Call me a boring Betty, but after years of orchestrating taxis, queuing up in the freezing cold outside clubs and trying to get that one mate a ticket to get in, followed by a chronic hangover and cries of dismay at the endless receipts for rounds of shots that were clearly a fun idea at the time, I’d much rather avoid a night out on the tiles on Halloweenaltogether.
But this isn’t to say you can’t still make the most of yet another seasonal excuse to get drunk. Check out these creative ways in which you can still have fun on Halloween, sans ‘da club’.
Netflix and thrill
Invite a few friends over, get the snacks in, and stick on some scary old-school classic movies, such as Scream, The Blair Witch Project or The Others. You’ll still get that late night feeling the next day, but more due to the fact that you’ve sat up all night, crapping your pants in your own house.
Camp in your living room
Just when your tent thought it was about to be left alone for another year, drag it out, shake off the remnants of Glastonbury and give it another outing. What a better way to combine the best of both worlds, than to set it up in your living room? You can gather around the fire (central heating), toast some marshmallows (pizza), and enjoy a hot cup of cocoa (glass of Pinot).
You’ll get all the scare factor of camping in the woods, minus the terrifying trip to the toilet in the bushes (it’s also the closest thing you’ll get to making a den as a grown-up).
Séance
What could be friendlier than having not just your mates over on Halloween, but extending that invite to the living dead? Set out some candles on a table/the floor in a quiet room (if there’s a TV in the background blaring out re-runs of Jezza Kyle, it could ruin the atmosphere a little).
Stick to YES or NO questions. I’m assuming it’s hard for ghosts to tap out, ‘Sorry, I wasn’t listening, could you repeat the question?’ on the back of your head. Write, ‘yes’ and ‘no’ all around a sheet in the middle of the table/floor, then after asking questions to the potential ghosties aloud, get all fellow séance-ees to put their finger on a glass.
PS You should only invite friends over that have some vague belief in ghosts to add to the atmosphere, eg if Gina wants to come over but she’s super into reincarnation, maybe re-sched to have brunch with her the next day instead.
Halloween house party
It’s that time of year that we pay homage to the spirit world – you know gin, vodka etc – and as long as your cool with cleaning on a hangover the next day, do all your friends a favour and throw a ‘gathering’ (or what we secretly know is code for house party). Spooky cocktails always go down well, why not try these simple, but slightly strange concoctions such as, Black Velvet which is equal parts Guinness to dry sparkling wine, or slightly more warming, cider-based, Caramel Apple Punch.
A ‘Whodunit?’ soirée
This is the closest you’ll get to organised fun. Check out how to make your own DIY game here.){href='http://www.wikihow.com/Play-Whodunnit-(TV-Show)' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer'} An important tip is to make sure there are at least six of you playing. The evening will be short and massively anti-climatic if it’s just you and your mate. It’ll be less, ‘Whodunit’ and more, ‘Youdunit’.
So there you have it, some simple and (hopefully) cheaper alternatives to being shoved around a sticky dancefloor, while trying to figure out if the zombie you just snogged is actually fit.
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Follow Jenn on Twitter @crothh
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.