Thousands of people have been left both terrified and disappointed this Halloween after it was announced that masks of Marty Morrissey have entirely sold out from the capital this year.
The fearsome 58-year-old broadcaster has been a mainstay for trick-or-treaters ever since he first shocked us by appearing on RTÉ television in 1994.
However, thousands of costume-goers will be left disappointed this year due to what has been described by one major retail chain (who wished to remain anonymous) as a “frighteningly unprecedented demand.”
“We haven’t seen anything like this since those Jedward lads were on the telly,” a spokesperson said. “There’s just something really unsettling about it.”
“We’ve even had complaints from parents of crying children in the store. To be honest, I don’t even know how they let him on before the watershed anymore.”
One parent, Margaret Conroy (52) from Harmonstown, Dublin 5 has gone as far as to begin a campaign to outlaw the masks.
Mrs. Conroy told Oxygen.ie that her 4-year-old son, Mikey, has had regular nightmares for the last six days after a man wearing the mask approached him in a local shopping centre.
“He’s been left completely traumatised,” Mrs. Conroy explained. “He keeps waking up in the middle up screaming ‘HE’S COMING. MARTY IS COMING TO GET ME’.”
“I can’t look at him on the telly in the same way now. It’s those eyes; they just pierce through your soul.”
“I don’t know if somebody can actually die from being scared, but I don’t want to find out. These masks will kill someone if we’re not careful,” she added.
Anyone who approaches a person wearing one of these masks is asked to remain calm, and go to their local GP if symptoms of fear and panic persist.
With an estimated 25,000 units sold in the last three weeks alone, Marty Morrissey is by far the best-selling Halloween mask this year, followed by Leo Varadkar and Donald Trump/
Both Marty Morrissey and RTÉ were unavailable for comment.