Loving Halloween!

I have secretly loved Halloween for years. I adore the feeling of being completely freaked-out and have been renowned for my ghost story renditions since I started going to sleepovers. I even enjoy the odd horror movie. Not the blood and guts kind but the freaky, spooky, Blair Witch kind.

As a child I was so jealous of American children at Halloween. The fancy dress, the trick or treating and the parties. Since I first watched ET I was fascinated by the idea of 'trick or treating' and was desperate to get involved but it just didn't happen in the UK in those days.

So last night was the biggest revelation for me. Halloween in America lived up to all of my expectations!

We were kindly invited to join some friends in their 'neighbourhood' for our first trick or treating experience. As the sun went down the children (and adults) come out in their droves. There were ghosts and witches, mummies and ghouls, cats and spiders and even a caveman (!). Groups of children knocked on doors and were rewarded with handfuls of brightly coloured, sugarific 'candy'. The effort people go to is extraordinary. One house had spooky music blaring out, you had to fight your way through the cobwebs to get to the door and then you were greeted by a full-size coffin the opened to reveal a revolting zombie. It wasn't until you'd run this horrible gauntlet that you could claim your chocolatey prize! Some people had baked beautifully iced muffins, others set up a little stand by their door overflowing with treats ready for their visitors. This is a tradition that is fully embraced over here and is seriously good fun. We met all our neighbours and planted the seed for some potential new friendships, everyone seemed to have fun - even though it was absolutely pouring with rain.

Coco managed to get into a packet of Skittles without us realising so was literally bouncing off the walls by the time we got home but still it was a brilliant, brilliant family evening.