I’m sure I’ve said this before, but Enid Blyton didn’t really do Halloween. She wrote about most other holidays, but Halloween perhaps wasn’t a big thing in Britain when she was writing. Despite that, here are some Halloween-themed Blyton things!

Books

Hodder have tried to cash in with three sets of short story collections. None of them say Halloween, but it’s clear they are in that theme.

Stories of Wizards and Witches came first in September 2017, then Stories of Magic and Mischief in September 2018, and then Tales of Tricks and Treats in September of this year. All just in time for Halloween!

Broomstick rides and bubbling cauldrons, Perfect for sharing at Halloween, and Who will be on the receiving end of a trick, and who will win out with a treat? are just a few of the phrases used to describe these books so nobody can deny they’re trying to link them to Halloween.

Costumes

Children have been dressing as Enid Blyton characters for a long time, possibly less for Halloween and more for World Book Day and other literary events. I’ve seen some great Saucepan Man (and woman) costumes – I don’t want to put any in here as the photos don’t belong to me but if you Google Saucepan Man, there are lots of images.

It’s also not too hard to dress as the Famous Five or Adventure Series kids – some shorts, a shirt and pullover, a rope around your waist and you’re good to go!

I have, however, seen some official Enid Blyton costumes this year and to be honest I think you might be better making your own! There are three on Smiffys.com – Malory Towers, St Clare’s O’Sullivan Twins and Famous Five Anne, though they’re aimed at World Book Day rather than Halloween.

The Malory Towers one is probably the best as it follows the description in the book with all the brown and orange.

Your little girl can dress just like Darrel Rivers when she wears our wonderful Malory Towers Costume this World Book Day. Inspired by Enid Blyton’s series of Malory Towers books, this costume comes with a School Uniform style Brown Jacket and Skirt, with a matching Hat and Brown Book Bag also included to complete the ‘Schoolie’ look.

I’ve copied that directly from the site, so yes, they spelled Darrell wrong. This is priced at £22.99, which I suppose is cheaper than buying a brown skirt, jacket and hat specially for a costume. I bet it’s horrible synthetic fabric, though. It comes in age 7-9 and 10-12 so sadly I won’t be trying it out!

The St Clare’s one isn’t too bad either, though it is clearly modelled on a recent version of St Clare’s, most likely the 2005 Egmonts, hence the purple jumpers which don’t feature anywhere in the text.

Your Child will look like they’re enrolled in St Clares Boarding School when they wear a St Clare’s O’Sullivan Twins Costume from our Enid Blyton collection. Perfect for World Book Day, parties, even just to play around in! Our costume contains an embraided Purple Jumper, Skirt and School Tie, letting your little girl look just like Pat or Isabel.

Again, copied directly, complete with missing apostrophes, and the wonderful ’embraided’, a cross between embroidered and braided? Not to mention the awful random capitals! This is only £18.99, as it doesn’t have a hat or bag I assume. This is easier to do yourself if your school uniform already has a grey skirt. If not supermarkets do school skirts and jumpers for a few pounds (purple is a popular colour in my area for uniforms, may not be the same everywhere).

The absolute worst is the Anne costume. Although the St Clare’s one is based on a modern illustration, it’s fairly inoffensive and recognisable. Anne, however…

This is so clearly based on the Laura Ellen Anderson’s version of the Five where they wear the same outfits regardless of the book’s setting or weather. I want to know where the other three’s costumes are, if Anne is recognisable surely the rest are too?

Are you trying to find a fantastic Famous Five Costume? Well now Children dress up as Anne this World Book Day when they wear our Famous Five Anne Costume from our Enid Blyton costume collection. Great for girls, this Famous Five inspired outfit lets you look just like Anne, and includes a beautiful Blue and Red Dress, striped Tights and Headband with attached Flower.

This is £19.99, and I would happily pay you that and more if you could destroy all evidence this monstrosity ever existed. Why pick the ugliest version of Anne that ever existed? If the dress wasn’t such a clashing blue/red it might have been not so bad, but the stripy tights on top make it ridiculous.

The worst thing is, Smiffy’s are capable of reasonably period costumes – if you look at their 1940’s section there’s some decent looking stuff if you ignore the odd shiny suit! It’s also a shame there’s so little choice for Blyton costumes, when the Roald Dahl bit has several costumes for boys, girls and adults.

P.S. This isn’t a sponsored post as I don’t do those. If Smiffy’s had paid me for this, I’m pretty sure they’d want their money back!