Households across the world are gearing up for a Halloween like no other this year.
With 2020’s scariest visitor undoubtedly being the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, this means that the usual frightful festivities of Halloween parties, trick or treating and more will be out of the question, which is leaving people to turn to other forms of fun to mark the occasion.
This is probably why many are planning to go all-out on decorating their houses this year.
If you’re looking to, quite literally, lighten the mood, then it’s predicted that compact projectors – which are designed to reflect a range of Halloween-themed images and scary scenes onto the side of your house – are the must-have decorative accessory for this spooky season.
No matter your price range, or what it is that you’re looking for in terms of capability from a projector, there’s plenty of different options available to get your hands on.
What’s more is they can also be converted over to be used for other annual celebrations too, like Christmas, Bonfire Night, Valentines Day, Easter and more, which means you’re bound to be getting your money’s worth from your Halloween purchase.
We’ve decided to round-up a few of the best projectors we’ve seen on the market so far.
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Total Home FX Special Effects Projector
£159.95 – The Glow Company
The Glow Company
The Total Home FX Special Effects Projector comes pre-loaded with twelve seasonal videos and creates an animated display that will delight viewers with amazing detail and special effects.
Not only do effects include Halloween zombies approaching the window glass, romantic dancing skeletons, or even a crazed mummy, but there are Christmas scenes too.
With a built in speaker, the overall effect is incredible.
It’ll set you back £159.95 and you can buy the from the Total Home FX Special Effects Projector from The Glow Company website here.
Premier Decorations LED Projector
£10.00 – John Lewis
John Lewis
The Premier Decorations LED Projector keeps it nice and simple.
It’s a light effect projector that’s designed to beam pumpkins, ghosts, skulls and Happy Halloween onto an outdoor garden wall, fence or other surface, but it’s also suitable for indoor use too.
A lot more on the affordable side than others on the market, the Premier Decorations LED Projector will set you back just £10.00.
You can get your hands on it from the John Lewis website here.
Halloween Holographic Projector
£24.99 – Amazon
Amazon
The Halloween Holographic Projector is a nifty machine.
This Amazon bestseller offers a little more sophistication, with moving images shown on any window or reflective surface. This full colour window movie projector plays 16-second movies in your windows, with 12 movies to choose from – six Halloween and six Christmas ones.
For just £24.99, you can get your hands on the Halloween Holographic Projector from Amazon here.
Atmosfear Fx Window Fx Bundle
£358 – Direct Nine
Direct Nine
Are you looking to really take things up a notch this Halloween?
Currently on offer and down from £596, this bundle includes Atmosfear Fx Halloween videos, with ghostly apparitions and phantasms, fancy graphics and a hi-res output. With different styles of ghouls to choose from – from comedy cartoons, to full on horror-fests – this brand is best for those taking digital decorating very seriously.
The Atmosfear Fx Window Fx Bundle will set you back £358 and you can get your hands on it from the Direct Nine website here.
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Pep Guardiola hints at when Manchester City fans can expect to see their latest arrival
Danny Jones
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has given supporters a rough timeline as to when they can expect to see their new signing, or at least their latest arrival, make his first appearance.
The Blues wrapped up the January transfer window with four major signings: their new attacking number seven, Omar Marmoush (who has already bagged a hattrick on his home debut) promising defensive duo, Abdukodir Khusanov and Brazilian Vitor Reis, as well as their ‘mini-Rodri’, Nico Gonzalez.
However, the club has had another late arrival who was technically signed back at the start of last year but who has spent for the last 12 months or so loaned back to his previous parent club, River Plate in Argentina, waiting to make the move over to the Etihad Stadium – and now he’s here in Manchester.
Speaking on his touchdown in 0161, Pep said Claudio Echeverri won’t be thrown into first-team action straight away but did give a rough estimate as to when City fans could expect him to get involved. You can see him discussing the integration plan in his post-match press conference following the Spurs win.
The mention was only brief but there’s still plenty of reason for Man City fans to be excited by the late January signing.
“Yeah, he [Claudio Echeverri] is going to start to train and mainly will be for the end of the season, maybe the [Club] World Cup and as soon as possible [that] he arrives he can adapt quick for the future.”
As mentioned, the 19-year-old Argentinian attacking midfielder from Resistencia officially put pen to paper with CFG back in January 2024 and was quickly dubbed ‘the next Messi’.
Now, although the football world is often quick to jump the gun with these things and he isn’t the first and certainly won’t be last to be slapped with this premature title, he’s done more to back up these claims since then than he has rubbish them.
Starring at the 2025 Under-20 South American Championships, netting six goals in nine games to finish the tournament as the second highest scorer thanks to notable braces against Brazil and Uruguay as the young Argentine’s finished as runners up.
He also notched 48 senior appearances for River Plate thus far, netting four goals and grabbing eight assists in that time, not to mention having already captained his national team at the 2023 Under 17s World Cup, where he scored another five.
Safe to say there’s plenty of talent to be tapped in this lad.
Once again, Echeverri won’t go straight into the senior set-up for a little while yet, barring a major injury crisis, but he’ll be a more than exciting addition to the City Football Academy and for future first-team lineups for years to come.
Who knows, maybe he’ll be included in an FA Cup matchday squad? Nevertheless, you can expect him to not just come of the bench but hopefully show what he can do at the Club World Cup this summer.
City‘s first fixture as reigning champions of the competition will be against Moroccan side Wydad AC on 18 June 2025.
You can watch Echeverri’s first full interview as a Man City player down below:
The new Man City signing is excited to be finally be part of the club 13 months on from agreeing his contract.
Rochdale has been named Greater Manchester’s ‘Town of Culture’ for 2025
Emily Sergeant
Rochdale has officially been named Greater Manchester’s Town of Culture for 2025.
Taking over the reins from Bolton – which held the title in 2024 – and following in the footsteps of Stockport before that, which held the title in 2023, and even hosted a massive ‘Town of Culture Weekender’ festival with 50+ free events to celebrate and bring its title year to a close, it’s now the turn of the north-eastern Greater Manchester borough of Rochdale.
Rochdale’s year will build on the town’s already-rich cultural history and international reputation as the home of the co-operative movement.
More than 35 arts organisations will be bringing together an ambitious programme of festivals, exhibitions, events, and performances throughout the year.
Unfamiliar with what the ‘Greater Manchester Town of Culture’ title is all about? It’s an accolade that’s handed out every year to different boroughs across the region.
Bury was the inaugural title-holder 2020 and held onto it in 2021 too due to the COVID pandemic, before being followed by Stalybridge in 2022, Stockport in 2023, and of course, Bolton in the year just gone.
The title celebrates Greater Manchester’s culture and heritage.
As well as getting a new title to shout about, it also sees the towns given a grant from the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) culture fund to help develop a programme of cultural events and activities throughout the year.
Rochdale has been named Greater Manchester’s ‘Town of Culture’ for 2025 / Credit: The Manc Group | Rochdale Council
In Rochdale’s case, you can expect the ‘very best local talent’, as this year is promising to put ‘people power’ centre stage, with residents helping to plan, develop, and deliver a lineup of creative activities, alongside a number of major events.
This includes the popular free days out for families, an exciting new urban arts festival, two different food and drink festivals, a lantern parade, the Ignite Fire Festival, a Pride parade, and so much more.
You can also expect live music performances, a new people’s gallery, and even some major international collaborations that are yet to be announced.
Rochdale is taking over the reins from Bolton, which held the title in 2024 / Credit: Rochdale Council
“Rochdale is a place with a rich cultural history, so it is great to name it Greater Manchester’s town of culture as it’s town hall and town centre enter a new era,” commented Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham as the borough was crowned this week.
“Rochdale submitted a fantastic bid for this which, was incredibly exciting and ambitious, while being firmly rooted in its local talent and deep history.