Halloweߣen SPECIAL
Hairst: Halloween in Huntly SHEPHERD’S DELIGHT
E IS FOR EATING Too old for dressing up and chapping doors? Treat yourself with no tricks required.
Pop into I Love Candy (38 Hanover St, Edinburgh, 226 2623 and Byres Road, Glasgow, 337 3399, www.ilovecandystore.com) for some good old- fashioned spine tingling sweets. There are fangtastic fangs (£2.40), ghoulish chocolate ghosts (60p), and there’s even an intriguing mystery mix (£2). At Glasgow’s Top Tier (70 Bell Street, Merchant City, Glasgow. 552 2195. www.cupcake glasgow.com) there are blood curdling cupcakes (80p–£3, pictured) to bring out your wicked side. Too good for those pesky kids. (Susan Riddell)
F IS FOR FESTIVALS
Invoke the old pagan
supper) and a long list of child-friendly events at venues including the Cardrona Forest, Kailzie Gardens and the Eastgate Theatre, all near Peebles. ■ Hairst: Halloween in Huntly, Sat 31 Oct–Sun 8 Nov, various venues and times. £15 (children £5). www.huntlyhairst.co.uk; Spooks and Sacrifice: Celtic Samhain Festival, Scottish Crannog Centre, Loch Tay, Sat 31 Oct, 6–8pm. £6.50 (children
£4). 01887 830 583.
www.crannog.co.uk; Tweed
Valley Forest Festival, Fri 23 Oct–Sun 1 Nov, various
venues, times and prices. www.forest-festival.com
G IS FOR GHOST
VIGIL
If you fancy busting some ghosts, then this all-night Ghost Vigil aboard the Tall Ship in Glasgow is a good place
to hone your skills.
Conducted by experienced paranormal investigators, the event allows you to participate in spirit communication, EVP recording,
spirits at one of the excellent out of town Hallowe’en and Samhain festivals. Now in its seventh year the Hairst: Halloween in Huntly festival kicks off with a torchlight parade and includes a mass ‘Thriller’ dance-off in the square on Sun 1 Nov.
Meanwhile, taking its cue from the ancient Celtic traditions of Hallowe’en, the Spooks and Sacrifice: Celtic Samhain Festival at the Scottish Crannog Centre has storytelling and fire shows as well as lantern carving and face painting for the kids. Booking essential.
Lastly, the many Hallowe’en activities as part of the Tweed Valley Forest Festival include ghost tours of Traquair House in Innerleithen (with optional candlelit
and motion sensor experiments. ■ Ghost Vigil, The Tall Ship, Glasgow Harbour, 100 Stobcross Road, Sat 14 Nov, 9pm-3am. £55. To book call Ghost Events Scotland on 01236 615 300.
H IS FOR HALLOWE’EN What else for ‘H’ but Hallowe’en itself? The festival stems from the Celtic
celebration of Samhain (see ‘S’) and the Christian holy celebration, All Saints Day – which is also known as All Hallows’ Eve and is where the term Hallowe’en comes from. We spell it Hallowe’en (not Halloween) as a shortened version of All Hallows’ Even.
A long-standing Glasgow institution, Tam Shepherd’s Trick Shop is a treasure trove for mischievous minds. Chris AJ Coulter heads there in search of his perfect Hallowe’en costume
Hallowe’en costumes have not always been my forte, so this year I decided it was time to take the advice of the much-loved Tam Shepherd’s Trick Shop on Glasgow’s Queen Street. The world of fake plastic horse heads and fart sweets is a confusing one. Thankfully Sarah and Julia Walton, who run the family business, were on hand to lead me through and make recommendations.
‘You’d make a good Indiana Jones!’ they suggest, thrusting a whip and battered fedora into my hands. Tam Shepherd’s houses a bewildering array of wigs from the 50s beehive to the pink go-go dancer. Similarly their masks range from the horrific (the bloody eyed werewolf) to the truly horrific (Rodney from Only Fools and Horses). They also have full costumes for sale, including such classics as the wild gorilla, evil wizard, escaped convict, or the more contemporary, but no less frightening, Harry Potter.
For my own part, I was still wondering
whether it would it be a severed leg and fake rotting flesh make-up to perfect my ‘zombie- chic’ look, or a coconut bra, Hawaiian lei, and copious amounts of leg waxing for my sultry hula dancer? ‘Have you any pantomime horse costumes?’ I enquire. ‘Sadly it’s about the only thing that we don’t stock!’ comes the reply. Despite my girlfriend’s frequently expressed sentiment that I’d make a great horse’s rear-end it looks like it’s not to be this year. Leg waxing it is. ■ Tam Shepherd’s Trick Shop, 33 Queen Street, Glasgow, 221 2310. www.tamshepherdstrickshop.co.uk
Many modern practices, such as telling ghost stories, also stem from bygone days and play on themes of superstition. Trick or treat-ing, or guising as we call it in Scotland, mirrors the late medieval practice of ‘souling’, where poor children would chant prayers for the dead in return for cake.
22 Oct–5 Nov 2009 THE LIST 21