The modern ritual is just a chance for children to dress up, eat sweets and stay up late. For Christians to hate Halloween seems an own goal

• Ravi Holy is the vicar of Wye in Kent

On Thursday 31 October, many churches will stage “light parties” as a “positive” alternative to Halloween. From their perspective, Halloween is spiritually dangerous: a gateway drug that can lead to full-on devil worship.

I used to believe that myself but, mercifully, I’ve long since been delivered from the curse of fundamentalism and the church I lead now actively embraces Halloween. So, each year, we throw open the doors of our none-more gothic building and invite the hundreds of little witches, vampires and werewolves who are already out trick or treating in the village to come in and take part in further fun activities such as apple-bobbing, a slimy lucky dip and (my favourite) spooky stories in the graveyard (by which I mean Peppa Pig’s Pumpkin Party, not Edgar Allan Poe).

Ravi Holy is the vicar of Wye in Kent, and a standup comedian