“When witches go riding. And black cats are seen. The moon laughs and whispers ‘Tis near Halloween”

I never really thought that I would write a post about Halloween, but since it is a VERY big thing here in England, I can hardly avoid not to!

So what is Halloween really about – except for a bunch of cute spooky-dressed children running around in the streets asking for candy? Halloween is a celebration dedicated to the dead – including martyrs, saints and the faithful departed (thank you, Wiki!)

Without boring you with too many details, Halloween’s origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. The Celts, who lived 2000 years ago, celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer, the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter – a time of the year, that was often associated with human death.

On the night before the new year, the Celts believed, that the boundaries between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred and that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth 

The presence of ghosts would according to the Celts make it easier for their priests to make predictions for their future and to commemorate this event, big sacred bonfires were built, where people in custumes gathered to burn corps and animals as sacrifices. 

The tradition of Halloween changed a bit over the years – and today it has both European and Celtic roots. We dress up, because we find it greatly entertaining, but back in the days, the reason why people wore costumes was, that they were scared to go out begging for food on Halloween. To avoid being recognised by ghosts, people would wear masks so that the ghosts would mistake them for fellow spirits! ( Im not really sure, Im attending a Halloween party tomorrow anymore, after having read about this. My newly bought zombie-killer outfit may not work!)

Brompton Cemetery might look different in the dark!

Anyway, in London the city is now decorated with spiders, witches, skeletons, pumpkins, creepy clowns (apparantly they have been here for a while!), spooky dolls, bats and weapons to defeat the return of the dead!

Looking for a spooky Halloween costume? Non Stop Party shop has it all! 

These masks reminds me a bit of creepy horror-movies from back, when I was younger!

Now, if you want to go all in, I found a shop, that actually has some pretty cool decor. Strange on Charing Cross Road sells goth types items from sculls, bottles with “poison” written on them and lots of other decorative death related items

Would you like your eggs hard or soft-boiled?

And if you still can’t get enough of the Halloween craziness, there are lots of events to attend to get you into the right spirit. Many cemeteries offers guided walks to celebrate London Month of the Dead (please click the link, and you will see that the Londoners really do know how to celebrate Halloween!)

This little squirrel doesn’t seem to care much about his chosen place to take a break…

Partygirl, movie-freak, foodie or museum-adventurer… London has something for everybody. There will be Horror films at The Rivoli Ballroom, Museum at Nights events, fangtastic Halloween dining and lots of Halloween parties to attend.

Yummy in my tummy Halloween treats from Fortnum & Mason

Or how about a fancy hat for the occasion?

So go ahead – take a bite of it all and if the broom fits, ride it! Happy Halloween!

UPDATE! So, I managed to get a few pictures taken, before Frenchie and I went out to kill a few zombies! Here is the result! I had a blast!

And from the taxi looking very serious about my mission!