Every part of the economy has its benchmark indicator; for Hallowe'en it is fangs.

Emma Angel, who manages Angels Fancy Dress in Central London, has witnessed Hallowe'en move from a minor event in the calendar to retailers' third most important time of year during her 13-year tenure at the family firm.

She says: “In my first Hallowe'en, I think we sold 40 or 50 fangs - and we thought it was busy. We even had extra staff to help out. Now we have to employ four or five security guards to help with crowd control. And we sell 2,000 fangs.”

This year total Hallowe'en spending is forecast by Planet Retail, the market research company, to be £195 million. As recently as 2001, Hallowe'en spending was £12 million. Retailers have rediscovered the ancient Celtic festival and pounced on it as a way of selling cheap items at a premium.

What kind of monster have they created? This year's annual growth rate of 22 per cent suggests we are far from saturation point, despite the lengthening stretches of supermarket aisles devoted to flimsy masks, plastic broomsticks and witch costumes.

This year there has been an acceleration of the trend for adult invasion of what was once a child's time of year - and that has proved lucrative for retailers.

Where the average household's Hallowe'en expenditure would once have amounted to a packet of sweets for trick-or-treat and possibly a binliner for a witch's outfit, shops are introducing more adult costumes each year, catering for a generation that grew up with classic American horror films and is familiar with the US concept of Hallowe'en.

Among the bestselling costumes for men, are those based on the likes of Freddie Krueger, of the Nightmare on Elm Street films, and Jason from the Friday the 13th series, according to Ms Angel.

Retailers say that the “adultification” and consequent commercialisation of Hallowe'en has been ramped up this year by the night falling on a Friday, which seems to have led to a huge increase in the number of themed parties.

Asda, in anticipation of the “Friday effect”, increased the types of adult costumes on offer from three to 15 and sales picked up by 40 per cent. Sales of Hallowe'en-themed food have increased by 150 per cent.

Bryan Roberts, the global research director of Planet Retail, said: “Retailers have realised that there is a huge opportunity around Hallowe'en and have started really pushing the marketing and merchandising. We are following in the footsteps of the US, where it's one of the retail events of the year.”

The season provides an opportunity to sell low-cost items with healthy margins, he added.

But Hallowe'en UK is not likely to reach the level of the US, where it is a $5.5 billion (£3.6 billion) industry. Americans spend 4.5 times more on Hallowe'en per head.

Even allowing for sterling's slump against the dollar, the gulf is huge. Some estimates consider that our American cousins manage to spend $66 each on Hallowe'en — while more conservative estimates of about $27 are still hair-raising when you allow for the number of Hallowe'en abstainers.

Mr Roberts added: “It will never get to the levels we see in the States, where it is firmly entrenched as a big event. It won't get that big partly because there's a cynicism here about how commercial it is.”

The lingering suspicion that the festival was invented to part us from our money is enough to dampen the spending spree, in a similar way to how the greetings card industry foisted upon us the unfamiliar concept of Father's Day.

But this year's celebrations will come as a welcome retreat from the reality of life during a recession, if retailers are to be believed. Ms Angel said: “The festival is all about dressing-up and escapism, so it is a great diversion from all of the doom and gloom around at the moment.”

Costume party

Top five items for women

1. Love Spell witch
2. Which-witch (a reversible costume)
3. Miss Krueger
4. Malice Horrorland
5. Tinkerspell

Men

1. Ghost ship pirate
2. Beetle Juice
3. Edward Scissorhands
4. Zombie groom
5. Jason (Friday the 13th)

Source: Angels Fancy Dress

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