Over the last few years we've become - reluctantly - accustomed to the garish and ever-expanding Halloween displays in the aisles of our food stores (where did all this suddenly come from?)
Now things seem to have gone a step further. This weekend, queueing at our local supermarket's checkouts, I was presented with a choice of being served by a witch, a vampire or a ghoul, all adorned with (in)appropriate theatrical make-up. The thought that some customers might find this spectacle distasteful, ugly and unpleasant, or even downright offensive, obviously hadn't crossed anyone's mind.
Over the years in Britain we've taken this sort of thing on the chin, thinking that, on the whole, it's just a bit of harmless fun for the children; now I'm finding the very realistic blood and gore hard to ignore and more than a little worrying.
See here for the reaction of some Orthodox Christians in Russia. It's difficult to argue with their view that all this seems part of a 'cult of death.'
Anyway, not to worry - by the end of the week in the supermarkets the Christmas trees will be going up ...
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