2 ★ FT Weekend 26 October/27 October 2019
Avoid anything that
says ‘trick or treat’
on it, plastic spidersand horrid
cupcakesHellishly camp
at Halloween
Halloween is fun but always so
tacky. Is it possible to host a party
with style and taste?Oh I just love Halloween. As a childI
wouldrunabout with a towel pegged
around my neck as a makeshift cape,
convinced I was a vampire.
I remember throwingHalloween
parties at my parents’ houseat the
height of my teenage goth-wizard era.
They were all hand-drawn invitations
in blood red, doomy pipe organ tunes,
flashing lights, fog machines and
sausage rolls made to look like a
corpse’s fingers. Even then, I liked
putting on a show.
Around this time, I became
interested in folklore, the supernatural
and paganism and soon developed an
obsession with witches. In fact I still
feel highly witchy. I liked the idea of
being connected to nature and marking
the passing of each season.
The theatre of it all is fascinating:
horned gods, midnight rituals, ancient
magical artefacts. My interest in
folklore, particularly of the British
kind, has stayed with me. My idea of a
pleasant day out would involve a grand
procession through an ancient Englishtown, its narrow streets decorated with
flags and flowers, extravagantly
dressed groups of folk dancers,
accordion players and an ’obby ’oss.
Folk customs are both absurd and
wonderful. There is something dark
about many of them— not malevolent
but certainly sinister. Think of the
November Bonfire Night celebrations
that take place in Lewes, withburning
effigies and flaming crosses. So I like to
enjoy Halloween through my folkloric
lens. But as much as I love a spot of
mumming, I am also very much
here for Bette Midler as Winifred
Sanderson inHocus Pocus.
Last year Duncan and I
decided we needed an
excuse to dress up. We
threw a Halloween dinner
at a hotel in Bloomsbury
and in preparation, spent
an enjoyable day with
friends at theCostume
Studio in Islington
where you can hire all
manner of historical
costumes. We tried on
everything from frothy
Georgiana Cavendish
frocks to Elizabethanruffs and silk stockingsà la ildaT
Swinton as Orlando (pictured).
We werethere for hours, screeching,
posing and leavingfeathers and chaos
in our wake. If you are dressing up, go
extravagant but not necessarily spooky
— and certainly not disgusting.I hate
all that alien bursting out of chest stuff.
And no fake blood.
I want powdered wigs as tall as cars
with galleons sailing in them;
highwayman capes, gloves and masks
andsnowy white Regency frills. (I tend
to take my fancy dress inspiration
from the 1951 Beistegui Ball in
Venice, a costume party hosted
by the multi-millionaire
interior decorator
Charlie de Beistegui.
Black and white
photographs of the “party
of the century” show guests
floating down the Grand
Canal half-naked orin
enormous gowns,
veiled masks, tricorn
hats and jewelled
chokers, with fans,
greyhounds and violins.)
As for party decoration,
go hellishly camp: fullDracula’s-castle-meets-tired-West-End-
musical-set. Towering gilt candelabra
dripping with wax and masses of
draped heavy plum velvet.
Unless you have access to a theatre
or film props department,keep things
simple. Avoid anything that says “trick
or treat” on it, plastic spiders and
horrid cupcakes. You cannot beatchic
jet-black dinner candles in battered old
brass candlesticks and a candelabra on
your Halloween table.
If you can still get hold of dahlias,
have a few inshades of orange and
purple in elegant silver beakers dotted
around. Then drape a good amount of
white spider web over everything — a
cheap decoration that adds a layer of
instantGothic romance.
Have children make paper cut-out
bats for windows and try making a
wreath for your front door usingfoliage
and vines painted black. Keep electric
lighting low and candles flickering and
you will be all set for a tastefully creepy
bash. Happy Halloween!Luke answers readers’ questions on design
and stylish living every week. Email him at
[email protected] and follow him
on Instagram @lukeedwardhallLuke Edward Hall
Readers’ questions
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Go to t.com/newslettersfcold, he appears to be on edge. When
he discovers I am staying in the castle,
he is incredulous: “In one of these
rooms? Ooof!”
Visiting haunted houses taps into
emotional needs,says Margee Kerr, a
sociologist and writer who studies scare
attractions. Fear brings a natural high
and conquering it lifts confidence. She
tells me via email that people enjoy the
thrill of putting themselves in challeng-
ing positions — to feel that they have
overcome adversity and shown courage.
Haunted houses also offer escape from
their day-to-day thoughts, tapping into
their almost animal-like instinct.
“We can enjoy being fully in our bod-
ies, feeling primal and animal. We want
opportunities to explore something
novel, test ourselves, show our courage
and feel brave.”
Visitors to Hoghton can become
very anxious, says Faraoni. “It’s their
own imagination that takes them to
that place.”Brisk business
The costs of running ghost tours are
very low. Advertising to paranormal
groups on social media is cheap and
effective marketing. Aside from paying
a tour guide, owners of historic houses
do not even have to pay for electricity.
C a n d l e s a n d
torches are more
atmospheric than
overhead lights.
Business at Chill-
ingham is brisk.
The castle receives
about 2,700 visitors
a year on its two-
hour tours at £20 a
throw. Another
200 or so sign up
for a bumper ver-
sion: four hours at
£40, plus the castle
hosts up to 30 peo-
ple a month from
visiting paranormal groups at a £50 per
person charge. Some visitors may
decide to stay overnight for the full
haunted experience — at extra cost.
Like any business, however, a bad
review on TripAdvisor can dash
fortunes nd exposés of fakery ripa
through paranormal chat groups
like a poltergeist on the rampage. Even
death, it seems, will not save you from
social media.
And there is another obvious flaw in
the business model: ghosts. They do not
appear on demand, even if you do
believe in them.
Sarah Callandar-Beckett owns and
runs Combermere Abbey in Lancashire.
While she believes in the spirit world,
which she admits “might sound kooky”,
and is happy to talk to guests about that,
she does not market tours as ghost
hunts. “As you cannot guarantee an
experience, it is better not to give people
high hopes.” She does, however, featureContinuedfrompage 1a ghostly Victorian photograph on the
abbey’s website, purportedly of the
ghost of the second Lord Combermere,
reclining in a chair in the library.
Faraoni, a firm non-believer, says
ownerstread a fine line between herit-
age and Disneyfication. “We don’t have
people coming out of cupboards saying
‘boo!’ .” Nor would she want her house to
be overtaken by scare tourism. “We’ve
had people say they would like to come
in with an ouija board.” She turns them
down. “It’s a family home.”
By contrast, film producer Bil Bungay
has no ambitions to live in his reputedly
haunted semi-detached ex-council
house in Pontefract, West Yorkshire —
though he does let it outto groups of vis-
itorsfor up to £400 a night. Bungay
bought 30 East Drive to stage a premiere
for his 2012 film,When the Lights Went
Out, loosely based on the house’s alleged
poltergeist, a local 1960s egend. “Peo-l
ple now visit almost every night,” he
says. “They come for three reasons: to
visit the subject of a movie, to have the
prospect of a genuine encounter with a
poltergeist and, lastly, to have the bejee-
zus frightened out of them.” Overnight
visitors must bring their own bedding
andbreakfast is not included.
What happens when an owner
decides to sell a haunted house?
One estate agent tells the story of a
buyer who withdrew his offer after dis-
covering witches were once burnt in thegarden. Henry Pryor,
an independent buy-
i n g a g e n t , s ays a
“haunted” house is
the kiss of deathand
should never b e
emphasised in mar-
keting materials.
“Quite the reverse.
People are genu-
inely spooked. Con-
verted churches
don’t sell particularly well. Houses next
to graveyards are not great [sellers
either].” If the estate agent knows
a house is haunted, they are obliged
to tell the buyer, he says. “If the owner is
asked ‘Is the house haunted’,they
should answer truthfully although I sus-
pect that ‘I don’t believe in ghosts’ would
be a reasonable defence if challenged.”
Paul Veenhuijzen, a Dutch business-
man who is trying to sell 16th-century
Earlshall Castle near St Andrews in Scot-
land for £5m, says his house reputedly
has two ghosts, including Robert the
Bruce. “You can hear him coming up the
steps with his heavy boots. Until you
realise that it’s the rope on the flag
mast,” he says. “I don’t believe in it;
we’re from Dutch farming stock.” He is
not convinced buyers are deterred from
haunted reputations. “I’m not hiding it.
I tell them.”
Before my tour of Chillingham, I
asked Christopher French, head ofAnomalistic Psychology Research Unit
at Goldsmiths, University of London,
why people believe houses are haunted.
It is all down to context, he says.
Experiments in which participants
were told that a disused building
was the site of paranormal activity
were more likely to feel a presence
than those who just turned up at an
empty building.
“Things that are relatively mundane,
the odd creak, the draft, take on a new
significance.” Shadows and high ceilings
tap into an evolutionary instinct: you
are scared of what you cannot see. The-
atrics, in other words.
Nevertheless, belief is powerful.
“Most of us don’t believe the idea that
when we die, that’s the end. The notion
that spirits hang around an earthly
plane is evidence of life after death.”
French finds ghost investigations
boring. Nothing happens. Paranormal
groups with their own kits, he says,
“look like they are doing science and
they really [are] not. If you wanted
to look at it properly, you would
take into account your own biases.
They’re actually on the hunt for the
evidence of ghosts.”
I think about our conversation as the
Chillingham ghost tour ends. There are
selfies, “woos” and gasps when we ven-
ture out to the dark, dark woods, said to
be populated by the spirits of soldiers,
monks and prisoners. A woman says she
feels uneasy in the Edward Room.
Everyone leaves, apparently happy.
Some insist a slammed door was not
just the wind. One woman says she
felt uneasy at the top of the castle.
A man from Detroit jots down Trotter’s
email address so he can tell him if
anything happens
i n t h e c a s t l e’s
rooms, where he is
staying overnight.A testing time
Over a cup of tea,
Trotter shows me
h i s p a r a n o r m a l
investigation kit
stored in a large yel-
low toolbox, which he
uses on the castle’s
premium tours. There
are electromagnetic
field meters — aka
ghost meters — and
Electronic Voice Phenomenon record-
ers that are said to pick up on spirits’
sounds. Together we go to the chapel,
dousing rods at the ready. He shows
me how to hold the rods and ask the
spirits questions.
“Is anyone here with us?” The rods
cross, signifying yes. He continues his
spiritual 20 questions, establishing
Eleanor is here. “IsDavid here?” Noth-
ing.“Elvis?” I think, but I keep my
mouth shut.
Then it is my turn. At first, nothing
happens. Perhaps my hands are
gripping too tightly. I loosen them
and repeat the question. “Are any
spirits here?”
The rods cross. Did my desire to
please the amiable Trotter hasten their
movement? And for a brief second, I
wonder if I should try to contact my
dead dad.
We call it a night.A ghoul
mine
IDalmoak Castle, Scotland, £675,000WhereOutsideDumbarton,20 minutes
from Glasgow airport.
What 19th-century 14-bedroom castleA
with wine cellar nd formal dining rooma.
Why“Brandy Castle” wasbuilt for the
wine and spirits merchant John Aiken.
Who vills,Sa savills.com,
tel +44 141 222 5875BSpringmead, Hampstead, UK, £5.2mWhereIn north London nd 20 minutesa
on the tube to the City.
What five-bedroomA flat with front and
rear garden and modern kitchen.
WhyTheVictorian-era gothic features,
include a roundelpicturing an owl.
Who oldschmidt & Howland,G g-h.co.uk,
tel +44 20 7435 4404BChâteau, Saône-et-Loire, France, €7.4mWhereNear Mâcon. Lyon-Saint Exupéry
airport is an hour’s drive away.
WhatA 13-bedroom château on 235ha.
WhyThechâteau datesfrom the 11th
century andrebuilt in1875.
WhoChristie’s International Real Estate,
christiesrealestate.com,
tel +33 5 57 84 08 82HOT PROPERTY
G OTHIC HOUSE S
‘Things that are
relatively mundane,
the odd creak, thedraft, take on a
new significance’(Above left) The
ghost photos
taken in the
library at
Combermere
Abbey; (above
right) alleged
poltergeist at 30
East Drive
Bil BungayEarlshall Castle in ScotlandMarcin Noga/Noga Photo Studio Gaëtan BouvierBy Ido VockAlamyOCTOBER 26 2019 Section:Weekend Time: 10/201923/ - 17:45 User:elizabeth.robinson Page Name:RES2, Part,Page,Edition:RES, 2, 1