The York Tab’s full and complete guide to the ultimate Galloween this year

Autumn is in full swing here at York and Halloween is right around the corner. We might all love the classic Halloween night out, but why not turn the occasion into a night in with your girls too? Here is the ultimate Galloween guide: from snacks, to music, to activities, this guide is perfect for all friendship groups. This is the best way to throw a chill Halloween night this spooky season – the perfect alternative to being knocked out by someone’s fairy wings in the club.

Snacks

Starting strong of course. Plenty snacks are a must for any occasion – it’s truly essential to have some picky bits! For our Galloween snacks, I headed to the holy grail… M&S Food Hall. It’s a bit pricey, but the snacks are honestly worth every penny. Here’s everything I picked up:

• Ghostly chilli cheese tortillas – £1.50
• Fruity gruesome sweets – £3
• Spooky satchel of chocolates – £3
• Cackle and pop Halloween mini bites – £3.75

Food

Now it’s time to decide, cooking or Deliveroo? If you think your friendship group can cook a big meal without a fight, someone’s plate getting smashed, or a bout of food poisoning ripping through your flat – congratulations and here are some ideas.

• Pasta evening! Everyone cook a different type of pasta, put the pots in the middle of the table and dive in.
• Ghostly pizzas. These have been making the rounds on Tik Tok and look pretty easy to make. Grab some pizza dough and your fave toppings, then cut them into shapes like ghosts and pumpkins!
• A Sunday roast. This may be random but it’s a cult classic where everyone can cook something.
• Mexican food! Nachos, fajitas and enchiladas are a comfort food that everyone enjoys. Throw in some guacamole to have with your ghostly chilli cheese tortillas.

For the Deliveroo people, I see exactly where you’re coming from. No washing up for one thing, and everyone can order exactly what they want. Here’s some ideal picks.

• Fat Hippo. There’s nothing more tasty than a burger and nowhere does it better than Fat Hippo. With veggie and vegan options on the menu, everyone can get involved.
• Middle Feast. A favourite here in York, Middle Feast specialises in Middle Eastern food. I can confirm the shawarma is amazing.
• Crescis Pizzeria. Who knew these guys delivered? The pizzas are amazing and very decently priced.
• Indian takeaway. Classic. Everyone has their fave restaurant and go-to order, so I’ll let you figure that one out between yourselves…

Drinks

Now onto cocktails/mocktails. I’ve searched high and low for some seasonal recipes to make your Galloween a little more lively!

• Vodka, pomegranate and blackberries – very seasonal.
• A blood orange mocktail spritzer. Yum.
• Ginger and apple cooler – classy vibes.
• Hocus Pocus punch? This sounds up my street. Try with apple Sourz and lemon juice!

Plus, I also picked up a Peach on the Beach bottle of cocktail from M&S, perfect if you’re feeling a little lazy. This was tasty and refreshing, perfect for a quiet drink with the girlies, and for £6 you can’t really complain.

Decorations

Don’t think you have to spend a lot of money to decorate your kitchen this Galloween. Here are some tips and tricks to spookify your gorgeous shared kitchen.

Whilst in M&S I grabbed some Honeycomb Decorations, which are actually paper lanterns with string so you can hang them easily. Very cute and can even be reused next year. I also decorated our kitchen in fake cobwebs. A childhood favourite of mine, there’s literally going to be fibers of the stuff in our kitchen for months!

Of course, if you haven’t been to Flying Tiger, where have you been? They sell all sorts of cute things for amazing prices. I nipped in and found some glow in the dark creepy crawlies (will be putting these in my housemates bed) and a little skeleton to hang on the door.

If you don’t want to splash out on decorations, don’t worry! Grab some fairy lights from someone’s room and move them around just for Galloween. Get some lamps, candles and lay your snacks out on the table – this will definitely be enough to look super cute.

Pumpkins

Here is the star of the show, how you can spend your time this Galloween. From the classic to the quirky, there will be something here that you and your friends can agree on.

First up is pumpkin painting. Nip to the shop (or market) and pick up a small pumpkin and some paints, sit down with a glass of wine and a spooky playlist playing. Why not hold a competition? Set a timer and maybe a theme, then see who can produce a masterpiece.  This is great if you don’t want to deal with the mess of carving!

Done for generations, it wouldn’t be October without a classic carved pumpkin. Get on Pinterest, choose a design, and give it your best shot. This is such a laugh to do with your uni housemates and once you’re finished you have some homemade decorations. Two birds with one stone. M&S literally sell big pumpkins for a pound! Please also be careful with the knives, don’t blame me if someone loses a finger…

More activities

A movie night is almost a given when hosting a cosy night in, but I had to mention it. Here are my top recs: Hocus Pocus (make it a marathon and watch the new one too), Scream, Halloween, The Nightmare before Christmas (is this controversial?), and The Conjuring. So much fun x

Why not make use of the kitchen and have a little mixology or baking session? Is there a Mary Berry in your friendship group? Get them on the baking grind this Galloween for some Autumnal sweet treats. Cinnamon buns, millionaire shortbread and brownies all sound good to me.

Second to Flying Tiger, Sostrene Greene has all of the supplies you need for cute activities this Galloween. Bracelet making seems perfect to me, and the shop is filled to the brim with coloured beads and everything you need. Get down there!

Up next is a quirky one for sure but it’s a great activity for this type of evening – making personalised autumn laptop screensavers. Make a new board on Pinterest and add lots of seasonal pics, then organise them on a Canva template. Once done save to your laptop and add as a screensaver. This means you and your friends can have cute backgrounds that will definitely get lots of compliments in your lectures!

Music

If there’s one thing you and your friends have to do this Halloween, it’s make a joint playlist. This is such a good way to keep up to date with what your mates are listening to right now and add any tunes you know they’ll love. Make sure to add an aesthetic picture on the cover too. By the end of the season you’ll have an amazing playlist to listen to (that’s probably 49 hours long). This may even become a tradition in your friendship group. Here are some song recs to get you started:

• Love Like Ghosts – Lord Huron
• No.1 Party Anthem – Arctic Monkeys
• Emily – Stephen Fretwell
• Wild Grey Ocean – Sam Fender
• Call Your Mom – Noah Kahan

There you have it! Choose a few things on this list and have an amazing night in with your friends. Happy Galloween! See you next year x

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