Halloween Gadgets

Andrew Mickel

Okay, this is really more about toys and gadgets than games, but rules are made to be broken, aren't they?

Published on Oct 29, 2007

Halloween loves crap like nothing else. Unfortunately, Halloween in Britain means dressing like a zombie slag/man-slag to go to Tiger Tiger, or eating the contents of Cyber Candy whilst watching the entire Nightmare on Elm Street back catalogue – which means our gadgets are frankly rubbish. So rummage through the nonsense you can get, and then dream of how things could have been if you were born under the Stars and Stripes…

For… the Brit who’s just going to have to pretend to be happy with the rubbish stuff we have on offer in this country:

From Amazon.co.uk

Eating; war; Halloween – there’s little that our American counterparts don’t beat us into the ground at. The rubbish toot that we can pick up normally extends to a pair of vampire fangs from Clintons, but you could really push that ten quid boat out and pick up an LED skull ‘thing’. Although, frankly, you’re probably better off using the tenner to soak up your bitter tears.

For… the Halloween fan who wants to dress their computer up. Because they can

From FabStuff.net

If you’ve got twenty quid going spare, you can grab a ghost mouse. On the downside, it looks like it would only be comfortable if your hand is attached to your forearm at a 45 degree angle, but RSI is ever-so-Halloween.

From Makezine.com

Alternatively, to keep that geek edge, Makezine will show you how to turn your computer into a pumpkin (although the stages seem to consist of ‘hollow out pumpkin, put on computer’).

For… the friend you’re willing to spend half a month’s salary on international postage for

From Hammacher.com

While us Brits tend to stay rather reserved about Halloween (the candy will rot our teeth; our streets are too full of paedophiles to let the kids outside) across the Atlantic people go positively cock-a-hoop for gaudy crap at this time of year. So what about an all-purpose outdoor projector to cover your house in some notionally scary shapes? This definitely wouldn’t work here, as if by some miracle the gadget survived the weather, it would still get nicked.

For…the friend you don’t like that much

From TamponCrafts

Why spend money on gifts, when you could just make something for free? For the friend you’re really, really not that keen on, head over to Tampon Craft (“for any time of the month”) and discover how you can turn a fluffy friend into a bat or a ghost.

Users Comments

Re: Halloween Gadgets
Posted By Spidergirl 1 October 29, 2007 12:57:52 PM

Weirdly, Asda's Halloween stuff is really good. You wouldn't think so, but it is. Particularly the Halloween-decorated cakes. Tesco hasn't put in so much effort, but their light-up skull-shaped shot glasses are quite fun. :) And I really covet the Sainsbury's bat-shaped fairy lights. Thus ends my supermarket Halloween roundup.

Re: Halloween Gadgets
Posted By twosheds 1 October 29, 2007 12:59:24 PM

As a kid in the 70s I ached for all the halloween tat it was evident our American counterparts could obtain for what seemed like nickels. But then, the ads were probably the best part.