Each year, it gets chillier and spookier to risk the great outdoors on All Hallow’s Eve.
The season of trick-or-treat this year was no different for Islamabad where people from different walks of life got creative with their makeup and costumes to pull off a revamped Halloween garb.
However, keeping in view the observance of Muharram, either the Halloween parties were organised earlier on or kept low-key private affairs indoors.
A bonfire and horror film night was organised at Kuch Khaas, complete with a costume contest and a zombie-theme maze: The Walk-In Dead!
Toasting s’mores and munching on freaky-looking Halloween treats, the audience enjoyed the first Pakistan horror film, Zinda Laash (1967) followed by the Demons sequel (1986) in a cozy outdoor setting. They also whetted their appetites at a “dead café” with “dead chefs” cooking stylised dishes for the occasion.
Maheen Khan, 22, a senior-year student at a local university said a Halloween party was scheduled to take place at her university but it was cancelled because of midterm exams and religious sanctity of Muharram.
Khan said she was planning to attend a friend’s private party, dressed as the protagonist from this year’s horror film “Annabelle”.
“One of my friends is going as “Zipper Face” and another one as “Maleficent”. It’s fun to break out of run-of-the-mill ideas and experiment with new characters and innovate the age-old tradition,” she said.
Rolled up in layers of silver, white and grey and splattered in muddy paint, 27-year-old lawyer Anusha Akbar personified cyclone “Nilofar” at another private party.
“I miss the old-school Halloween fever in the city when public spaces such as shops, schools and homes were decorated to bring joy to the otherwise dreary autumn season. It is a lot quieter now for various reasons but I hope we can revive the festivity,” she said.
Meanwhile, Dr Haider Zaman, 33, said although he never missed a chance to go out for Halloween with his friends, this year he was caught up with work and familial demands. “I’m observing the occasion ‘in spirit’,” he joked.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 2nd, 2014.
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