DECK the halls with...well not boughs of holly..but maybe a few pound shop bought blood stained decorations, severed hands and devilish pumpkins.

Halloween exploded in a flutter of orange and black tinsel, plastic skeletons, fake cobwebs and cleverly designed pumpkins.

As often happens with these celebrations - I think to myself several weeks before "Oh we should do something special for ___" then a day before the event have a last minute scramble to find props or costumes.

The same happened this October 31.

It is a strange idea that we tell children all year not to accept sweets from strangers then on one night of the year it is perfectly fine to knock on random doors asking for sweets.

Trick or Treat seemed like a really taboo activity when I was younger.

I did it once when I was about 13 and, knocking on a woman's door, denied that we knew Halloween was "supporting the devil" while one of us stood there with red cape, fork and horns.

But it has become more and more acceptable and on Saturday gangs of children, parents and teenagers were roaming the area - bags bulging with treats.

I am not sure what the "bah humbug" equivalent is for Halloween (Boo Hoo?!) but I know many of you will not be enamoured with the American tradition becoming so popular here in Worcester.

However. for some strange reason, the chance to dress up, go out with friends and get a bagful of sweets seems to appeal to children - I can't imagine why.

And this year my daughter has been pleading to go out trick or treating so we made plans to go but, fear not, with the intention to only bother friends, family and the houses which had gone overboard with decorations.

Daisy was in her element, her confidence building with each house, her delight at her bag getting filled with treats visible while Jacob, whose nickname should be sweet tooth, just relished the chance to bulk up his birthday stash of goodies.

They really got into the swing of it, running to the next door, smiles on their faces until - whoops - Daisy tripped over running and real blood poured from her knees rather than the fake kind.

In tears, we went back home where my skeleton-attired son tried to dive headfirst into his bag of sweets and scoff them down before I put a stop to it.

"You're not getting into the spirit of Halloween," he moaned as I walked off the bag wondering if he meant the pun.

So two upset children, too many sweets in the house and a glummy mummy - happy Halloween!