Why does Paisley love the spooks and scares of Halloween so much?

All Hallow's Eve may still be over a week away, but in Paisley ghoulish excitement has already possessed many a local.

Council officials claim the town has the unofficial title of "Scotland's Halloween capital", with the coming weekend seeing its popular two day Halloween festival take place, complete with a parade, street theatre and a funfair.

They say it is one of the biggest dates of the year for the area, with thousands of visitors expected and hundreds of performers lined up.

When Paisley took the prize for Scotland's "Town of the Year" in 2025, events like the Halloween celebration was cited as one of the reasons why.

But why does the macabre march seem to have such a hold on the town?

Heather Kay has worked with the area's Star Project, a community organisation that aims to tackle the impact of poverty and deprivation in the region, for over 10 years.

As part of this, it hosts various Halloween themed workshops, such as helping locals design costumes for the parade, which is held on two nights.

"I've lived up and down the UK and I've never found a town that celebrates Halloween as hard as Paisley does," she laughs.

"These things are important to the area. There's the cost of living crisis and people are really struggling with things, so something people can look forward to and get involved in is a fantastic thing.

"Maybe people are struggling but there's a playfulness to something like the parade, where everyone is chatting and having fun. You'll see folk coming out of restaurants to have a look at it."

However, Heather told BBC Scotland that she feels some of the darker aspects of the history of Paisley are also a factor.

"There's so much history in Renfrewshire with witches and then there's the horseshoe at Maxwelton Cross, and the curse that goes with it.

"You hear those stories so often that it is part of the town."

The horseshoe she mentions is a reference to the Paisley witches trial, similar to the famous witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts, where a host of women were accused of practising witchcraft amid mass hysteria and fear.

In 1696 an 11-year-old girl, Christian Shaw, the daughter of the Laird of Bargarran, accused servant girl Katherine Campbell of stealing a glass of milk.

She claimed Campbell's response was to curse her and threaten that the Devil would "haul her soul through Hell".

Days later Shaw encountered Agnes Naismith, a local woman who, given her age and being unmarried, was already suspected by some townspeople of witchcraft.

Shaw then suffered months of illness and fits, and began accusing over 30 locals of cursing her with witchcraft.

In the end, seven of that group - including Campbell and Naismith - stood trial and were found guilty. They were hanged on Gallows Green and their bodies burned in what is believed to be the last mass execution for witchcraft in western Europe.

But that is not the end of the story.

When Naismith died she was said to have cursed all the townspeople present, and their descendants for good measure.

The mass grave of those who were put to death was sealed with a horseshoe, and a myth soon grew that should the horseshoe be disturbed then the whole town would suffer.

It was later disturbed by roadworks in the 1960s - a time when Paisley's engineering and famous textile industry were in decline.

In 2008 a monument by the sculptor Alexander Stoddart, marking the seven deaths was installed, also featuring a horseshoe but this time remembering them as innocent victims.

Christian Shaw - whose accusations prompted the trials- went on to become a successful businesswoman, establishing the Bargarran Thread Company, an early precursor of the industry that drove Paisley's economic success.

The Paisley witchcraft trials were just one example of many similar tales of persecution across Scotland.

In 2022, the then first minister Nicola Sturgeon offered a formal apology to people accused of witchcraft in the 16th and 18th Centuries.

About 4,000 Scots, mostly women, were accused of breaking the Witchcraft Act between 1563 and 1736, with many of them executed.

Such darkness will be far from the minds of most revellers on Friday and Saturday, though.

This year the festival has a Haunted House theme, with organisers saying a host of of characters and creatures will take to the streets, including Frankenstein's Monster, mad scientists, illuminated umbrella monsters and magical sea creatures.

The event is organised by Renfrewshire Council, in partnership with performance specialists Cirque Bijou and lighting experts Woodroffe Bassett Design., with the parade at 19:00 each night.

Pauline Allan, the council's events manager, said she feels the festival has consistently grown since 2014.

"Paisley has long been home to a vibrant creative community, and that spirit runs through the town," she says.

"So Halloween provides the perfect chance for people to showcase their talents, embrace the fun of dressing up and come together for a truly unique celebration."

That spirit is something that Heather agrees with.

"Everyone does go all out for it, and we'll have people involved from children up to their 70s.

"We like to say never to grow up or act your age, and Halloween is great for that."