Halloween, the time of year for ghouls and ghosts and things that go bump in the night.

But City fans have already had their biggest fright.

Forget your scary flicks like Nightmare on Elm Street and Saw. Nothing could be scarier than that second half at Blackpool on Saturday. The only thing going bump at the moment is City's league form as they drop towards mid-table.

Sunny September seems a lifetime away. 'Orrible October can't end quick enough after a run of just one point and one goal from four games.

Perhaps all those treats at the start of the season were just a cruel trick for what was about to follow.

Remember how well City played against Tranmere? Then fast forward to the shambolic effort on the Lancashire seaside.

What a difference a month can make. Then again, we all know the surreal world of League One, where nobody is quite what they seem.

How else do you explain Crewe running Manchester United's youngsters so close in midweek and then getting thumped for five at Rotherham?

Or Huddersfield's winning run crashing to an end with a 3-0 home humbling from Brighton?

Or Northampton finally getting their first home win against high-flying Swansea?

Every week, the results in this division read like a script from Tales of the Unexpected.

Not that anyone else's troubles will concern City supporters. Their only worry is what has suddenly gone so wrong with Colin Todd's team.

The side that was winning matches and friends with their free-flowing football has suddenly been replaced by a bedraggled outfit whose confidence looks totally shot. In the space of a few, fumbling weeks the chants of "City 'Til I Die" have morphed into "You're Not Fit To Wear The Shirts".

Compare the line-up that took Crewe apart at Gresty Road at the end of August and the one that rolled over meekly last weekend. The only change was up front where, minus the injured David Graham and Eddie Johnson, City threw in Joe Brown.

So basically the same side that could have scored half a dozen at Crewe are now threatening to ship the same amount against opponents who are not nearly as good.

October began with City in fourth spot and four points adrift of leaders Nottingham Forest. The month ends in familiar mid-table territory and 12 points in Forest's wake.

Like the big dipper which dominates the skyline on the drive in to Blackpool, there are plenty of ups and downs to follow. Just look at the way Blackpool and Rotherham have suddenly taken off on the back of a few wins.

A third of the way into the season, City are only two points off sixth spot - but it could and should be so much better.

Sitting in his self-proclaimed "dungeon" ahead of the Huddersfield game, Todd surveyed his side's high-riding position at the time and asked himself a couple of rhetorical questions: "Do we want to get out of this division? Yes. Are we good enough to stay up there or get in an even better position? Yes.

"It's early season but it's always better being where we are than down the bottom but we have to keep turning that screw. We are a good side but you have to remember how you are winning games. Once you start accepting that it's just going to happen then you hit problems."

Perhaps that explains the trap that City have fallen into: believing the hype and just expecting results to fall into place.

Contrast Todd's mood after the final whistle at Bloomfield Road, when he mentioned the "warning signs" that had been cropping up in the last few weeks.

"Saturday was the first time when we never looked like coming back," admitted Todd.

"We folded like a pack of cards and that's not acceptable. We let ourselves down individually and collectively; too many didn't show that commitment that I expect.

"People have got to be honest with themselves now if they want to get back up the table."

Saturday's home clash with Brighton is crucial for settling frazzled nerves.

Fans need to be won over once more. It's not a time for City to be giving up the ghost again.