Celebrate the most magical night of the year!
Pumpkin carving:
At one time pumpkin lanterns (or jack-o-lanterns to some) were made from turnips. As much as we love turnips and tradition, pumpkins are much easier to carve.
It’s not too late to grab a pumpkin and embrace your inner child.
What you will need:
A large pumpkin: If you haven’t got one already head out to your local greengrocer now and bag a last minute bargain.
A long, thin bladed knife: The sharper the better. But remember- no running!
A gutting spoon: Essentially a large spoon. Try an ice-cream scoop or a ladle.
Imagination! : There’s no reason to settle for a basic pumpkin when websites such as spookmaster.com and pumpkincarving101.com offer hundreds of terrifying designs for free.
Creative costumes:
Sadly, most of us are too old for trick or treating.
Gone are the days when we could throw on a bin bag and wander the streets on a sugar-high demanding treats in return.
Upsetting as that might be, there’s nothing stopping us dressing up and celebrating supernatural style with the ghosts and ghouls.
If you haven’t sorted your costume already you’re going to have to opt for a DIY job.
Never fear, Let us inspire you:
The ‘ghost’: Don’t believe in ghosts? Grab a white sheet, throw it over your head, make two holes for your eyes and look in the mirror.
Not so sceptical now are you?
The ‘M.J’: Simply dress in black, grease down your hair and grab a white glove and you’ve perfected the look. Tonight you will be…Michael Jackson. Don’t forget the lollies.
The evil businessman: Suit. Grimace. Go.
Still lacking inspiration? Poundland it is then.
Shock and horror:
Planning on locking all the doors and windows and hiding under the bed sheets come dusk? Scare yourself in the safety of your own home with a classic horror film.
Our top five fearful films are:
Number One) Halloween (1978): Naïve teenagers. Masked murderers. Classic.
Number Two) The Fly (1986): An eccentric scientist gets it all wrong and starts to morph into a fly.
Number Three) The Thing (1982): Scientists in the Antarctic discover that one of their crew is an alien. But who is it?!
Number Four) The Shining (1980): Manic behaviour, axe wielding and a haunted house. Stanley Kubrick’s classic has got everything you will need for a spectacularly spooky fright-night.
Number Five) Ju-on (2000): First in a series of horror films by Japanese director Takashi Shimizu. Disturbing.
How much do you know about Halloween?
Halloween is one of the oldest celebrations in the World and dates back over 2000 years.
It is based on an ancient Celtic holiday known as Samhain which translates as “summer’s end.”
The World record holder for fastest pumpkin carving is Jerry Ayres of Ohio. He managed to carve a pumpkin in just 37 seconds.
Around 99 per cent of pumpkins sold in October are used for lantern making.
Samhainophobia is an intense fear of Halloween.
Halloween is correctly spelt as Hallowe’en.
At one time Black cats were thought to protect witches’ powers from negative forces.
They’ve charmed us with their hubble, bubble, toil and trouble. Here are the top five witches and wizards flying in for Halloween!
Number 1) Harry PotterSince 1997 this young wizard and his friends, Ron and Hermione have enchanted us with their daring tales in the legendary Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Definitely the number one wizard after selling over 325 million copies in more than 64 languages!
In October 1998, Prudence, Piper and Phoebe introduced us to The Power of Three in this hit TV series. These girls came from a long line of witches, but balanced that with their lives in modern day America, becoming the longest running show with all female leads in 2006. The show ran for 8 seasons, ending in 2006.
The ‘Weird Sisters’ opened this play, making their ‘hubble, bubble, toil and trouble’ line infamous. Although they only appear briefly, their prophecies are crucial to the play even though at that time witches were regularly burnt at the stake.
This little mouse couldn’t be left off the list after appearing in the 1940 Disney film, ‘Fantasia’. It was only Disney’s third film and was based on ‘The Sorcerer’s Apprentice’.
Finally, we have the wizard who started it all, Merlin. Although he comes from historical and legendary tales, he became known as King Arthur’s advisor in Geoffrey of Monmouth’s ‘Historia Regum Britanniae’.
Located a mere six miles from the University campus, Samlesbury Hall is Preston’s very own haunted house.
Believed to date from the early 14th Century, Samlesbury Hall is said to be haunted by the ‘White Lady’. Many believe the White Lady to be the ghost of Lady Dorothy Southworth.
During the reign of Queen Elizabeth Samlesbury Hall was the home of Dorothy’s family.
Her father was staunch Catholic Sir John Southworth, sheriff of Lancashire.
According to legend Dorothy angered her father when she fell in love with a Protestant soldier.
Desperate to stay together the couple planned to elope but their plans were discovered.
Dorothy’s love was murdered on the grounds of the house by her brothers and Dorothy was sent to a French convent where she died of a broken heart.
Some say that Dorothy has returned to wander the grounds of Samlesbury Hall. Several guests at the house have reported hearing wailing and sobbing in the corridors and many claim to have witnessed the White Lady herself…
Angela Hunt-McDonagh works at the hall and provided us with details of some of the encounters:
- A famous regiment was stationed around Samlesbury hall in the 20s. Lady Dorothy was seen by two soldiers and she followed them. One of the soldiers was so frightened he suffered a seizure and never recovered. During the war, there were frequent sightings of the White Lady by soldiers.
- A group who were visiting the hall saw a woman dressed in white on the driveway, two approached her and she turned and stepped towards them, at this point they ran away! She appeared to be looking for something.
- She has flagged down buses and taxis on the road, and when they stop she disappears.
- She has been spotted sitting in the back seat of cars as they go past the hall.
- A police car has been said to have hit a figure of white but when they got out there was no body in sight and no damage to the car.
Are you brave enough to investigate the haunted house?
