Halloween is a holiday that, until recently, barely registered in the UK. Whilst many of us have fond memories of trick or treating in our youth, and there's always the tendency to stick a few scary movies on whenever the end of October rolls around, our celebrations have always paled in comparison to the US, where it's treated with almost as much reverence as Christmas. In recent years, however, the season seems to have gained some ground, and Halloween parties and garish costumes have become more sociably acceptable amongst men, women and children alike. Then the clowns came.
What apparently began life as a viral marketing campaign for the upcoming Hollywood adaptation of the classic Stephen King novel “IT,” has evolved into a genuinely worrying indictment of our times, with undesirable sorts across the US and UK taking to the streets to frighten, and even genuinely harm vulnerable individuals. Understandably, the so-called 'killer clown craze' has become the talk of the schoolyard in recent weeks, and worryingly, it appears that this year, many retailers are actually taking advantage of the furore surrounding the fad.
Worried parents have already slammed retailers for selling sickening Halloween costumes for young children, including a Jack the Ripper outfit and even a ‘dead pet’ dressing up set. World's away from the old sheets and second-hand vampire fangs I used to don as a child, these are costumes that reflect a mindset and a culture that the children they are aimed at are far too young to understand or comprehend. This is reflected in a disturbing new study from parenting site ChannelMum.com, which has revealed that, while 82% of UK children dress up for Halloween, half of parents claim some costumes aimed at kids are now simply ‘too frightening’ for their kids. One in seven, meanwhile, are worried that Halloween is becoming more sinister every year and a third say costumes no longer have any traditional Halloween theming, but are chosen to elicit the biggest scare. Now, obviously the whole point of Halloween is to provide ourselves with a few cheap thrills, but every year the children being targeted by these trends seem to get younger and younger.
Among the nastiest Halloween trends this year are retailers pushing costumes from adult movies for pre-teen aged children, with outfits including Jason from Friday the 13th aimed at eight year olds, and the possessed “Regan” from 70s demonic chiller The Exorcist. Perhaps most tellingly though, amid grave police warnings for pranksters to avoid joining the Killer Clown craze, sinister clown outfits are being targeted at children as young as five, and have even been discounted to encourage more sales.
Worryingly, the survey of 1,434 mums also found that almost half (43%) of parents surveys feel many costumes are “Too sexualised for young children,” with surprisingly revealing outfits offered for girls aged just four. As a result, over two thirds of parents (68%) now back age-appropriate ratings on costumes and a further three quarters want retailers to take more responsibility for the outfits they sell, with 68% claiming stores only care about profit. One in eleven parents even admitted their child had had a negative experience wearing a Halloween costume, with 13% claiming they has been targeted with sexual or inappropriate comments as a result of the outfits they chose to wear. Half of those same parents claiming at one point, their children have been so terrified by another child’s costume that they have left Halloween celebrations. This is pretty shocking stuff when we're talking about a holiday that was always supposed to be a bit of harmless fun.
ChannelMum.com founder Siobhan Freegard said: “Halloween maybe the second biggest event for retailers after Christmas - but it should be about having harmless fun not encouraging children to wear horrible and even highly inappropriate outfits. Stores have become more responsible on everyday clothing, and dressing up should be no different. There is no excuse for putting profit before children’s welfare.”
The ChannelMum report also featured a run-down of the top 8 most inappropriate, evil costumes on sale this year in the UK, which can be seen in the video below. If anyone has any they wish to add to this rather reprehensible list, feel free to do so in the comments.
1) Jason from Friday the 13th. Sold on eBay for children aged 8. 91% of parents would not let their child wear it.
2) The Slender Man. Fictional web character linked to stabbings and an attempted murder of a child in the US. Sold in Argos for 8 year olds. 96% of parents would not let their child wear it.
3) Dead Pet Roadkill. Marketed by Kate Middleton’s family firm Party Pieces as a costume for 7 year olds. 93% of parents would not let their child wear it.
4) Jack the Ripper. Sold for kids aged from 8 on eBay and Amazon. 91% of parents would not let their child wear it.
5) Possessed Girl. Based on The Exorcist, for 7-year-old girls. Sold by online site Joke.co.uk. 91% of parents would not let their child wear it.
6) Creepy Schoolgirl. Based on Wednesday Addams from the Addams Family. Sold for tots aged just 4 online. 90% of parents would not let their child wear it.
7) Killer Clown. Sold for 5 year olds at Joke.co.uk. 81% of parents would not let their child wear it.
8) Miss Teen Hot Stuff. Sold by Fancy Dress Ball for 10-year-old girls. 94% of parents would not let their child wear it and I'm not surprised. Of all the costumes, this is probably the one that creeped me out the most, for obvious reasons. I mean. The name alone!
What are your thoughts? Do you think these sinister Halloween costumes have gone too far? Or are we getting our knickers in a twist over nothing? Personally, as someone who is generally against censorship, I feel more than a little hypocritical raging against such things, but there is an obvious correlation here between a dangerous craze and a growing retail trend, which I'd be callous to ignore.
Benjamin Hiorns is a freelance writer and struggling musician from Kidderminster in the UK who will probably be celebrating Halloween this year as Ziggy Stardust like everyone else.
