Spooks come early

It's the Hallowe'en walk with the parks department. We know it's not exactly Hallowe'en, and at start time it's barely dark, but hey ho, early and light is how we like to do things in the shires.

Now Grit is not expecting too much. We've booked the early walk (with mild peril) on account of Tiger saying she's scared of the dark. And Grit would like to say she's too snooty to go mucking about in woods after dark, prefering to learn instead about the traditions of Samhain. But it's not true. I love spooky stuff and horror movies, and possibly am snooty only in prefering Nosferatu and Night of the Demon to Saw 4.

But first up, I admit completely that I was totally wrong about the Hallowe'en walk (with mild peril) being a few fluffy animals strung about some trees. The staff at the parks department are obviously out to enjoy themselves.

When we arrive at the meeting point in the woods, we see one of the parks staff, Brenda, dressed up like Winnie the witch, leaning against the snack wagon parked in readiness for the first walk, eating chips. Then there's Sandra who's got a white mask on, Terry who's dressed like a ghoul, and a bloke I've never seen before, and is probably someone's husband, dressed like the homicidal maniac from Hitcher.

When we get started on the walk, it's just falling dark and Tiger whispers that she wants to go home. This is on account of the collie dog that the homicidal maniac has brought with him. The dog's called Shep and is spending a pleasant time scratching his ears and licking his bum while the homicidal maniac introduces the walk through the wood. I persuade Tiger to stay for the walk and lie that we can go back anytime. Ahead I can see the parks staff have gone bonkers with some spray-on cobwebs and dangly spiders looped all around the footpath and I'm not missing this for anything.

And it's fab. The footpath takes us on a winding walk, and at every turn there's a surprise waiting for us. The parks department have co-opted a local A-level theatre studies group who have dressed up as wooden men, witches, ghouls, statues and ghosts. We hear stories, get chased by a witch, follow skeletons and skulls and spooky lanterns and only the statue fluffs her lines about the fearful prickly creature with the bright eyes who forages through the woods at night, shrieking and crying, like hedgehogs are wont to do.

And Tiger's verdict, after it's all over and she's had some chips, was that it was brilliant good fun, and she's glad that she was brave.