Hubble bubble boil and trouble! Halloween is just around the corner and if you’re anything like me you’ll be hunting for some treats and activities to celebrate the spookiest day of the year.

If you need a little inspiration take a peek at these five traditional Halloween activities…

Pumpkins

I love the ritual of going to the farm, picking my pumpkins and spending an evening carving them. The warm glow and smell of the pumpkin burning on the tea light are all evocative of this time of year. I even roast the seeds with paprika and snack on them for the weeks afterwards.

I’m all for traditional pumpkin carving and elaborate designs. However in the past couple of years I’ve really taken to decorating the outside of the pumpkins. This is great for creating a very different look and the possibilities are endless.

If you want one inspiration I wrote a post on my pumpkins from last year, click to give it a read!

HOW TO MAKE FOLIAGE PUMPKINS FOR HALLOWEEN

Feast

Halloween is a big deal in our household, each year I go all out in the lead up to the big night and this year I’ve had some help with some gifted goodies from Marks and Spencers*.

It’s a time when my family and friends come together and we always do silly and spooky things to celebrate it. We’ve done big themed dinners, parties, fright night walks and film nights and are always on the look out for food and decorations to help channel spooky Halloween vibes.

Marks and Spencer has an amazing selection of foodie treats. It’s helping me get in the mood for one of my favourite times of the year and ready for the inevitable knock on the door from trick or treaters!

My favourite are the limited edition Percy Pumpkin Pigs and Count Colin the Caterpillars that have a spooky flavour make over. Green apple and orange make appearance alongside the classic grape sweets.

There are also witches fingers, ghost crisps, mummy biscuits, vampire fang cheese puffs…

…and perfect individually wrapped sweets for trick or treaters!

 

Games

Yes, this is kids territory but, I’ve found loads of these things go down really well at adult parties too. You don’t need many of them, they’re just for a bit of fun to break up the evening.

These three are simple and effective – for more elaborate games head to Google there’s a lot out there depending on the kind of party you are looking to host.

1. Apple bobbing – make people dunk for floating apples, it’s a classic and a goodie. If you’re looking for a twist on this I once went to a party where doughnuts were hung and you had to eat it off a piece of string. Same concept, same level of fun.
2. Make a mummy – Partners take it in turn to wrap toilet rolls around each other. One minute time limit – this gets funnier once people have had a couple of drinks!
3. Pass the apple – stand people in two lines, give each line an apple, the apples has to be passed to the end of the line but no one can use their hands. Silly childish fun!

Walking

Ghost walks are the best and in Southampton we have two great local dramatic societies one called Supernatural Tours and the other called Sarah Siddon’s Fan Club that put on the most amazing haunted walks. They are full of history and storytelling and really do make for a frightfully magical evening.

Facebook and google will help you find similar events in your area but, Visit England’s Scare yourself silly is great place to start.

If that’s not your bag, and trust me I get that it’s not for everyone, just going for an autumnal stomp is worthwhile. Take time out to see the changing of the colours, see some wildlife and get some fresh air in your lungs – accompanied by Halloween snacks of course!

Films

If you’re not big into games and pumpkins the easiest way to celebrate Halloween is with a film night. Get loads of snacks in, light those candles and get cosy.

Although I love Halloween I’m absolutely hopeless with horror films. I’m easily scared and prefer silly vampires films or cartoons – I am fully aware of how lame I am.

1. Hocus Pocus – Disney comedy horror at its very best. Three witches, Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy, and Sarah Jessica Parker, are resurrected and cause trouble in Salem, Massachusetts. ‘Frightening’ family fun.
2. Practical Magic – Halloween rom com goodness. Two sisters, Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman, fight a family curse and being outsiders in their home town.
3. Buffy the Vampire Slayer – ok, so it’s not a film but it is the series that started it all. Without Joss Whedon’s pioneering and now cult classic series I doubt you’d have seen the likes of Twilight, The Vampire Diaries and Shadow Hunters. This series paved the way for all these kind of series to flourish.

There’s just too many films to pick from The Addams Family, Casper, The Witches, The Craft, ET, Harry Potter and we’ve not even hit the top of the iceberg or television series!

As my suggestions are positively PG, head to IMDB’s top 100 Halloween movies of all time for some great film suggestions.

Oh and don’t forget a big old cup of tea for dunking Halloween biscuits and keeping cosy on cold nights!

The only thing I’ve missed off this list is a costume party. I love Halloween parties and getting an outfit sorted – over the years I’ve been all the traditional things like a vampire, a witch, a cat, a pumpkin and a zombie. But, I’ve also been as Russell Brand and Cleopatra!

My next stop to achieve spooky Halloween vibes will be to head to the farm to pick my pumpkins! I can’t wait to load my car up and spend an evening carving ready for 31 October.

I really hope you like these suggestions and I’d love to know what are you doing this year for Halloween. Share with me any great costumes or favourite activities – pop a comment in the section below!

 

 

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*Gifted items from Marks and Spencer with no obligation to post. All opinions are my own otherwise what’s the point? The Halloween range at Marks and Spencer, in my opinion, is very tasty and offers some fun twists on the classics to embrace this time of year!