All Hallows Eve is approaching fast. We’re having one of the most technicolour bright Autumns in memory and let’s face it, more frights and scares than a moderately sized human heart can take. And yet.. the usual house parties, dinners and events that mark this time of year are more or less impossible.

So to avoid Halloween feeling completely cancelled, I’ve put together some of my favourite ideas for COVID-safe trick or treating, decor, cosy nights in, scary drive-in-movies or unusual socially distanced nights out. I also couldn’t resist putting together a gift guide round-up, because..gifts!

But first, some ambience as you read on dear friends..

Covid-Safe Ideas for Trick or Treaters

These Halloween gingham masks by Lacklustre Embroidery are a dream! And speaking from experience, comfier than a giant silicone Gandalf-and-or-Rasputin mask with a dangly beard and tiny eyeholes.

To avoid the COVID horror of rummaging elbow deep in a giant bowl of mini Haribo, a group of mamas in Scotland have come up with “The Big Neighbourhood Pumpkin Trail” - encouraging everyone to put a pumpkin in their window so that little ones can still get out over Halloween Weekend to see how many they can count. 😭♥️

Other ideas to adapt trick or treating for these gloomy times include this DIY Candy Chute. It’s a genius workaround made of packing tubes, so you can send a drumstick lolly hurtling at breakneck speed into wee Johnny’s pumpkin satchel. Can even be installed from the sanctuary of a cat flap.

To avoid a big bowl of mixed sweets, you could make up individual treat paper bags, then use a grabber festooned with cobwebs to pass them out to the childrenz. Set up a little table with hand sanitiser outside (extra points for a sign that reads “All who do not sanitise will be cursed forevermore”). Alternatively you could set up a game where you throw mini mars bars at passers by from an upstairs window.

The devil’s in the decor

A Beautiful Mess is one of my favourite blogs for endless inspiration - I love this Halloween Village DIY and the idea of adding to it over the years. Jess Hurrell of Gold is a Neutral always serves up the most incredible Halloween interiors, like this amazing Greatest Showman themed Halloween party she hosted a couple of years ago and last year’s magnificent pumpkin display.

This year is no exception despite being in the middle of a huge kitchen extension at home, as Jess revealed her Halloween mantlepiece of dreams ft. Paper Dreams decorations. This bleeding hand candle is my favourite thing on the internet this week and I always find Flying Tiger great for really affordable paper decorations, napkins and coloured candles.

For our mantlepiece I made this head in a jar. As I had neither time, patience nor a laminator, I simply printed this guy, rolled him up and popped him in. For the real deal, this tutorial looks incredible! I would absolutely love to have a dinner party and pre-photoshop each of my guests heads into a jar.

(Halloween 2021 might be the year I go too far and my friends stop speaking to me forevermore).

Pinterest Inspo..

For those of you less onboard with fake cobwebs and plastic bats, Stay In Supper Club have launched their Autumnal themed “Backyard Orchard” table setting box - a handcrafted kit that arrives with everything you need to reproduce a detailed table scape and make dining at home feel really special. The British Museum also put together this wholesome Autumn Wreath tutorial..😭 I love it.

Get Thee to a Pumpkin Patch..

One of the few lovely activities that isn’t scuppered by Le Covid Diabolique is a visit to your local pumpkin patch. CN Traveller put together a round-up of the best ones across the Uk & here are some of the best patches in Scotland and near London too. The sight of a wheelbarrow brimming with round little poompkins can lift even the saddest of spirits.

Ideas for a Cosy Night In*

*Because let’s face is.. COVID aside, with Mercury fully in retrograde and a full (BLUE) moon a-comin’, we’re probably all better off safe and sound at home.

Lucky Pineapple x Sugar Tits Cocktail Kit

Hayley has teamed up with Sugar Tits London to create these Ghoul Gang Halloween inspired cocktail boxes especially designed for a decadent, spooky night in. No-one out there is making cocktail kits as thoughtful and detailed as Hayley. They are absolutely magnificent and make cocktails at home feel like the most special occasion. The added touches by Sugar Tits are edible genius. The latest date to place your order is the 28th.

Ultimate Halloween food 

Journalist and trend forecaster Rohini Wahi is the queen of Halloween, serving up the most creative table scapes, treats and tricks with great IGTV tutorials.

Inspired by Rohini’s Hocus Pocus cookie tutorial, I made some eyeball brownies of my own..

You can buy edible googly eyes from most big supermarkets or online, but I had a big block of fondant icing so just rolled my own and let them harden, using cake pens to draw on different coloured irises and black pupils. I took a few drops of brown food colouring and mashed through a lump of fondant with a fork, to mould upper and lower lids.

Julia’s Covid Cakes

After I started playing with the fondant icing I just couldn’t stop. 🙈I more or less just used my imagination and pretended it was edible clay. Mindful and delicious! I used a toothpick to help me carve the words and a mix of dabbing on liquid food colouring and cake pens for the overall effect (+ some leftover brownie crumbs for “soil”). I always use the Hummingbird Bakery Vanilla Cupcakes recipe as a base because I am not a natural baker and need something fairly idiot proof. 

A-Vampire-was-here Cupcakes

Inspired by an image I saw on Pinterest, I made and iced the cupcakes as normal, then just dipped a toothpick into red food colouring and drove it in slowly to make a hole, tilting it slightly diagonally as I pulled out for that lovely fang blood drip effect. Super easy and effective! 

I’ve wanted to try out this eery punchbowl trick ever since seeing it on Pinterest. The only reason I hadn’t was never having any surgical gloves at home. Lol. Changed times.

I filled up the gloves with cold water, tied them like a balloon then laid them flat in Tupperwares in the freezer overnight. I had a bit of trouble with the fingers snapping off (phrase you never think you’ll say #74).. but overall it was really simple and effective. I used cranberry juice as it was a tad early in the day to make an entire punch bowl all for myself.

I found this idea for Shrunken Apple Punch on (you guessed it) Pinterest. Our kindly neighbour was giving away free apples from his lovely tree and I didn’t have the heart to tell him I was away to carve them into wailing expressions of pure anguish.

FYI the ones with the skin left on turned to mush, and I forgot to dip them in lemon juice too they went a bit brown, but it was another valiant Pinteresty attempt 😂.

Scary Drive In Movies

Do the words drive-in-movie make anyone else want to say Sahndy! in their breathiest, squeakiest Danny voice? Just me..?

There are events happening across Scotland, including a series of  Drive-In Movies at Edinburgh Airport  between 29 Oct and 1 Nov, ft. allll the classics as part of the Edinburgh International Film Festival. In Glasgow itison x STV are putting on a Drive-In event on the 3rd November in Victoria Park, with an early family-friendly screening and a later show for adults only. At The Flix Drive In at Prestwick Airport is running a packed Halloween programme from the 30th to the 1st too.

In Manchester, Park N Party are hosting the ScareCity experience from the 12th October to the 1st November, screening the most iconic horror movies in a unique setting with live actors who roam around and scare you and themed spaces like a haunted house and the wicked winnebago. Midday screenings on Saturdays and Sundays are child friendly.

In Wales, Adventure Drive In is popping up at Margam Country Park and The Bowes Museum in Barnard Castle (yes - that Barnard castle, trololol) is hosting a drive-in cinema in its grounds. Kent Drive-In have a full programme coming up too.

London’s iconic Luna Cinema is back with a completely Covid-19 secure horror-themed drive-in experience, and there’s a great programme of classics by Drive In Film Club at Alexandra Palace too.

If you’ve ever wondered how you actually hear the film if you’re not sitting in an open top 1950s mustang, the sound is transmitted via a specific FM frequency for your car’s radio. De nada.

socially distanced outdoor Events

Some lovely things you can still leave your house for, while feeling safe.

One of my favourite events last year - GlasGLOW is the prettiest night time walk-through experience in Glasgow’s Botanic Gardens. It remains to be seen how they will tackle the social distancing aspect as it was quite busy throughout last year, but the organisers have stated it’s a COVID-safe event. This year’s theme is superheroes, for “a world of darkness and gloom..” Aye, tis that.

Walking Ghost Tours are happening across the country too with particularly frightening ones in Edinburgh. Down South, English Heritage are putting on a range of family friendly outdoor events including a ghost walk at Whitby Abbey where the haunting spills into an adjacent forest. I will not be partaking, but enjoy brave friends!

Gothic Opera is a female-led opera company performing in the atmospheric gardens of St Paul’s church in Covent Garden. The audience can reserve a two-person bench for a socially distanced performance under the stars, glass of champagne in hand (plenty of cosy blankets required)! 

Dante’s In Furlough is a specially devised COVID-secure experience at the Vaults in Waterloo (one of the best immersive theatre spaces everrr). Limited to 6 attendees at a time, I’ve heard really really great things.

For another ingenious way to have the pants scared off you while enjoying an outdoor activity, look no further than Paranormal Paddling in the New Forest. This private two-hour canoeing tour takes place at night through the New Forest Creeks and Beaulieu River, hearing local ghost stories followed by hot chocolate and halloween treats.

Halloween gifts

Not advocating for rampant consumerism when most of us are feelin’ pretttty broke..but there are too many amazing themed gift ideas out there not to include some of my favourites..

1. Fortnum and Mason Halloween Hamper (They do an even more decadent Autumn Hamper too).

2. If you know any couples getting married, the Un-Wedding Til’ Death gift box is ah-mazing.

3. They Only Come Out At Night gift kit. Lush are absolutely killing it this halloween (paha no pun intended). See also, Glow in the dark soap!

4. Hug In a Card by Paper Pocket

5. You’re Pure Magic Candle by Kindred Fires

6. Mini Personalised Artificial Pumpkins by MoNat & Bag

7. Pizza Monster by Batch1

8. Anatomical Heart Pin by Literary Emporium

9. Ghoul Power Sweatshirt by Batch1 (I love everything)

10. Lil’ Ghost Studs by Francesca Rossi Designs

11. Evil Twin Sweatshirt by Rosie Willett Designs (best 2002 costume ever?)

12. Moon Sisters Pendants by Lines & Current (I never take my half-moon off

Here are my favourite picks from Etsy too..

Or you could just pop Monster Mash on loop, Ocado yourself a Frankencolin for 1 and cry into an out-of-season Aperol Spritz (hey, at least its orange)… Speaking of orange, for the biggest fright of all, see “Rolling Coverage of the US Election..”

Remember Friends - Don’t Go Bobbing for Apples With Someone Unless You Know Where They’ve Been🍎….

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