TRICKS AND TREATS
It's Halloweengour blood is tingling
and you're rea yfto go bump in the night. The List 0 ers a selected guide to where to ark your coffin in Glasgow an Edinburgh.
CLUBS
I Art School Halloween Ball (ilasgovv School of Art. lo7 Renfrevv Street. 332 0691. l0pm 2.30am. £5 (£4). The legendary hash vvith the best-looking costumes in tovvn by far. Big beat and drum 'n' bass I)Js pltts "I'he vairling 'l‘vvirling Disco l'iloot'i. Fri 30 OCt
I Festival Of The Dead Havana. Hope Street. 8.30pm lam. Latin American restattrant Havatta throvvs a huge party to celebrate the Mexican liestival ()f'l'he Dead. vvith free drink and tapas atid resident DJ 'I‘chico laying dovv n the funky Latin and jazz beats. l)ress all in black or vvhite to get in and you’ll need an invite (phone Firehorse (‘ommunications on 400 295 I ~ not Havana). Sat 31 Oct
I Archaos Halloween Archaos. 25 Queen Street. 204 3l8‘). l lptn 3am. £8 (£6). Satati on stilts and real flying
vv itches: Archaos goes completely spooky mad. House in the ttiaiti room. more dovvnbeat action in the others. Sat 31 Oct I Apartment Halloween The Apartment. 23 Royal lixchange Square. 22] 7080. l lptti 3am. £7. (rather around the cauldron in yer fancy dress to win a prize. l’re-party in the lounge. Sat 31 Oct I Inside Out The Arches. .\lidland Street. 22] 400l. llptn 4am. £l2.50. l)J Sonique. Judge Jules and residents play full-on house as the punters dook for apples atid have their faces painted all scary. Sat 31 Oct
I Garage Halloween Party The (iarage. 490 Sauchiehall Street. 332
l 120. l0pm 3am. £6 (£4). Free entry vvith fancy dress and £l00 for the best get-tip. plus traditional spine-tingling llallovveen accoutrements. Sun 1 Nov FILM
I Funny Games (it-'1‘. Rose Street. 332 8128. One family. one remote cottage. tvvo young psycltos the standard horror movie formula is picked apart from vvithin in this disturbing shocker. See previevv and rev ievv in liilm section. Fri 30 Oct-Sun 1 Nov
I The Haunting (it-‘1‘. Rose Street. 332 8l28. l0pm. A 1%.) classic that's probably the best haunted house tnov ie ever made. If you prefer something vv ith a pulse. there‘s a lesbian vampire gathering in the (il’l‘ bar from 9pm vv ith a prize for the tnost decadently dressed blood-sucker. Sat 31 OCt
TOURS
I Gruesome Glasgow .\lurdcr.
vv itchct’aft. torture and death. It's a fttn night ottt in (ilasgovv vv ith this .\lercat 'l‘ours exploration of sites vvith a dark history. 'I‘imes. prices and bookings on 772 0022.
I Ghosts And Ghouls Another .\lercat Tours outing. promising body snatchers. burnings attd those vv ho return from the dead. 'l’imes. prices and bookings as above.
PROCESSIONS
I Samhuinn Fire Festival The Beltane litre Society revives the All llallovvs liairs vvhich ttsed to he held vv ithin lidinhurgh's city vvalls. Pagan festivities ahotttid vv ith much in the vyay of vvetrdly dressed atid not-so-dt'essed titttters running vv ild and t'e—enacting the battle for superiorin betvveen vv ittter and summer. The ftttt kicks off on the Castle lisplanadc at 9.30pm before heading dovvn to Parliament Square. Sat 31 Oct
CLUBS
I Divine Divas The Venue. (‘alton Road. 557 3073. 10pm 3am. £5 (£3).
14 THE lIST 2? 0(1 ‘3 into: t998
'l'herc's a ‘special scary Hallovveen guest' to he confirmed. Fri 30 Oct
I Lesbian 8. Gay Switchboard's Masquerade Ba IAssembly- Rooms. (ieot'ge Street. 220 4348. 8pm -lam. £l2 (£10). A ‘nocturnal assemblage of persons iii disguise' is promised. Sat 31 Oct
I Fiesta Latina 'l'eviot Rovv. ()pm-s2am. £4 (£3 students; £2 members of Hispanic Society ). It's llallovveen fancy dress. latino-stylc. Sat 31 OCt
I Luvely Wilkte llouse. ('ovvgate. 225 2935. l0pm 3am. £l0 (£(t). Luvely loves trick or treat apparently. so some Hallovveen shenanigans look likely. Sat 31 Oct
I Ego The Shooting (iallery. Broughton Street. 478 7435. l0.30pm 3am. £8. Who needs drum ’n' bass or rock 'n' roll vvhen you cati have a night of vvhat the organisers refer to as ‘trick 'n' tt‘eatitlg‘. Sat 31 Oct
I Samhuinn Benefit Club (‘alton Stttdios. (‘alton Road. llptn 3am. Benefit gig for the above frolics. Likely to he unhinged. Sat 31 Oct
I Colours Of Love (‘luh .\lercado.
Market Street. 226 4224. llpm—-3am. £10 (£8). DJ Sonique plays a tvvo hour set in celebration of the vvitehing hour. Sat 31 Oct
FILM
I The Wicker Man lidinburgh liilmhouse. l.othian Road. 228 2688. (t. l0pm. lidvvard Woodvvard and Christopher Lee star in this pagan romp vvhich turns very nasty at the end. Fri 31 Oct
I Funny Games lidinburgh Filtnltottse. Lothian Road. 228 2688. See (ilasgovv. Fri 30 Oct-Sun 1 Nov
I Razor Blade Smile Cameo. Home Street. 228 414 l. The vampire story gets updated in this styliin debut from 28- year-old Jake West. Watch the body count spiral. See revievv iti lilm section. Fri 30 Oct-Sun 1 Nov
I Carrie and The Omen Cameo. Home Street. 228 4l4l. 1 1.30pm. The Cameo's llallovveen dottble bill promises the gruesome delights of Stephen King's bloody Currie and occult thriller The ()Hlt‘ll. Sat 31 Oct
GHOST TOURS
I Mary King's Close Tour Scare
yourself vvitless vvith a guided tottr of a
pitch-black close underneath the City Chambers. Tours leave day and night. Assemble at .\lercat Cross. next to St (iiles Cathedral. Times. prices and bookings on 225 (1591.
I Ghosts And Ghouls Creep around lidinbut‘gh's lesser-knovvn highvvays and byvvays vvhere assorted ghosts are rumoured to lurk and surprise the innocent. 'l‘ours leave day and night. Assemble at .\lercat Cross. next to St (iiles Cathedral. Titties. prices and bookings as above.
I Ghost Hunter Trail It does just vvhat the title suggests: a spookily-attired guide vvill shovv you the Edinburgh sites vvhere assorted nefarious crimes took place and traces of the horror still remain. 'I'ours leave day and night. Assemble at .\lercat Cross. next to St (iiles Cathedral. Times. prices and bookings as above.
I Murder And Mystery Tour Adatn l.yal (deceased) is your guide to the scenes of tortures. tttttrders and supernatural occurettces around lidinburgh's ()ld 'I‘ovvn. Apparently. ‘jumper-ooters‘ are involved. Times. prices and bookings on 225 ()745.
A bunch of schoolkids, a house free of adults, a pile of scary movies - here was the real golden age of horror. Words:lonathan Trew
Much like pornography, the horror film will always be a genre best enjoyed at home with the video recorder. Freud attributed adult tastes to childhood
'Of course,’ a little gang of us would chirrup from underneath the counter which hid our rapidly-reddening cheeks. Fifteen minutes later, we would arrive breathless with anticipation, dim
the lights and slide the movie into the top-loader. Having no reassuring parental figure around made the film so much scarier; not that you could
experiences and in 1980, although I was out of short trousers, it was still to be a few years before I needed recourse to shaving equipment. It was in this period I got the most from horror movies, and I still associate them with home-viewing.
Back in the very early 805, VCRs weren't the everyday objects they are now. Owning one meant two things. The first was that you were rich and the envy of all your neighbours’ kids. The second was that every night you left your children alone in the house, they would call over their friends and rent out the vilest horror flick they could get their grubby paws on.
This was in the glory days before the 1984 Video Classification Act and the most depraved videos could be rented from the local chippie.
'Do your parents know you're getting that movie out?’ the chippie man would ask while pointing an accusatory finger at the box for I Chainsaw Your Bottom.
ever admit so much to pals. Trips to the loo became fraught with danger: if your imagination didn't spook you, then your friends would arrange some hilarious prank like switching off the lights as you came down the stairs and throwing the howling pet cat at you. A particularly effective ploy when watching a title such as Blood-Stained Night Of The Werewolf Ripper.
Once the ensuing punch-up was over and we'd settled down again, gory effects could be discussed in depth and the freeze-frame deployed for those tender decapitation scenes. Violent climaxes could be re-enacted with the appropriate sound effects: a buzzing noise for a chainsaw or someone's head banged off a biscuit tin for a rough approximation of a car crash.
Adolesenc’e, a growing interest in girls and video censorship put a stop to all that but, for me, video is still the home for horror.