Something For The Weekend: Halloween special
Still don't have your Halloween planned? We've just done it for you by Charlotte Cox
London's coolest, tastiest, most stylish spooky shenanigans.
THE ZEITGEISTY ONE: Stranger Things Halloween Party
WHAT: Oh, it was begging for a themed bash, wasn't it? The flickering fairy lights, the alphabet scrawled on the wall, the membraney monster, the '80s fashion… We're not sure what's scariest. Decide for yourself at Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen, where Nightcall are laying on an era-appropriate soundtrack, themed cocktails (with Eggo garnish, obvs), plus lights, fog, secret dens and even an entrance to the Upside Down. Believe us, you should go. Friends don't lie.
WEAR: Step away from the razor, people! You don't need to go as Eleven. Everyone knows that Barb is the real style icon here.
WHEN: Friday 28 Oct; £5 on the door
Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen, 2-4 Hoxton Square, N1 6NU
THE CHAMPAGNE-FUELLED ONE: Meet The Widow Party
WHAT: Allow us to introduce you to The Widow. She's 150 years old. And looking pretty damned good on it… We're talking, of course, of champagne's most emblematic femme, Veuve Clicquot. Legend has it that this weekend she will be returning from beyond the grave to haunt the suitably gothic Booking Office Bar & Restaurant at the St Pancras Hotel, where she has some unfinished business to settle. Business which, happily, involves making us drink champagne. Haunt away, then, love.
WEAR: Your finest Victoriana. Pie-crust shirts are in vogue right now: coincidence, or The Widow at work…?
WHEN: Friday 28 Oct; free when you register here
St Pancras Hotel, Euston Road, London NW1 2AR
THE D'N'B ONE: Together Halloween
WHAT: Billed as 'the UK's biggest Halloween party', everything about this is indeed big. One of Ibiza's biggest nights (Together at Amnesia) is filling one of London's biggest venues (the 02 Academy Brixton) with the biggest names in bass (High Contrast, pictured, plus Sigma, Sub Focus and Pendulum). You can bet your last pumpkin that the beats are not going to be medium-sized.
WEAR: Did you not read that line-up? Make sure your witch's costume is breathable, for God's sake. And do we really need to say flat shoes?
WHEN: Friday 28 Oct; £22.50
Together Halloween, 211 Stockwell Rd, London SW9 9SL
THE STREET-FOOD ONE: RED Market Last Days of Shoreditch
WHAT: Happily it seems that this summer's foodie pop-up at RED Market weren't QUITE the last days of Shoreditch, because it re-opens its doors this weekend for a winter run. Only this time there's an in-house mezzanine restaurant, new food traders and (thankfully) a roof and heating, not to mention DJ line-ups curated by the UK's best-loved festivals. It's all kicking off with the marvellously named Zombies Ate My Brain Halloween Party, promising sets by Shane Watcha, Normski and a scarily good secret guest.
WEAR: Do zombie chic if you will, but with food from the like of Cheese Truck, Wingmans and Mama's Jerk, we heartily advise adding a napkin-as-a-bib to your ensemble.
WHEN: Friday 28 Oct; from £8
Zombies Ate My Brain Halloween Party, RED Market, 288 Old Street, London, EC1V 9LA
THE CIRCUS ONE: Twisted Circus at Rumpus Room
WHAT: Roll up, roll up! For there is going to be much roguish rumpus afoot in the, er, Rumpus Room at The Mondrian Hotel. By which we mean that it's set to be transformed into a hellish big-top, full of scandalous circus performers, blood-curdling cabaret and undead acrobats (well, maybe). Plus you'll find themed cocktails, DJs, a Halloween make-up artist and champagne on arrival. In short: our kind of circus.
WEAR: Given recent events, best give the evil clown costume a miss. It'd just make the walk home awkward.
WHEN: Saturday 29 Oct; £50 including champagne
Twisted Circus, Rumpus Room, Mondrian hotel, 20 Upper Ground, London, SE1 9PD
THE HIP-HOP ONE: Big Apple Brixton – Applebum Halloween Get Down
To paraphrase Shaolin Fantastic in Baz Luhrmann's The Get Down: 'This ain't Brixton, this s**t is the f**king Bronx'. Because from this weekend you'll find a slice of '70s NYC right here in south London, at this new rooftop pop-up. Think graffitied subway trains, mirror balls, afros and – of course – one hip-hoppin' Halloween bash. Taking you on a journey from James Brown to Chic, Chaka Khan to Rick James, Grandmaster Flash to The Sugarhill Gang, what this lacks in frights it makes up for in funk.
WEAR: Seventies-style Puma sneakers, Studio 54 glam, kick flares… Basically your normal wardrobe, then.
WHEN: Friday 28 Oct; free
Big Apple Brixton, The Brixton Rooftop, Popes Road, Brixton, London SW9 8JH
THE ONE WITH FKA TWIGS: Rooms by FKA Twigs – Veuve Clicquot Widow Series
WHAT: Veuve Clicquot may have won at Halloween. Not only are they throwing fizz-filled spook-fest Meet the Widow (more of which above), but they're also back to host the second instalment of their none-more-cool, none-more-arty Halloween pop-up The Widow Series. Each year a cultural icon curates a series of rooms filled with performance art, set design, theatre, costume and dance. And in the driving seat for 2016 is one FKA Twigs, who has collaborated with artists to create 12 zodiac-themed installations. Expect cosmic coolness, stellar sounds – and champagne. Obvs.
WEAR: Go for Twigs-style braids and body piercing. Accessorise with Robert Pattinson-alike.
WHEN: 27-28 Oct; free but booking essential – tickets released on Friday for that evening
Rooms by FKA Twigs, 2 Chance Street, London, E1 6JT
THE DRESS-TO-IMPRESS ONE: Last Tuesday Society's La Danse Macabre
WHAT: Ever really gone for it with the Halloween costume, only to turn up and find no one else has really bothered? Safe to say, that is NOT going to be the case here. Spooky sorts Last Tuesday Society spend their days curating a museum of curiosities (complete with mermaid skeleton) so when they do All Hallows' Eve, they do it right. Turning the Clapham Grand into an electric carnival of the decadent and depraved, you can expect cabaret, contortion, circus performers and Costumes with a capital C.
WEAR: Masks, ballgowns, ruffles, bustles and all things femme fatale. There's a no outfit, no entry policy – so it's literally go big or go home.
WHEN: Friday 28 Oct; £20
The Last Tuesday Society, The Grand 21 - 25 Saint John's Hill, London, SW11 1TT
THE FRIGHT-NIGHT ONE: All Night At The Electric, Vol II: The Gore Tour
WHAT: Remember when you used to have sleepovers and watch scary movies all night long? Well, this is just like that. If you held them in a super-stylish vintage cinema, curated a cult-cool line-up of international splatter movies and served your guests espresso martinis. (Which we did, obviously.) Taking over the atmospheric, squishy-seated Electric Cinema Portobello for Halloween, this fright-fest serves up four gory movies in a row, plus cocktails and a breakfast halfway through.
WEAR: This is an all-nighter, so we suggest loungewear/ pyjamas all the way. Slippers CAN be chic, dammit.
WHEN: Saturday 29 Oct; £40
Electric Cinema, 191 Portobello Rd, London W11 2ED
…AND FOR THE TOO COOL FOR GHOUL: Mirrors Festival
WHAT: Halloween deniers, take haven among the painfully hip folk of Hackney. For here you shall find no plastic masks (pff) or silly string (double pff), just live music of the highest order. Filling venues including Oslo, Moth Club and St John Hackney Church, this multi-venue festival mixes exciting up-and-comers (check out The Parrots, Martha and Hoops) with guaranteed crowd-pleasers such as Bat For Lashes.
WEAR: The regulation hipster drainpipes. You may not be in costume, but due to your restricted circulation you'll be white as a ghost, at least.
WHEN: 29 Oct; £25
Mirros Festival, Various Hackney venues
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