All Hallows Eve, that yearly celebration that takes place on the eve of All Hallows’ Day, which is dedicated to remembering the dead saints and martyrs of times gone by. Or, in St Andrews it is the number one excuse to stretch to the furthest corner of your imagination to dream up a costume, dust off the face paint and express your alter ego. This is exactly what five hundred St Andrews students did last Thursday when attending the House of Horror Charity Gala, held at Kinkel Byre.
For me, getting into the spirit of Halloween has always involved shaping my costumes to revolve around fake blood, white faces and sultry black eye make-up. However, since attending St Andrews and being exposed to American culture my eyes have been opened to the fact that at Halloween parties you can dress up as absolutely anything; from Miley Cyrus to a Diet Coke bottle, the possibilities are endless. Thus, the dynamic vibrancy of the costumes that were displayed at House of Horror made my black and white monochrome print cat dress with matching ears look a little unimaginative.
Taxis were provided to ferry our characters from South Street to Kinkle byre where upon we were greeted by a committee member and directed towards the House of Horror entrance. Walking though the dusked room we were jumped at by zombies, smiled at by vampires and spooked by what seemed to be dead clowns in a bumper car, who were so convincing that my friend felt it important to recognise their talent by turning to them and saying ‘you are great actresses’. We were then lead out onto the dance floor where we steadied our nerves with a free shot of Snow Queen Vodka, which we drank whilst being overlooked by the beady eye of the Snow Queen herself, who was seated on her icy throne above us. We then proceeded to dance the night away to sound chosen by a group of DJ’s who were convincingly disguised as surgeons. As always with St Andrews Balls the night is rather what you make of it, but for those wishing to celebrate Halloween in style this was definitely the place to be.