Beauties and beasts

DRESSING up for Halloween is not just child's play. In America, around a third of adults will also don capes and splash on fake blood tonight, according to a survey by the National Retail Federation, a trade body. In homage to the night's roots, dressing as a witch is most popular, with over 7m children and adults intending to dust off a broomstick and apply some warts. Perennial favourites such as princesses and monsters are joined by newer film and comic heroes (or villains). And, as in life, good and evil are represented equally.

AP