Why We're Following America's Halloween Lead

In 1992 I visited Los Angeles. I was amazed at the apparent big-deal that was being made out of Halloween. It was early September but still, the shops were fully stocked with pumpkins, novelty broomsticks, masks and all manner of seasonal confectionary that I'm sure would, if eaten in sufficient volume, give you the perfect toothless grin that would otherwise necessitate one of the many horror mouthpieces that were on offer.

In recent years, the UK has started to embrace Halloween in the same way. Scotland has always been the most enthusiastic of the home nations, perhaps this fact owes much to Scotland's strong ties with the celtic mythology from which the festival stems, but as a whole, Halloween is much more of a fixture on the British party scene than it once was.

One of the main reasons that Halloween has begun to capture the British imagination is the costume. We've always been fond of dressing up, but we'd never taken the Halloween get up as seriously as we have started to now. With the advent of the Internet, it is markedly easier for people to find a costume that not only does the job of delivering the requisite spook factor, but also - and this is perhaps the more pointed observation - says something about them as a person.

Gone are the days of kid's dracula masks that disintegrate after an hour - there is an enormous choice on offer, for adults, kids and all tastes. From the topical and truly tasteless right through to what can only be described as 'niche'. People are now more at ease with the concept of dressing up for Halloween because of the opportunity to work one's own personality into a costume.

Thomas Walker, a student from Loughborough explains his first outfit. "We had a party at our halls and I went as Gary Glitter. I know it is bad taste, but all of my mates knew it was just a bit of fun. I've always found him creepy any way."

Whether it's a bad taste topical news story that inspires a costume or something more kitch, people are bringing new and interesting themes to the Halloween party dressing up box all the time.

Another factor that has no doubt contributed to the uptake in Halloween costumes is time. Whilst it was once necessary to plan, reserve, hire and collect a half decent costume, it is now possible to find something suitable and in the right size in a matter of seconds online. People can therefore do fancy dress at short notice - something that wasn't an option pre-Internet.

Better quality outfits can be found at cheaper prices, online costume shoppers can tailor their idea to suit their own needs rather than settling for an out of the box, one size fits all solution. Shoppers can choose which era Elvis they want, or whether they want to be a scary devil or a sexy devil. They can go as a film star with an evil twist or just go for gore.

Whilst America will always be seen as the place that first truly popularised the Halloween that we know today, the UK is certainly following closely behind.