Halloween

Pere Ubu, Mogwai, Thomas Truax and Zombie Zombie set for The Glasgow Music and Film Festival

17 Feb 2010

The Music and Film Festival is a strange beast, full of contradictions and tangents that threaten to pull apart its coherence, but ultimately make it the most exciting strand of this year’s Glasgow Film Festival. Co-curated by the Arches, and featuring…

Edinburgh Samhuinn marks events from pagan calendar

Beltane Fire Society bring fire and drums to Capital's Royal Mile

27 Oct 2010

As a nation with some deeply pagan roots, we love any excuse to set fire to things while bashing away at drums. Thank goodness, then, for the Beltane Fire Society, which not only shares these passions, but manages to foreground them twice a year. This…

Halloween Special - Halloween Origins

16 Oct 2008

The war waged by Halloween on its Celtic relative, Samhuinn, has virtually erased the ancient festival from the public consciousness. In the United States, where All Hallows Eve has become a $2.5 billion industry, the most prominent pop cultural…

Shop - Tam Shepherd’s Trick Shop

18 Oct 2007

I’ve picked the worst possible time of the year to interview Julia Walton. It’s 12.30 on a Sunday afternoon, just before Hallowe’en, and the door of Tam Shepherd’s Trick Shop is constantly jingling. ‘Yes, it’s definitely our busiest time,’ she says…

Spooky Scotland

1 Oct 2008

Glamis Castle Reported to be one of the most haunted castles in Scotland, Glamis is the original seat of the Bowes and Lyons family. The castle is the setting of many a good ghostly yarn, including Shakespeare’s Macbeth. It’s also rumoured to…

Quick and easy Hallowe'en witch costume

29 Oct 2010

Let’s be honest, there’s a good chance you’ll be stuck, 20 minutes before your Hallowe’en party, without a costume. We challenged Denis to come up with a speedy outfit made from household items You'll need: Two big sheets of paper; scissors…

Samhain

Investigating the inspiration for Halloween

10 Sep 2009

Halloween is about more than just pumpkin lanterns, apple dooking and dubious fancy dress. The true meaning of All Hallow's Eve harks back to the ancient fire festival of Samhain, the celebration of the final harvest and the beginning of the Celtic New…

Halloween Special - Mary Rose

16 Oct 2008

It’s often seen as an ill omen if a play of some antiquity is seldom revived. Yet, in the case of JM Barrie’s seldom seen play Mary Rose, this suspicion might not be justified. Certainly, in the year of its release, the play was well received…

Alice Cooper - SECC: Clyde Auditorium, Glasgow, Mon 31 Oct

2 Nov 2011

Could there be a more perfect date for Alice Cooper to play Glasgow? And the Halloween freakshow starts early with protopunks New York Dolls still pouting after all these years. A muted response from the crowd in this vast arena lessens the impact but…

Alice Cooper tried to 'destroy' audiences

Music Gossip

28 Oct 2011

Alice Cooper used to try and "destroy" his audience. The 'School's Out' hitmaker said his self-titled band didn't understand hippy culture when they first moved to California in 1967, they would purposefully go out of their way to antagonise their…

Mr Scruff's Halloween playlist

Featuring Fela Kuti, Le Noiz, Giuliano Sorgini and Whodini

28 Oct 2011

Fela Kuti ‘Zombie’ A 12-and-a-half minute afro-funk groove from the father of Afrobeat. The lyrics are about the Nigerian army, but it works perfectly well in a spooky situation. bit.ly/kutizombie Al Kooper & Stephen Stills ‘Season Of The…

Patrick Wolf's history of Samhain

How the origins of Hallowe'en lie in the Gaelic festival of Samhain

21 Oct 2011

Long before the commercialisation of 31 October, the date that we have come to know now as Hallowe’en, there was a Gaelic festival called Samhain that marked the beginning of the ‘darker half’ of the year: the end of the hopeful days of spring and the…

King Creosote - Why I love Hallowe’en

The Mercury Prize nominee on how Hallowe'en has become a fixture in the Fence calendar

21 Oct 2011

In order to become a proper record label, the three of us working out of Fence HQ in the early days of the new millennium – Gummi Al, Johnny Pictish and myself, KC – decided we ought to adopt a few standard office practices. The first was to rent a PO…

Paranormal Activity 3

Surprisingly effective third instalment of found footage suburban ghost story

21 Oct 2011

(15) 84min Now Saw has relinquished it’s stranglehold on the multiplex each and every Halloween, Paranormal Activity has stepped up to fill the void. And it’s impressive that they’ve managed to mine this much back-story from the simplicity of the…

Alice Cooper praises guitarist Depp

Music Gossip

28 Jun 2011

Alice Cooper thinks Johnny Depp is as good a guitarist as Slash. The 63-year-old rocker was delighted when the actor agreed to perform with him at London's 100 Club on Sunday (26.06.11), and was so impressed by his musical abilities, the 'Tourist…

Make your own Hallowe'en party essentials

How to make Hallowe’en Party Bunting, Meringue Ghosts, Chocolate Spider Cupcakes and Pumpkin Lantern

29 Oct 2010

Having a Hallowe'en party? Then heed some of these top tips from craft masters Made in the Shade

Hallowe'en costumes from a theatre costume cupboard

We raid the The Royal Lyceum Theatre costume store for inspiration

29 Oct 2010

We take a trip to the costume store of the Royal Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh to get some outfit inspiration

The best Hallowe'en events and film screenings in Edinburgh and Glasgow

Zombie Walks, screenings of Saw 3D, Halloween and Evil Dead II

29 Oct 2010

The first feature-length version of Robert Louis Stevenson’s novella was a 1920 adaptation starring John Barrymore in the dual role as the misguided scientist and his maniacal alter-ego. For Hallowe’en the Usher Hall is bringing this silent classic to…

The best Hallowe'en music and club events in Edinburgh and Glasgow

29 Oct 2010

HALLOWEEN CLUBS There’s blood on the dancefloor as Hallowe’en takes over clubland. First up, Hung Up! host the annual Optimo (Espookio) as Glasgow’s weirdest Hallowe’en party rises from the grave (The Sub Club, Sun 31 Oct). And if there’s dressing up…

The best Kids Hallowe'en events in Edinburgh and Glasgow

29 Oct 2010

Sometimes, the scariest thing about giving your kids a Hallowe’en treat can be the price. So once you’ve exhausted your wallet buying witch costumes and ghoul masks, here are a few free events to take your spookily-dressed offspring to. The Family Scary…

Professional costume designer's one-hour witch costume

29 Oct 2010

Not everyone has access to a warehouse full of theatrical costumes. So, to give some good advice to those of us battling with bin bags and plastic bottles to make our outfits we’ve enlisted Denis Boyar from the Russian Cultural Centre at Glasgow’s…

Death Weekend set for Roxy Art House

Edinburgh venue marks Hallowe'en with themed weekend

27 Oct 2010

The Roxy Art House get right into the spooky swing of things with this subtly-named collection of morbid events celebrating Hallowe’en. There’s a literary reading from satirical sci-fi guy Steve Aylett; experimental art from Alex Hetherington; live…

Spotify playlist: Hallowe'en 2010

20 Oct 2010

Halloween doesn’t have to be all about doing the ‘Monster Mash’ or voluntarily listening to the theme from Ghostbusters. There’s a wide range of supernatural-themed music on offer for this occasion. Here’s a Spotify playlist of ghoulish alternatives.

Zombie Zombie perform the music of John Carpenter

23 Feb 2010

Forming part of the Glasgow Film Festival’s Music and Film strand, the influence of one of American cinema’s most widely-respected cult auteurs hung over this event, so we shouldn’t be too picky that the band scrapped the idea of performing in front of…

Halloween Guide: M - S

Yet more spooky goings-on

16 Oct 2009

M is for Movies Perhaps only rivalled by the upsurge in the plastic horn industry around 31 Oct, the annual economic boost for the horror film industry ensures that, every Halloween, there is a fresh crop of dismembered corpse-filled flicks to satisfy…