Why Christians who reject Halloween are missing a trick

Baptist minister Rev Peter Laws explains why he believes Christians should embrace Halloween and the opportunities it provides 

I used to go trick or treating as a kid, but I was a pretty nervous vampire, to be honest. I’d say ‘Trick or Treat’ as politely as I could, and I can’t remember anybody ever answering "trick". Later, we’d all perch on a wall and compare treasures, then I’d race back home and spend the night munching through my ‘kets’ (that’s North East speak for sweets). It was a great night of spooky fun.

Years later, I moved down south and started going to church, where I was given the news: Halloween is Satan’s Christmas...tis the pagan night of evil! To enjoy such things was to risk a mild case of demonism. So I let Halloween vanish into the shadows for a while, and avoided the Dracula masks in Tesco. Yet during those fang-free days, I noticed the Halloween aisle of the supermarket was growing...