A new study has revealed that nearly 50% of parents believe costumes for children are ';too frightening'.
The research, published by parenting site ChannelMum.com, showed that one in seven parents think that Halloween for children is becoming increasingly sinister, from disturbing scary movies to frightening and occasionally down right inappropriate Halloween costumes.
A survey by OnePoll also revealed that two thirds of parents now support the introduction of age-ratings on costumes in a bid to crack down on the frightening and in many cases over sexualised outfits on shop shelves for kids.
ChannelMum.com founder Siobhan Freegard commented: 'Halloween maybe the second biggest event for retailers after Christmas - but it should be about having harmless fun not encouraging children to wear horrible and even highly inappropriate outfits.'
'Stores have become more responsible on everyday clothing, and dressing up should be no different. There is no excuse for putting profit before children's welfare.'
The findings have been released just after Halloween costume sellers, including the party store owned by Kate Middleton's parents Carole and Michael Middleton, have been criticised by customers for selling 'inappropriate' Halloween costumes for children.
The Middleton's website, Party Pieces, sells costumes including a 'roadkill' bodysuit aimed at children to dress up as a dead pet. Other stores have been condemned for much worse, selling outfits such as mass murderer Jack the Ripper, characters from horror movies such as The Exorcist, and inappropriate outfits such as 'sexy cat'.
And it's not just a UK based problem - retailers in the USA were slammed recently after they were discovered to be selling a children's Halloween costume depicting Holocaust victim Anne Frank.
After noticing it online, people took to Twitter to brand the idea 'horrifying' and 'totally and utterly inappropriate'. A spokesperson from the company responded to the criticism saying that the 'historically accurate' costume is not specifically for Halloween, and is also aimed at children who might need the outfit for 'school projects and plays.'
However, the outfit has since been removed from the website.
Tell us your thoughts! What do you think about the range of children's Halloween costumes available this year? Are you worried by the type of costumes for sale for children? Let us know what you think in the comment box below.
