Today’s Google Doodle has a special message of acceptance to mark the spookiest night of the year.
It follows Jinx, a lonely ghost on a mission to find the perfect Halloween costume – and a place to belong.
Looking out from the tower of an old haunted house, Jinx spots a group of three trick-or-treaters.
He puts on a witch’s costume and heads out on a broomstick, but scares off his would-be friends when he crashes into a tree.
Determined to join in the fun, he tries dressing as a mummy, a vampire and even a slice of bread, before settling on a white sheet ghost costume.
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When Momo – a black cat who starred in last year’s Halloween Doodle – looses his hat, Jinx steps out of some bushes and picks it up for him, only for his sheet to be blown away by a gust of wind.
Instead of running scared of the lonely ghost, Momo and his friends invite him to join them, having seen him for who he really is.
The adorable animation is a sequel of sorts to last year’s Doodle, a short game where Momo defended the Magic Cat Academy from a ghost invasion.
This year, Google decided it was time to tell the Ghost’s side of the story.
“In the initial concept, Momo dressed up as a ghost for Halloween and fell under the spell of a real ghost,” the search giant explained.
“Alas, this spectral romance was better suited for Valentine’s Day.
“Once the team decided on the ‘lonely ghost’ concept, the importance of being yourself emerged as a suitable theme. Thus, Jinx was born.”
Behind-the-scenes pictures show how Jinx went through a number of forms before the team landed on his final appearance.
Each sequence was given its own colour scheme, with the costume montage “far and away the most fun scene in the video”.
The Google Doodle team called the clip “one of the most enjoyable we have worked on”.
“This Halloween, dress as your favourite character and do the Monster Mash,” Google said.
“Don’t be afraid to show who you really are or let superstition get in the way of a new friendship and you’ll be a graveyard smash.”