Jen Hogan: Halloween and midterm are coming but don’t be afraid, because there’s plenty that you and the kids might enjoy, from a haunted trail in north Dublin to a ninja course in Galway and a book with ghost stories from every county

The ancient festival has become merely the end point for a month-long orgy of horror-related consumer bingeing. At least it keeps Christmas at bay

Here’s a list of free seasonally themed things to do for families during the midterm break, right across the country

Spookiness stalks the landcape of young people’s literature in the run-up to Halloween, while Irish myths inform several new works including the stunning debut Fia and the Last Snow Deer

Minister urges people to think hard before using and misusing fireworks as ‘we hear far too often of casualties’

If you start planning for this year’s dressing up now you can make Halloween less of a frightener by not buying new stuff and using items you already have

The gates of hell aren’t a bad place to be, finds Conor Pope, as he goes in search of the origins of the pagan festival of Samhain, a precursor of Halloween

In Irish mythology, Samhain was when the doorways to the Otherworld opened to allow the souls of the dead to enter our own world

Ghost stories from 1913 make for a fascinating psychogram of Irish middle-class anxieties

Pumpkin ‘the great deceiver’ as seemingly ‘perfect’ crops turn quickly and dramatically

Halloween horrors including The Conjuring, The Descent, Scream and The Exorcist III

Lilly Higgins: Making your own cheesey pumpkin cauldron is a fun trick and treat this Halloween

This is one cheesy recipe that won’t give you nightmares this Halloween

Bhí sé mór i Meiriceá, dá bhrí sin, chaithfeadh sé a bheith mór anseo

A male suspect was detained while trying to escape the scene on foot

Dogs commonly find the sound of fireworks terrifying because of their highly sensitive hearing, but there are ways to make the experience more bearable for them

Answer 20 questions to test your knowledge of ghosts, ghouls, Voldemort and Frankenstein and you could win a prize

Gráinne O’Keefe: Crown Prince and Hokkaido are much less of a horror show to prep and they taste better, too

Conflation of major festivals is becoming quite confusing

Bring back the magic for our children and grandchildren