Halloween in the City 2019

A look at some of the monsters that have invaded Manchester city centre.

The first monster I saw was atop the old Mayfield Station

Halloween in the City has kicked off and the city centre has been invaded by ten monsters.

A monster on top of Next at the Manchester Arndale

I was in Manchester yesterday afternoon and managed to spot five of the beasts.

Two of the monsters at Selfridges in Exchange Square

Emily and I are looking forward to finding them all this weekend.

The Depot at Mayfield monster

Halloween in the City is a superb idea to get people out and about exploring Manchester.

There's a dragon at The Printworks

Visit the Halloween in the City website for more information and to download the Monster Invasion: Return of the Monsters map.

Pretty much every tree in the city centre is full of pumpkins!

Halloween in the USA - Part IV

A look at some brilliant Halloween decorations from the USA.

Emily was recently in the US and while there spotted some superb Halloween decorations.

A headless horseman at Home Depot

Unfortunately there wasn't enough room in her luggage to bring any back for us to decorate our house with.

There are now only 9 days to Halloween!

Our friends at A Couple of Putts have created the hashtag #Puttober to share all things Halloweeney at miniature golf courses.

Check out my blog post about Halloween-themed minigolf courses and events to see what's happening.

The scary month of Puttober

October is Puttober.

Skulls on a spike at Mr Mulligan's Lost World Adventure Golf in Cheltenham

Our friends Tom and Robin over at A Couple of Putts have been posting their favourite scary miniature golf holes and obstacles on social media this month using the hashtag #Puttober.

Do you want to play a game at Teezers Retro Golf in Coventry?

Getting in on the spirit of the season here are some of the haunted and Halloweeny courses we've found on our travels.

Rest in Peace on hole 14 at Teezers Retro Golf in Coventry

Our friend Trevor Robertson found this obstacle on the Grass Putting course at Marine Gardens in Worthing back in 2016

Hole 9 Clown & Out - the final hole of the Bozo course at Junkyard Golf in London

Hole 9 at Junkyard Golf in Manchester

Inside a giant rock mouth at Funder Park Adventure Golf in Dawlish Warren!

What a view

Brown bread

The Smuggler's Jail hole on the Smugglers Bay Adventure Golf course at Stonham Barns

Slimer graffiti at Ghetto Golf in Newcastle

Toxic Waste warning at Junkyard Golf in Manchester

There are a LOT of Halloween-themed minigolf events going on in the run-up to the 31st October and on the big day itself. Check out my Halloween minigolf blog post here on the Ham and Egger Files and my guest blog post at Minigolfnews for more information.

Are you playing any Halloween minigolf this year?

In October 2014 we headed to Mead Open Farm for a morning of fun on the farm. And some Crazy Golf! The course was the 350th we've played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour and the 584th visited overall.

Getting a high-five off of a giant inflatable pumpkin witch at Mead Open Farm's Halloween event

The 9-hole course at Mead Open Farm was the last of the 'local' courses for us to play when we lived down in Bedfordshire and it was worth the wait 

Crazy Golf at Mead Open Farm in Billington

Halloween in the USA - Part III

A look at some awesome Halloween decorations from the USA.

Emily was recently in the US and while there spotted some great inflatable Halloween decorations at Home Depot.

Halloween inflatables at Home Depot

There are now only 13 days to Halloween!

Unfortunately there wasn't enough room in her luggage to bring any back to decorate our house with.

Halloween inflatables at Home Depot

I did however get some packs of the new Garbage Pail Kids Halloween-themed Revenge of Oh the Horror-ible trading cards!

Garbage Pail Kids Revenge of Oh the Horror-ible trading cards

Check out my blog post about Halloween-themed minigolf courses and events to see what's happening.

Our friends Tom and Robin at A Couple of Putts have also created the hashtag #Puttober to share all things Halloweeney at miniature golf courses.

Halloween in the USA - Part II

A look at some excellent Halloween decorations from the USA.

Emily was recently in the US and while there spotted some brilliant Halloween decorations.

Haunted PCs at Target in New Jersey

How great is this Haunted Computer!

Unfortunately there wasn't enough room in her luggage to fit a desktop PC in.

Only 35 bucks!

The PC comes with its own built-in virus

There are now only 15 days to Halloween!

Check out my blog post about Halloween-themed minigolf courses and events to see what's happening.

Our friends at A Couple of Putts have also created the hashtag #Puttober to share all things Halloweeney at miniature golf courses.

Halloween in the USA - Part I

A look at some brilliant Halloween decorations from the USA.

Emily was recently in the US and while there spotted some superb Halloween decorations.

How cool are these inflatable decorations!

Unfortunately there wasn't enough room in her luggage to bring any back to decorate our house with.

I did however get some packs of the new Garbage Pail Kids Halloween-themed Revenge of Oh the Horror-ible trading cards!

These are super trading cards - with 24 cards in the big packs!

There are now only 16 days to Halloween!

Check out my blog post about Halloween-themed minigolf courses and events to see what's happening.

666 views on my Halloween minigolf guest blog post at Minigolfnews

Spooky!

My Halloween-themed minigolf guest blog post has had 666 views so far!

Happy 1st of October

The countdown to Halloween is on...

Are you looking forward to Halloween?

Check out my Halloween-themed blog post for details of upcoming events.

Related blog posts:
- Halloween
- Halloween-themed minigolf
- Halloween-themed minigolf at Minigolfnews

Halloween-themed minigolf

There's not all that long to go until Halloween and it got me thinking whether many miniature golf courses will be doing anything special for the season of the witch.

A couple of years ago there were quite a few scares to be had at minigolf courses in the UK, Canada and the USA.

So far I've seen that Fun Fore All Family Fun Park in Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania, USA will have Trick-or-Treat Trail Glow Golf every Friday and Saturday night from the 27th September to the 26th October.

I'm also aware that Golfland Entertainment Centers have previously hosted Spooktacular Golf events during October.

I'll be adding details of any Halloween minigolf events I find out about in the comments section below and also on my guest blog post about Halloween at Minigolfnews.

Hopefully the courses on the list of Halloween minigolf events we compiled in 2017 will be doing something again this year.

If you know of any other Halloween-themed minigolf courses or events please get in touch via the comments below.

Related blog posts:
- Halloween
- Halloween Minigolf

Happy Summerween 2019

Today is Summerween. Just like it was yesterday. 

Summerween is celebrated on the 22nd June, or the second to last Friday of the month.

Happy Summerween

Today is Summerween. And so is tomorrow. 

A Summerween Jack-o-Melon

Summerween is celebrated on the second to last Friday of the month, or the 22nd June.

Happy Summerween!

Happy Summerween 2018.

Today is Summerween!

Summerween is celebrated on the 22nd June, or the second to last Friday of the month. This year they are one and the same

Related blog posts:
- Watermelons
- Summerween
- Halloween

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween 2017. Have a great day.

Related blog posts:
- Halloween
- Halloween Minigolf

Happy National Pumpkin Day!

Oh my gourd it's National Pumpkin Day!

Happy National Pumpkin Day 2017.

Last year we visited Southport Pleasureland - it was full of pumpkins!

Check out my other pumpkin-related blog posts...

It's an axe!

We did a bit of shopping in Asda this evening and I had a look at the Halloween section. There's some good stuff in stock, but I'm not sure about this item.

'Swashbuckling Pirate Sword' - or as it's more commonly known, an axe

Related blog posts:
- Funny
- Pirates
- Shopping
- Halloween

Halloween at Globalls Crazy Golf in Brighton

The team at Globalls Crazy Golf in Brighton are putting together the finishing touches to their Halloween-themed minigolf layout.

The 12-hole glow-in-the-dark Crazy Golf course is normally full of dinosaurs, but between Friday the 13th and Halloween itself the indoor Crazy Golf course will be transformed into an incredibly popular creepshow!

There'll be Dracula, Frankenstein, Skeletons, Zombies and more at the Globalls Halloween event

Emily and I are really looking forward to visiting Jurassic Globalls - and the new 'Tropicana' course they are opening - on our next trip to Brighton. It's been a while since we were in the seaside resort.

Check out the Jurassic Globalls website, Facebook and Twitter for more info.

Related blog posts:
- Indoor glow in the dark minigolf in Brighton
- Brighton
- Halloween
- Halloween Minigolf

Halloween minigolf!

With the season of the witch almost upon us it's worth taking a look at the minigolf courses offering scares and frights this year!

- Spooky Golf at Coal Country Miniature Golf in Fairmont, West Virginia, USA - Spooky Golf weekends throughout October.

- Spooky Adventure Golf at Four Ashes Golf Centre in Dorridge, England - October half-term.

- Haunted Holes at Aly's Mini Putt And Fun Centre in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada - throughout October.

- Halloween Minigolf at Jurassic Globalls in Brighton - between Friday the 13th and Halloween night.

- Puttin for Paws, a pawsitively spooktacular event - Halloween Mini Putt Fun Tournament at Aly's Mini Putt And Fun Centre in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada - Sunday 22nd October.

- Trick or treat at Tee Rex Golf at Cardiff Golf Centre, Wales - 28th-31st October.

- Spooktacular Mini Golf at Golfland Sunsplash in Mesa, Arizona, USA - selected dates in October.

- Haunted Mill & Blacklight MiniGolf in Belmont, North Carolina, USA.

One of the more morbid obstacles we've seen on a minigolf course on our travels

Our friends over at The Putting Penguin minigolf review site are also BIG fans of Halloween and their local course at Farmington Miniature Golf & Ice Cream Parlor in Connecticut always does something to celebrate.

- Haunted Miniature Golf at Farmington Miniature Golf & Ice Cream Parlor in Connecticut, USA - Thursday-Sunday throughout October.

If you know of other Halloween events at minigolf, crazy golf or adventure golf courses do let us know via the comments below, or on Twitter and Facebook.

While it's not specifically Halloween-themed you can play miniature golf in a Funeral Parlor at Ahlgrim Family Funeral Services in Palatine, Ilinois, USA.

If you're in or near Southport then Pleasureland is well worth visiting at Halloween as it's the 'Happy Halloween Capital of the UK!' While there's no minigolf there anymore there are a lot of pumpkins and scares to be had. We had a great time there last year.

A few of the pumpkins at Southport Pleasureland last Halloween

Related blog posts:
- Halloween
- Summerween

Happy Summerween!

Happy Summerween 2017.

Today is Summerween. Unless, like some people, you celebrate the summer version of Halloween on the second to last Friday of June. In which case happy Summerween for tomorrow.

Related blog posts:
- Watermelons
- Halloween

Happy Halloween 2016

Ah, Halloween. The one day of the year when being a Coeliac Disease victim pays dividends. I'll never tire of 'dressing up' as Patient Zero. What a costume.

Not brown bread yet

Related blog posts:
- Halloween
- Coeliac Disease
- Gluten - my Kryptonite
- What a perfect Crazy Golf obstacle for a Coeliac
- Funny things about being a Coeliac

A visit to Southport Pleasureland

Southport Pleasureland, the 'Happy Halloween Capital of the UK!'

We recently returned to Southport for the first time since September 2009 and we were pleasantly surprised to see that the Pleasureland theme park had reopened. Not only that, but it looked to be doing very well and they had really gone to town on the Halloween theming.

We survived the haunted maze at Southport Pleasureland

In fact they've gone so far as to declare themselves the 'Happy Halloween Capital of the UK!'

I don't think I have ever seen so many pumpkins in one place before. There are thousands of them there!

The pumpkins came in all shapes and sizes

Plenty of characters too

Some were ominously congregating

Others were on their own

There were clowns

'Sleeping' ones

And more traditional Jack-o'-lanterns

Unfortunately since our previous visit the Moroccan Adventure Golf course has been removed as the park has had extensive changes made. The area that was once home to the minigolf course is now a pathway. A shame really.

The Adventure Golf course at Pleasureland Southport as it was just after the theme park had been left abandoned in 2009

What the same area looks like now

However, the rest of Pleasureland is great. We really enjoyed our wander round - especially the walk through the haunted maze.

We dared to enter the haunted maze

A view of the outside world from within the maze

We escaped - as did our shadows

Check out the Southport Pleasureland website for more information and opening times.

You can see the blog post from our visit to Pleasure Land in 2009 in our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour archives.

Southport is still home to plenty of other Crazy Golf options and a lot of other things to keep you entertained. We're looking forward to our next visit and keep 'em peeled for more blog posts from our trip to Southport that are coming up.

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