and all the party is going as inside bars as outside in the streets, and the most amazing is that even with the crowd until late at night, the places are still very safe. During Halloween the most popular places are Itaewon (Itaewon Station) where koreans and foreigners celebrate in a very American style, Hongdae (Hongik University Station) the most popular place among young people celebrate a costume’s parade and instead of street food you will find street alcohol. There are also some big events during the day for example in Lotte World and Everland there are some horror circuit and Han River (Yeoeuinaru Station) where you can enjoy a party in a cruise.

The most common costumes are characters of horror movies, characters of video games, face-paint like Mexican style skulls, zombies and traditional cloths. It is really interesting how much effort young people do to prepare the best costume, some of them look very realistic and horrific.

I am really impress by this Halloween Korean style, the way they enjoy in peace without any incidents in circumstances that look pretty dangerous. In Korea, unlike in my country, young people go outside during the night reviving his inner child, and very innocently they wear costumes, take pictures and have fun. This year Halloween will take place on Saturday 28^th, I will enjoy the Korean Halloween party and I will get a costume to go outside and celebrate, and have once more, the opportunity to enjoy this holidays as in my childhood’s days.

Pictures: Halloween 2016, Hongdae Playground.

Written By:
Nicole Lobos
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