EVERY year on my husband's birthday he spends it trudging round the local streets, catching a rotten cold, knocking on countless people's doors - having those doors slammed in his face, and looking like the Pied Piper of Hamelin with a mass of children following behind him.

Yep, the poor soul was born on Halloween, which is quite a burden to bear when you have four children who want to enter into the spirit' of this spooky occasion.

It has become a tradition that countless kids dressed up as witches, ghosts, ghouls, devils, pumpkins and all manner of freaky fiends meet at our house to trick or treat' the neighbourhood with our children.

This year was no exception as the now bulging dressing-up box was opened up again to reveal more costumes than the Hammer House of Horror.

This year our three-year-old wanted to join us too, although not quite comprehending what the Halloween theme was all about (who does?) he insisted in changing from his cute pum-pkin suit - comp-lete with hat and poc-ket for sweets, to his shiny Chinese suit.

We looked quite a sight - the kids dressed up in black capes and horrific masks holding the hand of the so innocent-looking Jameson.

While they knocked on doors looking like latter-day beggars, my husband and I hung back in the bushes with the pushchair trying to stay incognito while ensuring things didn't turn nasty.

The reactions to them proved quite ext-reme. More often than not they were about as popular as double glazing salesmen, as doors were quickly opened and shut before they could utter those words "trick or treat". Others, however, and often the elderly, were charming to them; admired their costumes, chatted at length and gave them bundles of sweets.

Without a doubt the media hype surrounding Halloween this year had left many afraid to answer their doors for fear of what terrible things would happen to them.

Personally I feel people are just becoming increasingly more insular - and it isn't just the old and frail.

Too many people are suspicious of others. They don't just shun the children looking for a bit of fun dressing up - they are afraid or at least unwilling to speak to their neighbours.

In fact in this age where people don't even need to speak to each other - they can communicate via the internet or by text, I dread to think how unsociable we will have all become in future generations.

As for Halloween, I suspect its increasing popularity is set to see a decline and when we are old we will all look back and remember with nostalgia what a peculiar occasion it was.