The nights are getting colder, its darker earlier and not many people can be bothered getting all dressed up for a freezing night out on the town that will just leave you cold, broke and hung-over. Here is a list of some alternatives;
1) Are you someone that loves a good fright? Why not watch a horror movie that will scare the bejesus out of you. I am a bit of a wimp, so I am not an expert on the genre but, I have seen Saw and it has stayed with me. There are hundreds of horror movies to choose from though, some that are truly scary (The Exorcist) and some that are scary because they are so bad (usually anything that is a sequel). An even better way to give yourself a good fright is to read a horror novel. Nothing is more frightening than your own imagination and if you can find a good author who can plant the seeds for some awful ideas in your mind, you may find your imagination takes care of the rest.
2) Host a
dinner party but ask everyone to
bring a plate. Some may say that is the ultimate in lazy but, it's actually generous of you, as you are the one volunteering the venue and risking having your wine glasses broken. By asking everyone to bring a plate you can add a theme to the night too by having people bring their favourite dish, their specialty, a dish from their culture or just whatever they could get from a takeaway shop on the way over.
3) A games night is another way to spend a great night in with friends. You could play some grown up games like blackjack, poker or charades or your
favourite boardgames from when you were growing up like monopoly, uno or go fish. I am sure the last time most of us played the games from our childhood it ended with a tantrum and miniature hotels and money being thrown in the air, so why not give it another go and try to keep the tantrums to a minimum.
The aftermath of a night of listening to some tunes prior to iPods
4) Watching horror movies is not the only type of
movie night that you could have, what about an 80s, 90s or even a particular actor marathon? Or you could revisit some of the best TV series with a marathon of The Office (British version of course) or even Friends.
5) If you want a bit more of a lively night then you will need some music. The best way to get a good mix is to ask your friends to bring their iPods and that way you will surely have all genres covered. You can get people to make a playlist of their favourite songs, their most embarrassing songs or their best party songs. The embarrassing songs list is my favourite, we all have some tunes on our iPods that we keep to ourselves!
