“Smiffys is a real shop. The first time you see one, it seems to be a temporary outlet, the sort of thing so flimsy that it could not possibly trade all year round. It’s got “that logo” with the sort of smile-tick thing. But this is not the case. You can get a sexy dray horse costume in one of five UK retail locations and at many, many stockists.”

Across the pond, we have the Spirit of Halloween outlets that pop up in September to haunt abandoned retail locations nationwide. They disappear as abruptly as the Ghost of Christmas Past on November 1st. It’s uncanny. One might even say … supernatural.