Hallowe'en is here. Observed on October 31- the eve of All Saints' Day - Hallowe'en in Western countries is about ghosts, ghouls, goblins, and the supernatural. It's a time for dressing up in frightening costumes - and that's just the adults.

Aaaarrrrgggghhh!!

In Britain, Hallowe'en is associated with children playing "Trick or Treat" - a game where they dress up in scary outfits and visit neighbours' houses threatening to play practical jokes on the inhabitants if not rewarded with sweets or money. In the US though, Hallowe'en is a frighteningly big business - it is now worth an estimated 2.5 billion dollars a year to retailers of products such as plastic skeletons and luminous face paint.

According to the National Retail Federation in America, Hallowe'en generates more revenue than any other day on the calendar except Christmas Day. It also means big money in Britain where iit currently eclipses November 5 -- Guy Fawkes Day -- in terms of retail sales, including sales of fireworks.

Simon Tisdall, a retailer with a chain of party shops, says there are several reasons for the succesful marketing of Hallowe'en: "Certainly the fact that it's so huge in America - and we do tend to follow American trends. Pubs and restaurants hold theme nights (costume parties), young children like it because they can dress up and have fun. Teenagers like it too because they can look scary."

The sheer quantity of accessories and goods: plastic fangs, black nail varnish, luminous skeletons, jelly spiders, fake blood, pre-carved pumpkin lanterns, orange and black streamers - available in every supermarket - make this festival a great excuse for a party. High street grocers' shops are jammed with pumpkins as though they were an authentic part of English tradition.

Christian organisations are increasingly worried that the immense popularity of Hallowe'en might encourage some people to dabble in the occult. Keith Ewing, a spokesman for the Protestant Evangelical Alliance said, "The experience many of our churches have is that children do experiment with seemingly innocent pastimes that seem a bit of fun -- but actually they get in touch with forces that they don't really know how to handle."

The legends about ghosts, witches and the tradition of lighting candles to keep spirits away actually dates back 3000 years before Christianity to a pagan ritual, 'Samhain'. But the Hallowe'en that will be celebrated today really has little to do with Celtic rituals or All Saints Day. Nowadays Hallowe'en is more about commercial success rather than any Christian festival.

Simon Tisdall says that Hallowe'en is almost on a par with Christmas as a landmark date in the retailer's calendar: "The week leading up to Hallowe'en represents our single busiest week of the year in all of our stores. Hallowe'en itself represents the single busiest day, so it eclipses Christmas in that respect. It builds up every year. Hallowe'en is on the increase all the time."
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