Spooky season is now officially behind us - so we can now prepare to swap our Halloween decorations for Christmas ones.
And though some are already eagerly anticipating the moment they can dig their Halloween costumes back out, one grandmother in Kent couldn't be happier that the haunting holiday is over.
Self-professed Halloween hater, Rae Radford, has accused the holiday of encouraging 'mixed messages' when it comes to youngsters, and has even compared the activity of going trick or treating to begging on the street.
Advert
Speaking to the Daily Express, the mum-of-two said: "I just don't like it at all. It's wrong."
Rae admitted that she'd never permitted her own children to knock on neighbours' doors in the hope of bagging a few bags of chocolate or lollipops, adding that she actively discouraged them from taking part.
She also believes the act of trick or treating should be treated as a safety concern for innocent youngsters and that other parents should be emphasising the message of 'stranger danger'.
"I hate Halloween," she hit out. "I just think it encourages mixed messages and it's a waste of money. I can't stand it and think it's stupid.
Advert
"You spend most of your year telling your children not to knock on strangers' doors and not to take sweets from strangers and then, on one day of the year, you go 'no, that's fine'."
But it's not just trick or treaters that grind Rae's gears, however.
The professional writer also takes issue with celebrators of the global festivity decorating their house with elaborately horrifying decorations, believing that the same effort shouldn't be put into Halloween decor as with Christmas.
Advert
She told the publication: "It's a waste of money as well, particularly all this dressing up.
"People dress their houses up and some houses are really over the top. It's all come from America and I really don't understand it."
.jpg)
Believing that she's speaking on behalf of other concerned parents, Rae continued: "You're giving children mixed messages, which is strange.
Advert
"You can't say 'don't' and then, one day of the year, say 'do'.
"I know an awful lot of parents go with small children but I've had 10-year-olds knock on our door."
She went on: "I have two children, who are grown up now and I have a grandchild. When my children were younger, I just told them 'it's cold outside. Do you really want to go?' and they didn't. They never went at all.
"I never made a big thing of it. I didn't ban it but I didn't encourage it either, and I didn't go on about it."
Advert
Rae concluded by claiming, that if she 'had her way', she'd 'close the curtains and turn all the lights off to prevent trick-or-treaters', adding: "But I actually live with someone who is really kind so we don't.
"I just let him answer the door."
Rhianna Benson