Where To Go For Halloween

THE SPOOKS HAVE ARRIVED AT THE GUILTY PLEASURES POP-UP AT MARY JANES


This Halloween, the global phenomenon that is, Guilty Pleasures will be hosting an extra scary event on Thursday 31st October. Get set to experience an extra spooky Halloween, where guests will be transported to an environment reminiscent of Michael Jackson’s Thriller video, as the all-singing, all-dancing zombies get set to transport you to a sinners paradise.

Throughout the course of the evening, Guilty Pleasures’ unique blend of entertainment will be popping up with DJs, singers, dancers, acrobats and a whole troupe of kitsch characters guaranteed giving you a real hair raising evening.

This can be enjoyed whilst guests tuck into Mary Janes Naughty Hot Dogs; a platter of mini hot dogs with different toppings such as Chilli con Carne, American Mustard, Fried Onions and Melted Cheese, or can go to the dark side with Dirty Burgers; a selection of burger sliders with fillings including Pulled Pork, Chorizo, Chilli and Cheese.

THE SPOOKS HAVE ARRIVED – Guilty Pleasures at Mary Janes
Thursday 31st October – 7pm-1am
Mary Janes
124-127 Minories
London
EC3 1NT
Tel: 020 7481 8195


MR FOGG’S: Jack the Ripper at Mr Fogg’s
Harping back to the times of London’s first and most infamous serial killer, this Halloween will see Mr Fogg’s Victorian home become the harrowing site of one of Jack The Ripper’s terrifying tours.

From Thursday 31st October to Sunday 3rd November guests to Mr Fogg’s, temporarily not so humble abode, will be witness to a weekend full of immersive theatre and spine chilling skits and sketches. From abandoned and severed limbs discovered in trunks, to overly inquisitive surgeons at the bar and impoverished vagabonds skirting around the entrance, Phileas Fogg will indeed have his work cut out for him (literally) on this eerie adventure.

The weekend’s events will then culminate in a seated, theatrical spectacle on the Sunday evening, when 80 of Phileas’s nearest and dearest will be invited to watch the mystery of The Ripper unfold and Fogg himself will head up a Mayfair man hunt, in an attempt to apprehend Jack on his last jaunt, and save Bruton Lane from further fear of the night.

With groundbreaking discoveries and plot thickening theatrics it comes as no surprise that these terrifying tales will then of course also be reported directly from Mr Fogg’s by their daily, hand delivered paper, ‘The London News’.

The dress code naturally will be Victorian, and in this case best to stick to it as you wouldn’t want to stick out from the crowed and attract any unwanted attention…

JACK THE RIPPER at MR FOGG’S
DATES: Thursday 31st October – Sunday 3rd November 2013
PRICE: Thursday – Saturday: Free, Sunday’s Theatre Performance: £15 (Time??)

15 Bruton Lane
London
W1J 6JD
Tel: 020 7299 1200
www.mr-foggs.com
reservations@mr-foggs.com
Twitter: @MrFoggLondon


DISCO: ‘Disco will never die’ Halloween Party
Disco has come back from the dead more times than any other genre in the history of music. So, this year Disco will be celebrating the hallowed eve, by bring back a dancehall of dead disco icons and their zombie fans.

Disco will be over-run with stone-cold disco grooving zombies, bloodied, terrifying and hungry for awesome disco records, and maybe a few cheeky Belvedere cocktails too – everyone has their choice of poison!

The dress code will be strictly dead Disco divas and guest are encouraged to come as their favorite dead disco icon, from Rick James, Donna Summer, and The Beegees, to Diana Ross or Michael Jackson. Or, for those that simply can’t pick a favorite, entry will also be given to living fans that are prepared for the discopalypse!

So, no Sixth Sense needed, see dead people at Disco this Halloween

DISCO WILL NEVER DIE HALLOWEEN PARTY at DISCO
DATE: Thursday 31st October 2013
TIME: 10.00pm – 3.30am
PRICE: £20

13 Kingly Court
London
W1B 5PW
Tel: 020 7299 1222
www.disco-london.com
enquiries@disco-london.com
Disco-ver more & follow us: @discosoho

MAGGIE’S: ‘The 80s Slasher Movie’ Halloween
This Halloween will see Maggie’s in Chelsea haunted by timeless classics and terrifying flashbacks from frighteningly bad films such as ‘Prom Night’, ‘Friday The 13th’ (1,2&3), ‘Hell Night’, ‘My Bloody Valentine’, ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’, and of course, ‘Halloween’ itself at their 80s Slasher Movie party on Saturday 2nd November 2013.

Guests can expect to enter a set of rusty wire garlands, gunky sacks of eyeballs, bloodied hanging knives and will of course be subject to DVD screenings of the best scenes, showing the worst bits of all of the above murderous movies.

The night will be hosted by Maxi Krueger, but there will also be special appearances from a few of his movie mates – Freddy, Jason, Michael Myers, Chucky, Pinhead, Pumpkinhead, and even those creepy twins from the Shining. Rumor has it there will even be a midnight dance off between Freddy, Jason & Michael Myers – scary stuff indeed.

Naturally, dress code for this slasher fuelled soiree will be blood, guts gore and more.

So for a Halloween fright, head to Halloween film night at Maggie’s

80s SLASHER MOVIE HALLOWEEN PARTY at MAGGIE S
DATE: Saturday 2nd November 2013
TIME: 10:30pm
PRICE: £15

329 Fulham Road,
London,
SW10 9QL
Tel: 020 7352 8512
Website: www.maggies-club.com
Twitter : www.twitter.com/Maggies_Club/
Email: info@maggies-club.com

BUNGA BUNGA:La Notte dei Morti (The Night of the Dead)
Keen never to miss out on any type of celebration, this year, Uncle Berlusconi, (despite the fact that traditionally Italians do not celebrate Halloween) will be throwing a Feast of The Dead in the lead up to the Italian take on The Day of The Dead – “Tutti I Morti”.

On arrival guests can expect to be seated and spooked by a team of menacing and masked maître d’s, and then once the feast is over, forget Karaoke, the real contest will be the Halloween-a-oke competition to be hosted by Bunga Bunga’s resident DJ John ‘dragoween’ Sizzle.

Dress code will be Zombies, Ghouls and Ghosts – Donatella Versace Style – so the tighter, brighter and more tanned, the better. There will then also be a special Notte dei Morti dress up box for all performers.

For those that need a spot of Dutch courage…or just courage, there will also be a selection of poison filled pumpkins, and an extra big and bubbling one that will be reserved as a prize for the most screechy singer.

Last but not least, those who don’t scare so easily, and make it till midnight, will fall witness to an ‘All I Want for… Halloween, Mariah goes scar..ier show.

So, for an eerie Italian spin on the hallowed holiday, head to Bunga Bunga – when in Rome eh!

LA NOTTE DEI MORTI at BUNGA BUNGA
DATE: Thursday 31st October 2013
TIME: 6.00pm – 1.30am

Bunga Bunga
37 Battersea Bridge Road,
London,
SW11 3BA
Tel: 020 7095 0360
Website: www.bungabunga-london.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/BungaBungaLondn
Email: reservations@bungabunga-london.com

BARTS: “The Devil Hosts An Intimate Soirée at Barts’ Annual Yelloween Party!”
Be you devil, demon, ghost or ghoul, all are welcomed down to sip on Uncle Barts’ favorite poison – champagne – for the Annual Yelloween Party at Barts this year. Taking place on Thursday 31st October, in association with Veuve Clicquot.

“It is better to be on the right hand side of the Devil than in his path”. Uncle Barts will put this to the test as the evening will play host to amazing live entertainment with an electric violin battle throughout the night between Beelzebub and Uncle Barts ‘for a bottle of gold against his soul’ – as depicted in the infamous Charles Daniel Band song ‘The Devil Went To Georgia’. Forced to take sides guests will both sip, sing and step along to the terrifying tryst, for bottles of the finest liquid gold Veuve…

Fancy dress will be as essential as a crucifix in an exorcism, but if you arrive lacking, fear not, crowned with Devil horns or fastened with a Veuve soirée mask will be your decision – who’s side are you on? Aunty Barts will also be hosting a face painting corner that will be taking all and any request.

So between the cheering and the cheersing – who will win? Who the devil knows eh…

THE DEVIL HOSTS AN IMTIMATE SOIREE at BARTS ANNUAL YELLOWEEN PARTY
DATE: Thursday 31st October 2013
TIME: 6pm – Late
T: 020 7581 3355
W: www.barts-london.com
T: @BartsLondon


WINTERWELL FESTIVAL PRESENTS – ‘VOODOO AND BLACK MAGIC’
The team behind boutique festival Winterwell will host the ultimate voodoo Halloween shindig on Saturday 26th October at The Loft Studios, a rambling and atmospheric old brick warehouse in West London. Following on from last year’s sellout event, the party will feature a hocus pocus line up with headline act Norman Jay and the acclaimed Correspondents alongside house, electro, swing, ska, dirty blues and hip hop, pervasive and interactive games and theatre with with a black magic fancy dress theme any witch doctor would be proud of.
The Voodoo Who do? You do at Winterwell Halloween 2013
Winterwell Halloween Party
Saturday 26th October 2013
9pm-4.30am

The Loft Studios
77-81 Scrubs Lane
Kensal Green London NW10 6QW

Website: www.winterwell.co.uk
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Winterwell
Twitter: www.twitter.com/WinterwellFest

Tickets.
Early bird £20
Normal £25

THE HONKY TONK HALLOWEEN MASSACRE
Honky Tonk, a New York-inspired restaurant and bar set in the heart of Chelsea, will be hosting a truly terrifying evening on Thursday 31st October to celebrate Halloween. The fright night will scare even the strongest willed. The night will include everything from monsters to ghosts who will be sipping on the signature Halloween cocktail, The Honky Tonk Massacre of SW London, being served alongside Ghost Dogs! The cocktail will include jelly baby infused vodka and will feature jelly baby heads on sticks as a ‘nod’ to the most chilling night of the year. So if you think you’re brave enough to encounter ghosts & ghouls come down to Honky Tonk on Halloween and try to survive the night…

THE HONKY TONK HALLOWEEN MASSACRE
Thursday 30th October
6pm till late

Honky Tonk
6 Hollywood Road,
London
SW10 9HY
Tel: 0207 351 1588
W: www.honkytonkchelsea.com/

Opening Times: Tues- Sat, 6pm-12.30am

ENJOY A HAUNTED HALLOWEEN WITH RED POCKET RESTAURANT
This Halloween Red Pocket Restaurant at Hotel Verta by Rhombus will be offering diners an evening of devilishly good dinners, followed by a thrilling after-party. Red Pocket will be offering their guests a delicious three course set menu with dishes such as the Red Pocket dim sum platter, roast crispy in a sweet sake sauce and saffron king prawn with Thai red curry sauce. Following on from this feast, there will be a live DJ and a Halloween themed party…the perfect way to dance away the most frightening night of the year!

Red Pocket Halloween menus
Pre-order – £30 per person
Walk In – £35 per person

Opening Hours
Sunday – Wednesday
Lunch: 12:00 – 15:00 | Dinner: 18:00 – 23:00
Thursday – Saturday
Lunch: 12:00 – 15:00 | Dinner: 18:00 – Late

Address: Red Pocket at Hotel Verta by Rhombus,
Bridges Wharf,
Battersea, London, SW11 3BE

Website: www.redpocketrestaurant.com
Reservations: 0207-801-3535
E-mail: reservations@redpocketrestaurant.com
Facebook: facebook.com/RedPocketRestaurant
Twitter: @RedPocket_Verta

My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding: Alex Knott on Grabbing

The Channel 4 series My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding has been a great ratings winner for the TV station, bringing in an average of 7.4m viewers – the highest for any programme on the station since the 2008 series of Big Brother. Aside from being a draw for the public, it has brought a bit more insight into the lives of the Roma and Traveller communities, most of whom are of Irish extraction.

On the back of the programme, the deep-rooted cultural tradition of ‘grabbing’ has reached both the public consciousness and jokingly entered our vocabulary, perhaps a bit like ‘bunga bunga’ has in Italy on the back of Silvio Berlusconi’s wild parties. So what exactly is grabbing and are these girls as promiscuous as their outfits suggest?

Grabbing often occurs at pre-arranged gatherings, often in somewhere like a car park on the site where they live. While grabbing looks very malicious, the intention is not to overstep the mark but to simply assess if the female in question has any mutual feelings. It is basically a mating ritual with the girls slightly like bulls on parade. The boys try to tempt the girls away from their friends and attempt to get a kiss. If the gentleman gypsy is successful, then there is ‘something there’. Otherwise he has to forget it.

At these meetings, the girls dress up in very slutty outfits in a way not dissimilar to a prostitute. It suggests they’re very much looking for action – but their actions and morals are very different from the whorish image they portray. Traveller girls are not allowed to as much as approach boys. Their community believes in the ancient and, let’s face it, dying principle of no sexual intercourse before marriage and girls who break this code have to accept that the are considered ‘dirty’ and risk being left on the shelf.

Watching the show, grabbing can look violent and you can tell that the girls don’t necessarily love the art. Instead, they simply accept it as something that is part of their culture and also as something there appears to be no alternative to. Females are subjected to the ritual until they are engaged, which will typically happen in their late teenage years. One reason for them being engaged and married so young is the low life expectancy. Less than half of all travellers make it beyond their 50th birthday.

It is easy to look askance at the Daily Mail’s moral outrage, but it is fairly obvious for all to see that this tradition is pretty upsetting and degrading to see still going on in 2011. The show doesn’t get to the bottom of the complex cultural traditions behind grabbing. What programme that length does? In 2011 it is difficult to understand it, certainly when the young women involved appear to hate it. Perhaps it is a classic example of “outsiders” not understanding traveller culture, but I doubt it.