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Posts Tagged "halloween"

5 Nov

Met Bar Spooktacular – Part II

Posted by Jo & Jamie from the Met Bar in Pubs & Bars No Comments

The Met Bar team

We know you’ve all been waiting with baited breath for our second Halloween instalment, following our Met Bar Spooktacular – Part I, and now that we have *finally* recovered, here it is!

Last Thursday the Met Bar was transformed by the fabulous Serena Mattar into a rock’ n’roll graveyard for our Death on the Dancefloor party. Giant cobwebs, dismembered skeletons and ex-rockstars’ gravestones littered the bar, making more than a few of our day-time guests jump!

As dusk descended, the Broken Hearts hit the decks and the special effects make-up team from Lost In Beauty, Primrose Hill arrived to give the Met Bar team our macabre makeovers. With us both transformed into a vixen vampire victim and suicide cupid (guess which was which!), it was time to drink some Devil’s Punch and get the party started.

Joined by the ever fabulous Johnny Blue Eyes (stylist to Beth Ditto) dressed as no other than Jesus (complete with light-up crown) the party was full of the weird, the wonderful and the downright scary. Miss Pandemonia was resplendent in her usual PVC get up. Throw in a couple of super-sized red Japanese wigs, Marie Antoinette’s ghost and a dead prom queen and you’ll get the idea!

When Freddie Mercury scrambled onto the bar for a rendition of  We Will Rock You, we knew our Halloween party was going down in the history books! Definitely one of the wildest and kookiest nights we’ve ever had in the bar, and our members certainly created the infamous electric atmosphere.

And, as if one Halloween party weren’t enough, on Saturday night the bar hosted fright night festivities again. Yes, two of our members clubbed together and hosted a Halloween party for a crowd of 150 guests. Jamie dusted down his wings and shot himself through the heart once again to join in yet another gory celebration, with the bar hitting capacity for the second time in a week!

Suffice to say we are now ready to leave Halloween behind for another year… roll on Christmas!

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30 Oct

Halloween Clubs: Party Like A Zombie

Posted by Jenny in London No Comments

Halloween fun

You may have noticed that the VL Blog has gone all spooky of late. We’ve been to the Hammer Horror Festival, drooled over the Met Bar’s Scream Tea, and donned our fishnets for Sing-a-long Rocky Horror.

So it won’t surprise you to know we’re getting excited about Halloween, especially as it sparks some of the best club nights of the year. Fancy dress, evil laughs and the Ghostbusters theme tune should all feature. Take a look at our favourites:

  • Oh My God! I Miss You Presents…I Love Lucifer 
    No-one loves dressing up more than the crowd at OMGIMY, so we can’t wait to see what they’ll do with the instruction to “dress to decompose.” Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club will be turned into a ghost train and guests will be entertained with a magic show, a Secret SINema, Gore Gore Girls and lots more unsettling goings on.
  • I Spit On Your Rave Spectacular
    The Big Chill venues have a bit of a thing for zombies, having managed to break the world record for a gathering of them at The Big Chill Festival this year. Head to either of their London locations for more undead action, including grisly cocktails, DJs and face painting (with proceeds going to The Big Issue.)
  • It’s A Party
    If pointy hats and broomsticks don’t do it for you, head to The Peacock Bar’s Halloween special, as the venue has suggested a more glamorous “vamped-up” dress theme for the evening. The usual mix of cabaret, comedy and cheese will all feature, albeit with a special ghoulish twist.
  • Halloween Zombie Ball
    Prepare to see a real ghost or two at  The Old Queen’s Head, which claims to be one of the most haunted pubs in London. Sip a Zombie Iced Tea, chomp on pumpkin chips and take advantage of free face painting from Brighton-based tattoo artist Viv La Hen (we hope it washes off!)
  • The Playground’s Halloween Mash-Up
    Scare yourself silly at 93 Feet East who will be projecting a mix of silent and modern horror films across the dance floor, plus live music and DJ sets until 6am.

Do you know of any freakishly frightening Halloween parties? Tell us your Halloween plans.

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29 Oct

Join in Wicked Day this Halloween Weekend

Posted by Zoe J. Griffiths in Special Events No Comments

Wicked DayWicked Day is an international celebration of the hit West End musical Wicked, and a chance for you to have fun and raise money for a great cause.

Pop down to the Lawrence Gall at the Royal Horticultural Halls on Sunday 1 November between 12noon and 6pm, and join in the fun! There’ll be Wicked- and Halloween-themed free events, including competitions, performances from the Wicked cast, face-painting, fancy dress, workshops and more.

All proceed from Wicked Day go to a project between Wicked and Magic 105.4’s charity Cash For Kids to build a community garden in a deprived area of London. Wicked and Cash for Kids are working together to raise money to build the garden over the next 12 months; Wicked Day is the launch of this joint charity project.

Visit www.WickedDay.co.uk to find out more.

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28 Oct

The Hammer House of Horror Festival Opening

Posted by Claire Doble in Arts, Cinema, Special Events 2 Comments

Christopher Lee as DraculaThe Hammer House of Horror Festival opened last night at Idea Generation Gallery in Shoreditch.

Long associated with vampires, mummies and b-grade erotica, Hammer is Britain’s most successful film company. Most of the famous Hammer Horror movies were produced from the 1950s to the 1970s. Some of the company’s best-known titles include Dracula (and sequels such as Dracula: Prince of Darkness), The Mummy, The Curse of Frankenstein, and One Million Years B.C.

Bringing together movie posters, film stills and behind-the-scenes pics of the stars, the exhibition part of the festival is a blood-spattered caper through Hammer’s gory ouvre. 

Photo captions give just the right amount of info about their subjects and the films, and the exhibition contains a good mix of kitsch promotional material and interesting “asides”. However, our favourite thing was the knitted dagger, which was stabbed almost surreptitiously into the top of a staircase, with a trail of woollen blood ending in a knitted blood puddle on the ground floor.

The knitted dagger. Photo: Lettice KempIf all this whets your appetite for the undead, why not catch a late night screening of a Hammer Horror classic in London over the Halloween weekend, or one of the festival’s other parties and events. Check out Idea Generation Gallery, the Lexi Cinema and Curzon Soho for more Hammer Horror Festival happenings.

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27 Oct

Met Bar Spooktacular – Part I

Posted by Jo & Jamie from the Met Bar in Clubs, Pubs & Bars No Comments

Scream Tea at the Met BarWith our penchant for extrovert occasions, it’s no surprise that we take Halloween very seriously here at the Met Bar. Not content with just one instalment we will be updating you on our Halloween happenings in a two-part fright night special.

Yesterday saw the launch of our Scream Tea menu in collaboration with turntable goddesses, the Broken Hearts. Inspired by the work of Tim Burton and Tim Walker, as well as their own interest in the macabre and the aesthetics of Halloween, the Broken Hearts have created a delectable seasonal menu that will be available daily 3pm-6pm from Monday 26 October until Saturday 7 November.

Guests can expect a frightfully delightful menu including seasonal pumpkin, blackberry and blood-red versions of the legendary low-fat cupcakes, combined with a classic Broken Hearts colour palette and a few spooky surprises such as taxidermy crows, giant spiders and edible artwork by illustrator and Halloween-enthusiast Rob Flowers. You can also expect to hear a mouth-watering culinary soundtrack handpicked by the Broken Hearts themselves.

And speaking of the Broken Hearts, they will be our special guest DJs on Thursday night for our Death on the Dancefloor Halloween Extravaganza – until then ”stay spooked” for our next episode where we will spill all the gory details…

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26 Oct

Visit London Asks: What Are Your Plans for Halloween?

Posted by Zoe J. Griffiths in London 3 Comments

Happy Halloween!

Last week, we celebrated the birthdays of Dirty Dancing and The Lion King by demanding to know about your favourite London musicals… Thanks to everyone who commented.

Today, we’re touching up our white face paint and donning a big black cloak and some fangs to cackle and ask: what are your plans for Halloween?

London’s fairly bursting with fantastic events this weekend. You can catch some really scary films at the Prince Charles Cinema, Halloween goes 3D in Covent Garden, there’s a collection of spooky shorts at the BFI Southbank, and you could get more that you bargained for at the Film4 FrightFest Halloween All-Nighter! at the ICA.

Creepy culture vultures will enjoy In The Dead of Night at the V&A Late this week; there’s also the rather special-sounding Day of the Dead Celebrations at the British Museum on 1 November.

With Halloween falling on a Saturday this year, there are plenty of club nights going ghoulish for the night. London clubs as varied as Heaven, Plan B, Notting Hill Arts Club, Vibe Bar, Pacha and Mass are among the 50-plus clubs doing something special for Halloween.

There’s also loads of Halloween fun for kids to get involved in, from craft to pumpkin carving, and creepy animals. 

Let us know what you’re up to!

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23 Oct

Sing-a-long-a Rocky Horror Picture Show for Halloween

Posted by Claire Doble in Cinema No Comments

Sing along to Richard O'Brien's 1975 classic - The Rocky Horror Picture ShowWhat’s your favourite movie musical? Whatever it is, I bet you’ve seen it loads, know all the songs and can probably recite most of the script too. Now, imagine if you could do this while watching said movie on the big screen, in a cinema full of like-minded (and similarly well-versed) souls, where no one’s going to complain about your rubbish singing. Sounds like fun?

Well, with Sing-a-long-a films, you can do exactly that. And, if you answered The Rocky Horror Picture Show to my first question, then all your Halloweens have come at once!

Next Friday night, London’s Prince Charles Cinema is hosting a special Sing-a-long-a Rocky Horror screening for all you sweet transvestites and time warped Transylvanians out there.

I went along to the Sing-a-long-a Rocky Horror a couple of months back and it was so much fun. I love the film, and seem to know all the songs scarily well (shades of my teenage gothhood in Sydney) so the night proved a thoroughly enoyable trip down nostalgia lane. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that Tim Curry is astoundingly great, and the songs are catchy as hell.

Science fiction, double feature. Get into the Rocky Horror spirit for HalloweenThose of you who are unfamiliar with the film need not worry. The night kicks off with a lesson in how to do the Time Warp and various other vital Rocky routines. You are given a goody bag of props and, perhaps best of all, the song lyrics come up as onscreen subtitles so you won’t miss a beat.

Most people get dressed up, often as their favourite Rocky character, and there’s a lighthearted competition for best costume. In fact, now I’ve written this, I’m very tempted to do the time warp again! It’s just a jump to the left…

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28 Sep

Visit London Asks: London or New York?

Posted by Zoe J. Griffiths in London 3 Comments

Carnaby welcomes a slice of the Big Apple ahead of their Wish You Were Here events

Last week we donned our best London-designed threads and asked what you love about shopping in London. Thanks to everyone who commented.

This week, we’re celebrating Carnaby’s great Wish You Were Here event: 27 independent shops from Lower East Side, New York and Newburgh Quarter London taking part in a cool location swap.

From this Thursday, you can pop into Carnaby and sample 12 guest brands from across the pond. Alongside the shops, you’ll find New York-style food markets, fashion shows down Newburgh Street and discount shopping evenings, as well as an American-style Halloween party on 31 October.

After Boris’ successful New York trip earlier in the month, and many Londoners harbouring a secret love of the Big Apple, we want to know:

Which do you prefer, and why: London or New York?!

And if you’re stuck on the decision, why not take a look at www.metrotwin.com, a website that offers “the world’s two greatest cities in one place…”

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17 Sep

A Wicked Weekend in London

Posted by Jo in Attractions, Eating Out, Kids, Theatre No Comments
Wicked, Apollo Victoria Theatre, London

Wicked, Apollo Victoria Theatre, London

Gina Gitonga aged 11 lives in Kenya and recently spent a few weeks in London. We know it’s a bit early for Halloween, but here are her highlights for a frighteningly fun weekend in London.

Friday night kicks off with one of the best musicals around. Wicked is about the witches of Oz before they became Glinda the Good and the Wicked Witch of the West. The pair meet at university: one is popular and one is not and yet they become friends. Catchy songs, brilliant singing and spectacular sets make an amazing show. I loved it!

Saturday morning is a visit to the London Dungeon. We braved the queues and once we got inside it was really scary! I found out about London’s horrible past from Jack the Ripper to the Great Fire of London. There are also two rides; a boat through Traitors’ Gate in the dark and the terrifying Extremis: Drop Ride to Doom where you get lifted up and then freefall down! To recover we went to Dim T – my first ever dim sum – delicious.

Then it’s off to the Tower of London for the afternoon to see the real Traitors’ Gate and the scene of many executions including Anne Boleyn. We also saw Henry VIII’s armour and the famous crown jewels.

On Sunday head off on a thrilling, high-speed boat ride with Thames RIB Experience. Our trip started slowly like a normal tour and then we sped up and the boat rocked from side to side! We went under Tower Bridge  and as far as Canary Wharf before turning round.

I enjoyed every minute of my time in London and look forward to coming back again soon.

Do you have any suggestions for Halloween high jinks in London?

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