I’m a Halloween snob, but even I’ve fallen for its spooky charms

No fan of Strictly’s horror-themed special or shrieking trick-or-treaters at the door, Catherine Pepinster admits she has slowly realised that there’s more to 31 October than macabre nonsense

Spooktacular: the ‘Strictly’ professional dancers get into the spirit of the Halloween Week special (BBC/Guy Levy)

When the children of Kurdejov, in the Czech Republic, put out an early display of pumpkins for their village’s Halloween parade a few days ago, the parish priest took one look – and decisive action. He stamped on the lot, denouncing them as a Satanic feast.

I wouldn’t go quite as far as Father Jaromir Smejkal, whose vandalism brought tears from the children, outrage from their parents, and an eventual apology from him. I loathed Halloween for years. Spare me, please, from yet another themed Strictly extravaganza where couples dance to “Monster Mash” and the theme from Ghostbusters, from the supermarkets filled with plastic bats and witches hats. And I really can’t bear the thought of ageing Duran Duran burdening us with their new fright-night offering, Danse Macabre, launched in time for 31 October.

This year, I have at least decided to show willing. I will be in New Orleans for Halloween, a city that has a particular talent for the gothic and ghostly. The French Quarter will be busy with spectral walks, and the fabulous Belle Epoque mansions of the Garden District will be swathed in cobwebs. I thought I might approach it all from a sort of lofty anthropological perch, viewing the city in its Interview with the Vampire-meets-pumpkins moment as an insight into how today’s Big Easy combines Creole-French-Spanish-colonial legacy with contemporary commercialism.