THIS October half term, children visiting the Eden Square Shopping Centre, Urmston, between 12 noon and 3.30pm on Saturday, October 29 will be ‘trick and treated’ to a day of spooky ‘Funday of the Dead’ Halloween activity.

The Day of the Dead festival originates from Mexico where thousands of people, each year, dress up as skeletons and what is often known now as ‘Candy Skulls’ - a more colourful and fluorescent version.

This Halloween, Eden Square is taking inspiration from this and will be getting the children of Urmston to go on a Skull Sticker Hunt.

Youngsters will be asked to visit four specially selected shops to collect a skull sticker. Once the series of four has been collected, they will receive a TY Screech Beanie (while stocks last) and entry into a free draw win a special Halloween prize.

At 12.30pm, 2pm and 3pm, magician Oz Moses will entertain them with his spooky magic shows.

The youngsters will also be asked to pull faces like little monsters in a “Gurn and Earn” Facebook competition. The Eden Square Shopping Centre is also inviting children to dress up in ghastly grab, frightening frocks and scary suits or as their favourite Halloween character for a Fancy Dress Parade at 2.30pm. There will be prizes for the best costumes.

At Costa Coffee between 2pm and 3pm, there will be tales of ghosts and ghoulies, witches and warlocks and things that go bump in the night as staff from the library tell scary stories.

“Halloween grows in popularity each year and our spooky fun is always well received by the children,” says Dion Mulvey, Operations Manager of the Eden Square Shopping Centre. “The children love the sticker hunt and the fact that, for once, they can pull faces and not get told off!”

As the Hallowing Happenings conclude at Eden Square, trick and treaters can then go on a Spooktacular Spooky Walk from Golden Hill Pak from 4.45pm-6.15pm and back home before the bewitching hour.