Youngsters prepare for Halloween in Bhubaneswar. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, Oct. 22: Amid the hullabaloo of Dussehra and Diwali, the festival of Halloween is slowly making its presence felt in Odisha.

This festival to remember the dead falls on October 31.

Halloween is an ancient festival that caught up in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in the US and Canada. It was originally observed to appease spirits who were believed to come to the living on October 31. Dressing up in masks and costumes of ghosts and evil spirits is the most popular way to celebrate this festival in the US, the UK, Ireland and Canada. Over the past few years, the fun activities of the festival have found some following in the metros of India. And now, Bhubaneswar is following suit.

Sonika Pradhan, a 20-year-old commerce student, is preparing for Halloween.

“I’ve heard about it from my cousins and friends who are based in metros. They go to costume parties, narrate horror stories to scare each other and even watch the horror movies together. The whole idea gave me goosebumps and I decided to do something like that here,” she said. She expects some friends to come over at her place for trick-or-treat, a practice where usually children play a prank on someone who refuses to treat them with candies.

She, along with her friends Nivedita and Sireesha, spent the weekend making bats using thermocol, threads and mirrors. “We would be carving out Jack-o’-lantern out of pumpkin on the festival day,” said Sireesha.

There is even a party being thrown at a private hotel in Sriya Square on Sunday titled Spooktacular Surprise.

“We have asked everyone to come in customs and either put on masks or paint their faces. We have kept prizes for the best dressed couple and individual. Those who do not wish to over dress could simply wear black attires and we would give them glow bands and head gears to suit the occasion,” said Satbir Arora, one of the organisers.

The concept of celebrating Halloween come as a surprise to many but it will gradually catch the imagination of many, believe the organisers.