Close dialogue 1/16 Next image Previous image Toggle caption Witches, clowns and a killer durian! Halloween in the Blue Mountains – in pictures Each Halloween, photographer Maja Baska roams the streets of North Katoomba with her analogue camera to document the local festivities, capturing everything from the delightfully banal to the genuinely terrifying A long way from home ... you don’t see many sharks in the mountains ‘If you squint your eyes on a misty mountains evening, North Katoomba could be the set of any 90s horror film. The mist is so thick, you won’t see what is coming until it is too late.’ Walk down the path to find these two – tell me that is not the creepiest Halloween setup!
A whole pumpkin is perched on the letterbox. An elderly couple sit inside, one with a crooked party hat. They both stare vacantly at any brave visitors.
It creeps me out!’ ‘For the past three years, my analogue camera and I have roamed the streets, capturing the dedicated efforts of our locals – their outfits and how they decorate their homes’ ‘My dear neighbourhood North Katoomba is home to a diverse and tight-knit community of essential workers, artists and working-class families.’ ‘As the highway splits Katoomba, the north is the side less travelled with a colourful history, despite names like Paris Parade and Yosemite Park’ ‘A parent at our kids’ primary school is an engineer with a serious passion for Halloween. One year, dressed as the grim reaper with giant stilts beneath his cloak, he roamed up and down the steep hills of the avenues. I love this kind of commitment.
It’s just one part of what makes North Katoomba such a unique place to live’ Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning © 2026 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.(dcr)
Extract — continue reading at the source.
