The end of October is probably best known for one of three things: beer gardens closing down, wearing shorts outdoors becoming less acceptable, and only 54 shopping days left until Christmas. However, for those of us with a child-like taste for the theatrics it’s also time for dusting off those pumpkins (ooh-err) and getting out your best fancy dress. Because October for most people under eleven means Halloween time!
Love it or loath it, October 31st is creeping up like a deranged psychopath with a bloody knife. And that means you’ll either be standing outside in the cold, daubed in makeup and drinking with your mates… or inside, not daubed in makeup and drinking with your mates. So in the sprit of things – no pun intended – we’ve decided to put together this Halloween Survival Guide for all our MixingOut members who want to embrace the frightening festivities or shy away from them.
Don’t fancy dressing up? No Worries!
If dressing up like a “Zombie Nurse/Celebrity” really isn’t your idea of a good time, there’s still plenty of things you can do with friends this Halloween.
1. Drinking Games, Horror Movie Style
The premise of this activity is quite simple. Sit down with a bunch of friends in front of a classic horror movie and every time somebody onscreen does something stupid (i.e. goes back into the scary house, leaves an attacker supposedly unconscious without taking said attacker’s disarmed weapon, or splitting up into search parties) you take a drink. You’ll get hammered very quickly.
2. Ouija Board Monopoly
Ordinarily, we wouldn’t advocate the use of an Ouija board. But when you’re playing Monopoly, we can’t imagine any unexplainable mishaps, except maybe the odd hotel going missing. The same rules of traditional Monopoly apply except you get to rename all the locales, such as “Elm Street” and “Leicester Scare” – only not as lame as that.
3. Friday Night Out
The best thing about Halloween this year? October 31st falls on a Friday, so there’s no need to stay in! Even though there’ll be Halloween themed events going on near you, there’ll also be plenty of venues putting on alternative events if you’re not into that sort of thing. Perfect!