In a happy coincidence, Halloween this year falls on a Friday night, which means that even the nine to five suited and booted Goths should be more than ready to party on come the night itself. If you’re trying to work out where to go to celebrate the event, and have a few Gothy buds to spend time with, why not think about throwing your own Halloween party for a few of your nearest and dearest? Whether your crowd has kids that enjoy Halloween too, or you’re all ostensibly grown-ups, a slightly cheesy, retro Halloween party is, in my opinion, the way to go.
There is so much inspiration around for Goths at this time of year, it’s really an opportunity not to be missed, and doesn’t have to be complicated or costly to organise. Whether you want to go all-out spooky and deadly serious or have a bit of a cheesy giggle-fest with friends, here are some of my ideas for throwing the most excellent Goth Halloween party ever.
Fancy dress
Fancy dress for Goths- irony or no? Anyway, you have a virtually limitless range of choices here, from getting everyone to dress up in their most eye-catching Gothic finery, or setting some kind of a theme, which can be the very antithesis of Goth itself if you want to be particularly subversive!
Halloween costumes are great fun to make on the cheap too, so check out a few ideas here and here.
Decorations
This is where you can really go to town, and if you’re going for a kinda cheesy Halloween theme, I mean this literally. Head on down to your local Poundshop or other purveyor of the finest quality cheap tat and drop a tenner, and you’ll find that you end up with ample plasticky shit to decorate at least one large room of your house.
Trick or treat!
If you and several other friends that you wish to invite live within walking distance of each other, why not turn your Halloween into a Goth house crawl? Trick or treat each other’s houses for beer and booty, gathering people up as you go along until you all end up back at the party venue.
Food
Doing disgusting things to food is always good for a giggle, and there is an almost limitless range of things you can make and do!
A load of good suggestions can be found here, and here, and a few of my additional favourites that are very simple include putting press-on nails onto cocktail sausages to produce severed fingers, and using writing icing to put ghost faces on white marshmallows.
Pumpkin carving
Everyone should be forged to bring a pumpkin to carve on the night itself; and also, to stay and clear up the mess afterwards. Some great ideas on pumpkin sculptures can be found here, and this site lets you download spooky stencils!
Scary stories
No Halloween would be complete without the telling of some scary tales, so again, challenge your peeps to bring their A-game for tales round the fire (or radiator).
Do you have a suggestion of your own? Let me know!
