Alison Curtis
Today FM presenter
Can you tell us about your Halloween memories growing up in Canada? And what are your family traditions?
I am not exaggerating when I say Halloween is my favourite time of year. My twin and I have our birthday on November 1 so growing up it was always a big week of celebrating. We always went all out and got amazing costumes and decorated the house. I continued this way into my 20s and when I moved to Ireland was a little disappointed to find out it wasn’t as big of a deal. I hosted a full-on Halloween party my first year living here and people really got into it. Thankfully Halloween has become a much bigger tradition in Ireland and more for the kids than the pranks.
What was the best Halloween costume you ever had, and the worst?
I dressed up as an Ewok for about three years in a row when I was younger because Star Wars is the best thing ever and also October in Canada can be really cold and an Ewok costume is super cosy. My worst costume was in university – I dressed up as Amelia Earhart [the first one woman to fly solo] and no-one knew who I was supposed to be!
Do you like scary movies?
Yes! But you do have to be in the mood for them. I don’t have any one favourite but throughout the years I have gone back to The Shining a lot and I love The Blair Witch Project still for a really good fright. The absolute scariest movie I have ever seen though, and will never watch again, is Wolf Creek. It was so horrifying.
Have you ever been to a psychic, and do you believe psychic powers exist?
I haven’t been to a psychic but my mother did when she was younger. She said the woman predicted the initials of her husband (my father) and that she would have twins, which she did! I sometimes get feelings about outcomes for things which come true but I think a lot of people have these tendencies too.
Do you have any irrational fears or phobias? If so, have you any idea where they stem from?
I don’t really have any phobias thankfully, but I have this odd situation whereby I want to avoid certain numbers. This is because when I was very young two of my best friends were from Japan and they told me that numbers four and nine were very unlucky – they meant illness and death. Needless to say I have been pretty uncomfortable with those numbers since!