Welcome back gentle readers! Some of you may have noticed that our blog has a taken a terrifying turn over the last two weeks as we share all of the super spooky goings-on in Bury this Halloween.

Here at thebestof bury we've taken the horrid hard work out of finding something to do this Halloween, searching high and low for the very best (and scary!) events across the borough. Believe us when we say that there is a real witches' brew of events to choose from here in Bury, so polish those fangs, clear out those cauldrons and get set for Halloween 2011!

Parents will be extremely pleased to know that children in particular are spoilt for choice if you're looking for frighteningly fun activities to do. Kicking off the fun this year is Burrs Country Park, who will be organising Halloween Crafts that kids will love. The arty fun continues over at Bury Transport Museum, where the children can bring their own creepy creations to life in a special Make A Monster Workshop. Also holding Halloween Craft Activities is the Fusilier Museum, with activities perfect for kids aged 3-11 years.

For those children looking to make their own Halloween lanterns there will be Pumpkin Carving Sessions held at Nuttall Park, Openshaw Park and Town Meadow Park. Village Hotel Bury will welcome families at a special Halloween Party on the 30th, complete with a fancy dress competition, games, face painting and a DJ.

The family-friendly fun continues at Ramsbottom Library's Halloween Evening, where there will be a spooky reading of Funnybones. And of course, no Halloween in Bury would be complete without taking part in Nuttall Park's annual Lantern Parade or riding the East Lancs Railway's special Halloween Ghost Train!

Now for the grown ups - The Longfield Suite are holding a Halloween Party Night with dancing and DJ until late. Monster mash anyone? Mary Shelley's bone-chilling classic, Frankenstein, will be brought to life (no pun intended) in a special performance at The Met, whilst the East Lancs Railway are invited local people to sample some of the area's best real ales in their Pale Ale Halloween Tour. Also new for this year is the much anticipated Whitefield Halloween Fest, a medieval style festival which will feature storytelling, pumpkin carving, fortune telling, crafts and much more.

Now, we know what you may be thinking at this point - Bury really is brimming with spooky shenanigans this year but what to wear? Well, we've got that sorted too as we have not one, but two fancy dress companies here in the town. If you're looking to buy from a fantastic range of high quality costumes, UKCostumes4U.com is the perfect choice. For anyone looking to hire rather than buy, Jackies Fancy Dress Hire are the name you can trust, with a great selection of costumes and accessories.

Anybody doing a spot of pumpkin carving as part of your Halloween celebrations? You'll find pumpkins of all sizes at Bury Market and with such great prices, you might find yourself buying a few and getting really creative! Perhaps you are organising your own party? Why not choose Delicious for a tasty buffet and Finishing Touches for all your party supplies.

And just to finish, here are a few fun Halloween facts we thought might interest and entertain you!

On Halloween itself:

The word Halloween became widely used in the 16th century and represents a Scottish variant of "All-Hallows-Even".

Many historians agree that the origins of Halloween are typically linked to the Celtic festival of Samhain, which means "summer's end".

On pumpkins!

Pumpkins were not always the vegetable of choice for carving those Halloween lanterns - turnips were traditionally used in Ireland and Scotland but immigrants to North America used the native pumpkin. The idea stuck as pumpkins are undoubtedly much easier to carve than turnips!

The American tradition of carving pumpkins was originally associated with harvest time and did not become specifically associated with Halloween until the mid-late 19th century.

Some of you may also be wondering where the whole custom of carving jack-o'-lanterns came from - it was originally done as a way of remembering the souls held in purgatory. Scary!

On trick-or-treating:

The first mass produced Halloween costumes appeared in stores in the 1930's, when trick-or-treating was becoming popular in the United States.

The practice of trick-or-treating dates back to the Middle Ages, when poor folk would go door to door receiving food in return for prayers for the dead on All Soul's Day (Nov 2).

Now that we're at the end of this monster-sized blog, all that's left to say is have a safe and happy Halloween - and maybe try not to overdo it on the sweet treats.. we're munching delicious treacle toffee as we write, courtesy of the culinary wiz Kathryn Burns!