October has a habit of making perfectly serious adults behave strangely.

We willingly walk around dark buildings looking for ghosts.

We watch films specifically designed to stop us sleeping.

We pay money to have people jump out at us.

And then somebody makes the genuinely frightening announcement:

“I haven't eaten anything since lunch.”

This is poor Halloween planning.

Because if you're heading somewhere spooky this October, there are really two questions.

What are we doing?

And:

Where are we eating?

The second deserves considerably more attention.

Going To The Halloween Drone Show?

Ferry Meadows is hosting what organisers describe as Peterborough's first Halloween Light Drone Show on 29 and 30 October, with the event running from 4pm to 8.30pm

That creates a classic family dilemma.

Eat before?

Eat afterwards?

Tell the children there are snacks and then spend the entire evening being asked when the snacks are happening?

Our vote is simple.

Don't leave dinner until everybody is cold, tired and hungry.

That's when adults start making bad decisions too.

Suddenly £17 worth of food from a petrol station seems perfectly reasonable.

Going Looking For Ghosts?

Peterborough Museum has Halloween Ghost Walks and candlelit ghost tours among its late-October programme. 

Now we're talking.

Because dinner followed by a ghost walk is a proper night out.

Although we'd make one recommendation.

Perhaps don't eat an absolutely enormous dinner immediately beforehand.

Nobody wants to be halfway through a dark passageway thinking:

“Is that a paranormal presence… or was the second helping a mistake?”

Know your limits.

Outdoor Halloween Film?

Orton Hall has Halloween outdoor cinema screenings scheduled for 9 October, including Hocus Pocus and The Lost Boys. 

This presents another important October question:

What food is acceptable while wrapped in approximately seventeen layers of clothing?

Something warm wins.

Every time.

Nobody has ever sat outside on an October evening and thought:

“Do you know what would improve this? A cold salad.”

Or Are We Having A Proper Halloween Night Out?

That's covered too.

There are Halloween parties scheduled around the city, while Katana has a Wicked Whispers Halloween cocktail experience running from 29–31 October. 

This is where eating beforehand becomes less of a suggestion and more of a public service announcement.

Because there is a considerable difference between:

cocktails after dinner

and:

cocktails instead of dinner.

Your 11.45pm self may wish to discuss this with your 6.30pm self.

Unfortunately, by then it's too late.

Maybe That's The Trail

This is something we want to do more of on Taste Trail.

Not just:

“Here's somewhere to eat.”

But:

“Here's a whole night.”

Dinner before the theatre.

Coffee after a walk.

Lunch before shopping.

A pub before the match.

Something warm before an outdoor event.

Cocktails after dinner.

Because that's how people actually use places.

We don't live our lives as a list of restaurants.

We have birthdays, dates, shows, terrible Tuesdays, family days out, Christmas shopping, football, cinema trips and evenings where somebody sends:

“Fancy going out?”

Food fits around all of them.

And sometimes it's the bit we remember most.

Your Turn — Build Us A Halloween Night

We're handing this one over to the comments.

You've got one Halloween evening in Peterborough. What are you doing and where are you eating before or afterwards?

Give us the combination.

Dinner + ghost walk.

Takeaway + scary film.

Pub + Halloween party.

Cake + absolutely nothing frightening because you've seen enough horror films to know better.

Best combinations could become our next Taste Trail feature.

Add your comments below and join the conversation.