Bump in the Night 2- This Time It’s Personal I have been becoming more and more aware of the looming end of October and I had no idea of a subject for my October blog, and then this afternoon, I realised that I had been a berk and there was a subject staring me in the face: Halloween. Smart boy wanted. In the south and east of England, we often hear the remark that Halloween is an import from America. That’s not strictly accurate. Halloween has been celebrated as long in the UK as in the US. Trick or treating is an import to England from the USA, but trick or treating is itself an evolution of guising, a Scottish and Irish tradition. When I was a child, we would wear fancy dress, and usually a mask, and would go from house to house in our neighbourhood. When the door was answered, rather than saying ‘Trick or treat?’ we would ask, ‘Wantin’ ony guisers?’ If the answer was yes, the guisers would have to perform in some respect, usually singing a song or telling a joke. Girls wo...