Halloween has become spookily big in Britain
In 2019, UK spending around Halloween was around £ 500 million, with retailers selling decorations, clothing, confectionery and food.
It will take a while to compute the 2021 figures but it’s a fair bet spending has risen, with Halloween becoming ever more popular in Britain.
The National Gallery’s special focus on Halloween is a case in point. As October 31st rolled around, it sent out an email with the following:
“Life, death and the spiritual realm
Severed heads, creepy critters, witches’ spells and deadly symbols — take a creepy crawl through our more hair-raising paintings and discover why you’ll never see birds in art the same way again!”
And again:
“Watch if you dare:
A gruesome Greek tragedy
Uncover why a severed gorgon’s head with magical powers is a lifesaver in Luca Giordano’s mythical drama.
Birds and death
What have birds got to do with death? Ed Dickenson reveals…
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