Halloween is a crass American import – I'll never indulge it

Dylan Jones argues that Halloween has grown from a niche celebration into an intrusive, heavily commercialised fixture of British life, pushing aside Bonfire Night. He recalls Guy Fawkes Night as a distinctly British tradition, with public bonfires, fireworks and children’s sparklers, and says these are increasingly difficult to find as homes and streets fill with plastic cobwebs and decorations. The shift bothers him not only because Halloween is an American import, but because its long season of dressing up and decorating seems to have taken over the autumn calendar.

He points to signs of its growing popularity: an IGD survey found 36 per cent of people planned to celebrate in 2026, up 10 per cent on the previous year. A Bath-area adventure park says Halloween activities now generate about a third of its annual income and have surpassed Christmas in sales; a Bristol costume-shop owner says more people celebrate it than New Year’s Eve. Younger adults also spend more: YouGov found 10 per cent of 18-to-24-year-olds spent £100-£200 on Halloween, compared with two per cent of people aged 45-54. Jones sees the celebration as increasingly detached from its association with the dead, replaced by elaborate costumes drawn from superheroes, cartoons and celebrities.