Last updated 19:23, Thursday, 06 November 2008

NOVEMBER. Almost preturnaturally dark all of a sudden; a time of festivals, rooted in both pagan times, and our earliest religions. A time for spooks, ghouls and horrific tales.

So, how was your “happy Halloween”? While I’m not agin a bit of fun, dressing up and lanterns, hasn’t it all gone a bit too far?

From its ancient origins, the festival went through an early form of trick or treating (the ‘trick’ being the poor saying prayers for the dead, the ‘treat’ being a gift of bread from the wealthy in return), but it was later outlawed, resulting in forbidden Catholic prayer meetings for the dead being confused with witches’ covens.

All that was needed was the rather tacky injection of American commercialisation to make our ancient festival what it is today. The shops are packed with gaudy costumes, gruesome skeletons in coffins and macabre masks.

And just around the corner from Halloween is Bonfire Night. Whatever happened to the time when lads stood shivering on street corners, slumped stuffed figures dressed in dad’s disarded suits and cloth caps; the dreaded call of “penny for the guy” as you tried to cross the street to avoid the inevitable begging?

Should we really be commemorating these events, though? If you’re a Catholic in particular, celebrating the dreadful torture and death of Guy Fawkes should be a real no-no. Yet I know there are Catholics who relish this autumnal festival.

Okay, okay, I love the way the colours light up the dark sky and the smell of fireworks fills our nostrils. Toffee apples, jacket potatoes and sparklers (always wear gloves); woolly hats – a fabulous time, full of superstitions, darkness and strange sounds. A time for spooks and ghouls.

We’ve always needed horror, us humans; from cave paintings depicting gory hunts, Gothic horror, the slasher movies, we need the adrenaline pumping, the thrills and spills, the oohs and aahs, to see us through our darkest days.