Sir – I was appalled by the Halloween display in a joke shop window in Witney.

As well as the usual cobwebs, scary masks, tridents etc, prominent in the front of the window were several baby dolls all ‘murdered’ in various horrific ways – some hanging, some with mutilated features and all smeared with blood. When a friend complained to the manager he said he thought it was great and pointed to the crowded shop.

There is a narrow line between scariness, which many enjoy, and outright horror, which is degrading.

Do we really want young people to be able to look at images like this without being moved or (even worse) to be amused by them? If so, this is the way to blunt the better feelings of the next generation.

Glena Chadwick
Charlbury