"With Halloween lasting for weeks, and the shops giving it a big push, it's almost as big a holiday here as it is in the US - but at least we have scarier castles, writes Eileen Battersby

Bats flutter across the windows, a large grey tombstone has been erected on the lawn and here and there are skeletons in varying stages of decay.

Enter the witch, hopefully not too glamorous, accompanied by her familiar, a sneering black cat, and the better class of witch not only has a broomstick, she has at least three warts on her chin - all sprouting hairs.

Halloween night no longer simply begins as darkness falls this evening. It has become a big business and in Ireland, it is now almost as big a ho...

"With Halloween lasting for weeks, and the shops giving it a big push, it's almost as big a holiday here as it is in the US - but at least we have scarier castles, writes Eileen Battersby

Bats flutter across the windows, a large grey tombstone has been erected on the lawn and here and there are skeletons in varying stages of decay.

Enter the witch, hopefully not too glamorous, accompanied by her familiar, a sneering black cat, and the better class of witch not only has a broomstick, she has at least three warts on her chin - all sprouting hairs.

Halloween night no longer simply begins as darkness falls this evening. It has become a big business and in Ireland, it is now almost as big a holiday as it is in the US, a place not famous for its haunted castles - mainly because there are no haunted castles. Many Irish households have now been engaged for some weeks prior to tonight in an unofficial competition as to who can make their homes look the scariest courtesy of rubber spiders and cotton spider webs.

Festive is not exactly the mood, anyone with a serious interest in Halloween will tonight be staking out a remote castle or church yard, better still ones with family vaults, intent on achieving the fright of their lives. Fingers crossed there will be a large white moon.

Forget about those plastic pumpkins, you need the real thing - a vegetable as big as a basketball and well rounded, wide enough to carve a good face, not too jolly, think sinister. Ideally, there should be a long stalk so when you scoop out the seeds - the goo and the brains, we always called them - you can replace the lid, having lit a candle inside. The jack-o'-lantern glows with a fire from within.


...Irish Times - Wednesday, October 31, 2007

"One Halloween night, my good pal Rose Price, her sons, my daughter and my self had arrived at Dunamase Castle in Co Laois. It sits high on a rock outcrop an eerie ruined castle, once owned by Strongbow. With unusual ceremony I carried our large pumpkin slowly, careful not to extinguish the candle burning inside. Its glowing face lit up the night. Rose had brought enough food to feed us and all of Strongbow's men.

For once the children did not wander very far. We made a camp and began eating. Then it was time for one of my stories. The boys soon became quite subdued, the bravado drained from their faces. "Steady on," said Rose, as the tale became bloodier, just as I was reaching the scaries...

"One Halloween night, my good pal Rose Price, her sons, my daughter and my self had arrived at Dunamase Castle in Co Laois. It sits high on a rock outcrop an eerie ruined castle, once owned by Strongbow. With unusual ceremony I carried our large pumpkin slowly, careful not to extinguish the candle burning inside. Its glowing face lit up the night. Rose had brought enough food to feed us and all of Strongbow's men.

For once the children did not wander very far. We made a camp and began eating. Then it was time for one of my stories. The boys soon became quite subdued, the bravado drained from their faces. "Steady on," said Rose, as the tale became bloodier, just as I was reaching the scariest bit, the part where the headless horseman reaches down for his severed head, a bird burst out of the ivy covering the wall behind me. We all screamed and fled down the hill, vacating the inner keep and abandoning the food. At the foot of the hill, we stared back at the castle.

It began to rain and ragged clouds raced across an illmoon. Braving all of that, I ran back, stumbling over the stones to fetch Orson, the pumpkin. The castle seemed darker and lonelier than ever, but the candle still flickered. I picked up the jack-o'-lantern and noticed my hands were shaking. Back at the car, the children were squashed into the back seat.

"Well, we've all had quite a Halloween fright," said Rose, who is a nurse. Stephen Fry's voice began to read Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire . "Did he say Goblin?" asked one of the boys. We drove on, leaving Dunamase to its ghosts.

On Sunday night, my daughter dared me to run three times around Rathfeigh graveyard in Co Meath - while she stayed in the car. It wasn't easy. It was dark and the tall grass hid various potentially leg-breaking holes and broken headstones. Low moaning came from the watching cattle in the adjoining field.

My having completed the three laps, she seemed pleased and said, "Now if you look into a bucket of water on Hallow

From Edinburgh to Eire's Kilkenny
With loud bagpipes and whistles of penny
Our green heart just melts
To think of the Celts
Yes, the charms of the Celtic are many.

poor-brother

My boyfriend, whose name is Eugene,
Saw blood sausage and soon he was keen
That we buy it and try it
But I'm on a diet—
I'll cook it for next Halloween.

SheilaB (Sheila B. Blume)

The Pleiades rose in the east,
After sunset and Halloween feast.
This acronychal rise
(Wipe the tears from your eyes)
Reminds us to mourn the deceased.

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From Edinburgh to Eire's Kilkenny
With loud bagpipes and whistles of penny
Our green heart just melts
To think of the Celts
Yes, the charms of the Celtic are many.

poor-brother

My boyfriend, whose name is Eugene,
Saw blood sausage and soon he was keen
That we buy it and try it
But I'm on a diet—
I'll cook it for next Halloween.

SheilaB (Sheila B. Blume)

The Pleiades rose in the east,
After sunset and Halloween feast.
This acronychal rise
(Wipe the tears from your eyes)
Reminds us to mourn the deceased.

Carolyn Eby

My car was involved in a crash
Coming back from a Halloween bash
'Cause I drank too much Pabst.
My insurance had lapsed,
So I paid for the damage in cash.

SheilaB (Sheila B. Blume)

A Halloween Scrooge, Nasty Andy,
Wants kids' trick-or-treating fun banned. He
Will sit in the dark...
And just for a lark...
Scream "Boo!" and then snatch all their candy.

Jacqui Brown (Jacqueline Brown)

The holiday called Halloween
Has been hijacked by grownups. How mean!
In their masks, adults stroll,
Looking scary or droll—
Some in garb that would best suit a teen.

Mad Kane (Madeleine Begun Kane)

At midnight, I heard the bells knell;
From a crypt came a bloodcurdling yell
That filled me with fright
On that Halloween night—
By then I was running like hell!

birdbarf (James Lawrence Barnes)