Halloween is said to be dying in France after a short-lived bonanza, according to media reports. It seems the festival, which came to prominence in the late 1990s, is in decline because it is perceived as "too American" and was artificially inflated to serve commercial interests.
An association called No to Halloween - which was set up to combat the trend - has now wound down as a result of the festival's waning appeal.
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"Apart from a few local celebrations, Halloween is no longer taken into account by our stores," Thierry Desouches of Systeme U supermarket told Catholic newspaper La Croix.
"This lack of interest is real in all big-name supermarkets," he added.
"Our Halloween sales have been falling by half every year since 2002," Franck Mathais of toy retailer La Grande Recre told Le Monde newspaper.
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Opposition to the festival is especially strong in French religious quarters, with the Catholic church seeking to promote All Saints' Day as the celebration of choice at this time of year.
from the beeb
Boycott Christmas anyone?