Tomorrow people of all ages will hit the streets to celebrate Halloween.
Here are six stories that will get you in the mood for the big day:
1) Ghoulish array to raise cash
Guisers will have to avoid walking the plank and plunging into Davy Jones’ locker when they visit one couple’s house this Halloween.
For the past three years, Scott and Claire Graham have transformed their Aberdeen home into a haunted house to add an extra bit of fright to trick or treaters’ nights and to raise cash for charity.
The couple spend months creating props and building them before decorating their house on Fernilea Crescent in the Summerhill area of the city.
This year they decided on a pirate theme and went so far as to secure an old 14ft fishing boat, which they have transformed into a galleon.
And tomorrow night visitors will most certainly gasp “shiver me timbers” when they learn the fate of Sam R. Hill and his ill-fated attempt to bury his treasure.
This year the Grahams decided to raise money for MS Research in memory of neighbour Mary Heron, who sadly died earlier this year after a long battle with Multiple Sclerosis.
The Grahams, and Mrs Herons’ daughters Amanda Milne and Lesley Heron, will do their best Blackbeard impressions to rake in as much cash as possible.
Mr Graham, 44, said: “Last year we raised almost £500 for Ucan and we are hoping to beat it this year.
“We have done this for three years and are both big fans of pirates so we decided that was our theme.
“We have even come up with a story this year, who went on shore to bury treasure and came to a grisly end, and the children who come in might find some clues on their way round.”
This year the couple have managed to secure sponsorship from sweetie company Swizzels, creators of Love Hearts and other popular treats.
They also received help from Inverurie firm GPH Builders Merchants who helped haul the ship into their garden.
“We’ve been planning this since we finished up last year,” Mr Graham added.
“But we’ve been physically preparing since July. We re-sell a lot of the stuff when we’re done to raise money for the next year, but if the police were to come round just now they’d find boxes full of severed limbs.”
Anyone wishing to visit should go to 12 Fernilea Crescent between 6-9pm.
Donations can be made to the collection tins at the home.
2) Star Wars soldiers take to Moray streets for Halloween
A squadron of superheroes paraded through Elgin at the weekend as part of the town’s Halloween celebrations.
Stormtroopers, made famous in Star Wars, caused shoppers to take a double-take as they marched through the Plainstones.
The science-fiction soldiers joined a cast of comic book characters in posing for pictures with youngsters as part of Elgin business improvement district’s (Bid) Halloween celebrations – which also included dancing and cheerleading demonstrations.
Bid manager Gill Neill said: “It’s been an absolute scream. A lot of people have been really surprised when they’ve seen the Stormtroopers.
“It’s great to see so many people were in the town centre getting their pictures taken with them.”
3) Hundreds visit spooky spectacle on islands and live to tell the tale
Hundreds of children – and adults – were left spooked after the Ness Islands of Inverness were transformed into a portal to the underworld at the weekend.
The heart-stopping Halloween show saw horrible harpies, medieval plague doctors and zombies descend on the River Ness.
The underworld was brought to live by more than 170 performers from Eden Court Creative, Arts in Motion and Limelight.
There was a strong international feel to the spooky goings-on as the islands.
Visitors met a whole range of new and scary characters and explore various myths about the underworld from a range of different cultures including Polynesian and Japanese traditions.
Over the course of Saturday and last night they saw ancient Egyptian gods Anubis and Thoth weighing the heart of those who hope to enter the afterlife.
And Polynesian animal spirits roamed, to pounce on lost souls. There were also the zombies from the Mexican Day of the Dead festival.
One of the highlights was a giant metal devil’s head commissioned from artist Greg Dobson and representing the gates to the Underworld.
The majority of performers were secondary school children and a number of former Creative students.
Limelight Event Services created a spooky atmosphere among the islands’ trees and shrubs, while Arts in Motion set up special sets, props and special effects to help set the atmosphere.
Provost and Inverness leader Helen Carmichael said: “The annual Halloween event, which is very popular with families, is part of the Inverness Festivals Winter Programme of Events, which is supported by the Inverness Common Good Fund.”
4) Ancient Aztec festival ‘Day of the Dead’ celebrated in Moray
A congregation of ghoulish characters has celebrated an ancient Latin American festival in the north-east.
The “Day of the Dead”, which began 3,000 years ago, was initially celebrated by the Aztecs and remains a popular festival in Mexico.
And last night, dozens of young enthusiasts joined in the celebrations, which will climax on Thursday, in a special after-dark opening of Elgin Museum by crafting their own skeleton masks.
Many also came already wearing bony facepaint, which is commonly worn by those attending festivities in Central America.
Cobwebs were wrapped around the museum staircase bannisters at night while the galleries were transformed into a lair for grizzly stories.
Oliver Macfarlane, 11, from Dunfail, blended into the elaborate decorations wearing a black fedora hat with a tweed waistcoat and decorative tie.
He said: “This is what I normally wear. I can be any character people want me to be. The skeleton facepaint is just for today though.”
Travis Beveridge, 6, from Elgin, was draped in a flowing cape and clutched a spider with frightening fangs he had made from pipe cleaners.
Other youngsters came dressed as their favourite comic book characters. Some were dripping in fake blood and loitered in the shadows cast through the museum to frighten visitors.
Museum volunteer Moray MacDonald was unrecognisable as a “dead Victorian bride” wearing a thick veil and black dress.
In Mexico, the festival is commonly celebrated with candied sweets, food-filled parties and yellow marigold flowers, to represent life and hope.
Fellow volunteer Claire Herbert ran workshops while wearing flowers in her hair with her face decorated as a traditional skeleton from the event with intricate detail.
She revealed the “Dia de los Muertos”, as the festival is known in Mexico, is a celebration of life and not death, despite its morbid name.
She said: “Initially we were looking for new ways to celebrate Halloween. The Day of the Dead is fascinating though, it has huge history and goes way back to the Aztecs.
“It’s all about life though. It isn’t as dark as its name makes it out to be. It’s all about remembering loved ones and having parties with bright colours.”
5) Spine-tingling search for Mòrag the monster of Loch Morar
Everyone has heard of Nessie, but a tale featuring another lesser-known Highland loch monster has resurfaced – in time for Halloween.
The spine-tingling adventure featuring Morag who, legend has it, inhabits the depths of Loch Morar in Lochaber, was released yesterday.
The two-minute video is a special Halloween-themed production by the Outdoor Capital of the UK, the tourism brand of Lochaber Chamber of Commerce, and is part of the region’s year-long digital campaign to encourage visitors to share their experiences on social media.
Called ‘The Legend of Mòrag the Monster’, it is a tale of what happens when four ‘“neds”, inspired by a substantial reward for the capture of the creature, head off to the largely wild and uninhabited shores of Loch Morar to search for her.
But, terrified by their individual encounters with the loch’s oldest and most elusive resident and too scared to carry on, one by one they head off to the nearest pub to regale the regulars about their brave and heroic exploits.
The loch is the deepest freshwater body in the British Isles, at a maximum of 1,017ft.
Chris O’Brien, destination manager of Outdoor Capital of the UK, said: “Tourism concentrating on Scottish myths and legends is becoming increasingly popular. With our latest video, we wanted to have a little bit of fun searching for Mòrag while showing off some of the stunning scenery of Loch Morar at the same time.”
But, over the years, there have been conflicting reports about what this monster actually looks like.
Unlike her cousin Nessie, Mòrag is only ever seen in broad daylight and early accounts of her activities, gathered by folklorist Alexander Carmichael around 1902, were only uncovered by researchers four years ago.
She has been variously described as a serpentine-like creature, a mermaid with flowing hair and, worst of all, a sinister grim reaper which, when sighted, was thought to be a death omen.
