From Ghoulies and Ghoosties, long-legged Beasties and Things That Go Bump in the Night, Good Lord deliver us.
21st Century Halloween has more to do with chocolate, pumpkins and Chinese plastic than the supernatural fear of its origin, but we did manage to find plenty of music featuring witches, vampires and weird creatures (Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Twilight, Phantom of the Opera) while still reflecting the child friendly festival of modern times (Scooby Doo, Shrek, E.T.) Sometimes the connection was rather tenuous. Older members of the audience might have wondered how Unchained Melody fitted the theme. Something to do with ghostly chains rattling? Or maybe it was the lyrics? “I’ve hungered for your touch” referring to vampires, possibly? Apparently, we were informed by Sue Smith, our well-informed compere, it featured in the movie Ghost.
And, just before Batman, something definitely went Bump! (well, more like Crash!) in the back row. Let’s blame the tubas.
The weather failed to trick our audience into staying away so we treated them to a themed afternoon tea of spider cakes, mummy and pumpkin biscuits, skeleton cookies and other spooky delicacies.
Many thanks to Andrew Parkinson for helping out again on trombone, to all the raffle and afternoon tea organisers and to Sue for acting as compere.
