Halloween! One of my favorite holidays, and it has been ever since I was a little kid. I think part of that is because of the fall, undeniably the best time of year. While I haven’t gone trick or treating in ages, I still love dressing up in costumes for a night.
Being in a city and trying to create a Halloween costume isn’t the easiest. Unless you plan ahead and possibly order online, cities don’t really have costume stores. I know in Boston, there’s a Party City, but I couldn’t tell you where there’s the closest Spirit Halloween. And there’s definitely not a Spirit Halloween in Scotland. The only store I had seen with costumes available was the Edinburgh Bargain Store, which is not quite a dollar store but close enough, if you know what I mean. But this bargain store must have been where everyone was getting their costumes. In the days leading up to Halloween and just the weekend in general, there was a steady line outside their door. As I wasn’t quite set on a costume during the week, I was tempted to go in, but eventually decided against it, not wanting to spend ages in the line.
I always end up choosing a costume at the last minute. I needed two costumes, this year, or one that I could rewear. For my costume, I looked at my daily wardrobe for inspiration. With a little bit of makeup, a black turtleneck, and black jeans, I was transformed into Cesare from the Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, a character from a 1920s German horror film. I know this was quite niche- I’m not sure anyone really got my costume. My second costume was more recognizable. This time, all I needed was a white button up and black pants. I became Mia Wallace from Pulp Fiction. The costume was super easy, because I already have bangs, I didn’t even need a wig! It was a win. I actually saw a few other Mia Wallace’s out and about too, which was quite funny.
After sharing photos of my costumes with my friends from Boston, I received many similar responses, most along the lines of, “Wait, is Halloween actually that big of a thing in Scotland?” My answer is kind of. Nothing quite compares to an American Halloween. I didn’t see many children in costumes, so I assume trick or treating isn’t really a thing? But I could be wrong. I live in a pretty residential area of Edinburgh and didn’t really see many kids around. I know here in Scotland, they celebrate Samhain, as well as Halloween. Samhain is a Gaelic festival that celebrates the end of harvest. While I didn’t go, I know Edinburgh hosted a fire parade to celebrate Samhain Sunday night, the 31st.
My campus hosts a club night every Saturday, in a building called Potterrow. During the day, it’s one of my favorite study spots, but by night, it becomes a venue for the Big Cheese. The Big Cheese, every Saturday, is guaranteed to be a good time. How could it not, with them playing the best, cheesy throwback music? For Halloween, the club was hosting a costume contest and neon paint night that was somehow Squid Game themed. I didn’t quite understand the mix of themes, but I was primarily there for the Halloween celebrations.
On actual Halloween, on Sunday, I wandered around the city and enjoyed the lovely weather we have had lately (it hasn’t been too rainy, thankfully!). My friends and I took in all the fall colors of the trees changing, too. Our first stop was to get a pumpkin spice latte. I actually have never had one before. After our lattes, we walked through Greyfriars Kirkyard, one of the most famous graveyards in the world. The graveyard is located in Old Town, right near the castle. Some of the most famous graves there include the graves of Greyfriar Bobby, a dog who guarded his owner’s grave, and Thomas Ridell, who may have been the inspiration for J.K. Rowling’s Tom Riddle, or He Who Must Not Be Named. For any Harry Potter fans The Kirkyard is right next to the coffee shop where J.K. Rowling wrote the novel, as well as Victoria Street, which is the real-life inspiration for Diagon Alley.
Another great part about Halloween are the scary movies! The night of Halloween, my flatmate and I decided that we wanted to watch some Halloween movie. It’s not scary, but we ended up watching What We Do in the Shadows, a mockumentary about vampires who share a flat together in New Zealand. I think this Halloween was my third or fourth watch of the movie. It gets better every time. We also made brownies, so it was a good night. I don’t think I had any candy this Halloween, now that I think about it. I’m curious to know what candy is popular amongst the British, perhaps Cadbury chocolate, and Mars bars?
Now that October is over, Edinburgh is rushing to decorate for Christmas. It has been weird, because in America, the next big holiday is Thanksgiving. Personally, I don’t like to see Christmas decorations this early in the year! It’s always been the day after Thanksgiving for me. I’m excited though, because like Halloween, I’ll be celebrating Thanksgiving here. My flat has plans to host a big dinner. Us Americans just want an excuse to eat lots of food. It’ll be interesting to see what my British flatmates think. Only time will tell!
