KARACHI: “We were doing fine earlier selling the costumes, masks and other stuff but for the last few days everyone has been so freaked out by cyclone Nilofar that they seem to have forgotten Halloween,” said a salesman at a shop called Kids, in Clifton.

“And the schools closing while bracing for the cyclone also hasn’t helped. Several private schools had Halloween parties planned for Friday, which have now been cancelled or postponed till after Ashura,” he added, mournfully turning his gaze to the silver plastic pirate swords, the foam hammers, broomsticks, masks and jack-o’-lanterns.

“We had specially changed our shop décor and moved upfront all the spooky stuff for Halloween.”

Asked what they’d do with the staff now with hardly any shoppers, the salesman shrugged: “Many children’s parties give away goody bags to the guests, and many of these things fit in various themes.”

Just across the main road there was also Teens N Kids, where Zeeshan Farooq, the shop manager, said that decorations such as bats, spiders, skulls, plastic jack-o’-lanterns had been selling well the entire month. “But thanks to the feared storm, right now, most kids are more interested in watching the waves at Seaview,” he smiled.

Still, about their most popular items other than the decorations, he said they had a variety of things from Rs10 to Rs5,000, which included plain plastic or glow-in-the-dark fangs.

“The masks, too, cost from Rs25 up to Rs2,000. We have Batman, Spiderman, the Guy Fawkes mask from V for Vendetta, also lots of headgear such as clown wigs, caps, the dead Michael Jackson mask with hat and magician caps. There is so much variety and choice not just for kids but for young men and grownups also and not just for Halloween. There are wings of all sizes made from real feathers as well as synthetic ones, the grownups can buy a ready-made costume or put together one by being creative and from out of their own imagination,” he said.

At the DVD shops, the crowd was good as usual. “Well, we aren’t getting any children asking for horror movies but some grownups have been coming for those. They say they don’t want to think about cyclone Nilofar and would rather be staying indoors at home watching movies,” said DVD salesman Mohammad Yousuf.

Meanwhile, Tahir Ali at the Funny Brothers shop in Saddar said that it wasn’t just the cyclone keeping his customers away. “Don’t forget we are into Muharram now. Halloween last year fell before the beginning of the Islamic new year but this year it is now. Still, in Pakistan, schools don’t follow the Oct 31 date for Halloween so strictly so most fancy dress parties will begin after Ashura,” he said.

Published in Dawn, October 30th, 2014