The rise of gory Halloween decorations around Ireland’s towns and cities is “unfair” to people who don’t enjoy a good scare, an Irish columnist has warned.

In her latest Irish Independent column, Chrissie Russell said it’s time to “tone down” Ireland’s obsession with Halloween horror scenes in shops and homes.

She said she “loves Halloween” but believes we should keep things a little more PG in public places.

On Newstalk Breakfast, she said a recent walk with her husband and six-year-old child prompted her to write the article.

“He had stumbled upon an open grave, then there were spattered body bags hanging from trees [and] a psycho killer in a boat,” she said.

“And he doesn't scare easy, but even he came back like, ‘Oh my god, that was a bit much’.

“It got me thinking back to other experiences that I'd had with the kids where we had been similarly left shaken by just how gory and full-on some Halloween decorations have got.”

Unfair

The journalist said she thinks extra-scary decorations are a “bit unfair” to those “not so happy with being scared”.

“I mean if you are one of those mad people that does love to scare the bejesus out of yourself, there are enough experiences and things you can go to where you're in a setting where you can expect that,” she said.

Ms Russell said she loves Halloween in a very “PG, bin-bags, witches, and pumpkin carving” way.

“I like the celebration of it,” she said.

“But I just think that kind of 18-plus, chainsaw killers, people pretending to hack bits off each other… It's too much to stumble upon that when you're not expecting it, just going out for a walk with the kids.”

In her column, Ms Russell said she understands the concept of Samhain with its focus on "warding off ghosts and the blurring of the boundaries between the living and the dead" isn't the most child-friendly, but overall, she believes the holiday should be more about "fun" than gore.

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 A carved pumpkin for Halloween stands by a road. 15/10/20 Photo: Sebastian Gollnow/dpa