THE much over-hyped Hallowe'en has already reared its ugly head as two of our big supermarkets have hit the headlines for selling offensive fancy dress costumes.

What idiot thought it was sensible to come up with a ‘mental patient’ outfit? It has backfired spectacularly on them and has been condemned, quite rightly, by mental health charities. To me it sums up everything that’s wrong with today’s Halloween.

Over the years this pagan ritual on All Hallows’ Eve has been commercialised beyond all common sense.

Now if you’ve not decorated your home with ghosts and ghouls, dressed all the family like extras in Michael Jackson’s Thriller or bought enough chocolate to feed a small army, then you’re considered no fun at all.

There appears to be no such thing as making your own fancy dress outfits any more. When I was young we would cut two eye holes in my mum’s best sheet and be transformed into a ghost.

Today’s parents are expected to shell out for elaborate and often expensive outfits.

In my childhood Halloween was rarely celebrated unless like me, being born close to Halloween (believe me I’ve heard all the jokes before) we would often mark it with a birthday party which might include apple bobbing, carving a pumpkin into a jack-o’-lantern, telling scary stories or some other innocuous pursuit.

Adopted from America, trick or treating became the norm some years later.

It’s different in the States where whole communities come together for Halloween and bake cakes and biscuits for the children.

Families make it a real occasion with everyone dressing up and going to one and another’s homes.

Here it’s a very different picture.

Given that the majority of us know very few of our neighbours and we spend a lifetime educating our children not to talk to strangers, then one day in the year we tell them to go and knock on the doors of their homes.

I never let my children go trick or treating, I didn’t want them begging for sweets. Unless it was an organised Halloween event at school or at a friend’s house, then they stayed in.

And it’s not just treats that many of today’s children are after, some of them want cold, hard cash!

Unless you remember to stock up with goodies, proffer so much as a Blue Riband or insult them with an apple and your offerings will be met with distain.

While some youngsters do at least make the effort to dress up there are older ones who simply put a mask under their hoodie and stick out their hand hoping for cash.

What they don’t realise is that older people are often scared to open the front door on a dark night and the sight of a ‘Scream’ mask peering back at you is enough to give anyone heart failure.

Turning down the TV and pretending you’re not at home is one option I recommend.

It’s such a shame that Halloween has overtaken much of the fun and tradition of Bonfire Night – which is just a week later.

This was something the whole family could enjoy and all we wanted was a penny for the guy!