Halloween Night is once again rising from the grave – Friday 31st Oct to be exact! Always a popular celebration, especially among students. What could be better than taking to the streets of a university town in a shuffling, jerk-limbed display of The Walking Dead? It’s a no-brainer!
If you’re living in standard accommodation at a homestay house, then it’s likely you might be invited to join a family Halloween, but if you are sharing a group accommodation with other students, then there may be more than apple bobbing and wearing a ‘Scream’ mask. There are always going to those who look to fix up a costume with the least amount of effort expended while others make it a real creative project. Check these 15 easy, lazy and clever Halloween costume cheats for some hilarious examples.
Gorge a gory appetite…
Of course, rather than go to all the bother of putting on a party, everyone might decide to head in to town instead for Halloween night out. There are numerous Halloween events taking place around Britain, such as in London, Liverpool, Manchester and Brighton where many of the Homestay accommodations are situated, so there’s bound to be a ‘fright night’ party near you.
Alternatively, you can always opt to gorge a gory appetite with a night-in or a weekend CD box set of your favourite heart stoppers or, perhaps, all ten “Halloween” films released since 1978. If you’re a bit of a movie buff, then here’s a list of 10 great horror films of the 21st century, as compiled by the British Film Institute – not a Bates Motel in sight!
A time when spirits are more active
We appear to have come a long way since “All Hallows Eve”, a Christian feast originally influenced by Celtic harvest festivals with possible pagan roots, particularly the Gaelic “Samhain”, and celebrated in many countries around the world. Samhain marked the end of the harvest season and beginning of winter or the ‘darker half’ of the year, and seen as a time when the spirits are more active as they could more easily make the transition to our world.
Yet the fascination with the supernatural has never been more popular, as evidenced by a seemingly never ending series of vampire and demon movies released each year. Not to mention TV programmes investigating the paranormal.
Rise in the belief of the supernatural
A survey conducted by Harris Polls in November 2013 revealed that 42 per cent of people in the UK believed in the existence of ghosts while a study by the Telegraph found that belief in the reality of ghosts was up from around 40 per cent in 2009 to 52 per cent in 2013. One in five also claimed to have been involved in a paranormal experience.
The mind can play many tricks, especially in the dark. Sometimes just the merest thought can appear to conjure into reality your most feared thoughts, worst nightmares.
Is that muffled sound you hear coming from the kitchen, back of a cupboard or… behind your sofa….?