Oh, it’s just a bit of fun for the kids, they say. But Halloween seems to have turned into a national holiday for people who thought that Buffy The Vampire Slayer was a documentary and who take quizzes on Facebook with titles like ‘How long would you survive a zombie invasion?’.

Also prepare yourself for a barrage of lazy journalism resorting to clichéd words such a boo-tiful and spooktacular.

The tail end of the week is also an opportunity for on-line slacktavists to trot out their well-worn cliché about Guy Fawkes being the ‘only person to enter Parliament with honest intentions’.

Yes, that’s what the world needs, more religiously motivated terrorists in the pay of shadowy organisations. That said, the offshoot of all this warped celebration is that there is a lot of live music to go with it.

Starting at The Beehive for a change, tonight the regular Acoustic Buzz night features Lucky Strikes frontman Matthew Boulter, whose solo work has been described as ‘introspective, gentle, tinged with darkness and a sorrowful undertow’. Sounds good to me.

Also on the bill are the equally brilliant Paul McClure and your regular host Tim Manning of Blind River Scare.

The Victoria opts for the harder rock of All Ears Avow, a band who manage to infuse alternative rock with a certain pop sensibility to produce a sound that’s both big and commercial. They are joined by With Ghosts, Elasea and Heriot.

The big Halloween show is at The Victoria on Friday with a Bands and Burlesque special. Not only music from suitably named, psychobilly genre benders Cowboy and The Corpse but also exotic and sensual dance routines. Jokes about pumpkins made at your own risk.

If something more raucous is required for your festivities The Hamsters From Hell at The Rolleston offer riotous rhythm and boozy blues for your delectation.

Meanwhile downstairs at Level 3, Emily’s Pole Fitness has a very unique Halloween show for you.

The Acoustic Session out at Riffs Bar is taken by Rob Richings this week, with the maximum added value of it being a full band show and at The Beehive, The Shocks of Mighty DJs will be spinning classic ska and reggae tunes.

Saturday gets a bit obsessed with the tried and tested but it’s all about supply and demand and what Swindon seems to demand looks a lot like this.

In a clever play on words, The Four Fighters will be paying tribute to the band fronted by the universally-accepted nicest man in rock music today, Dave Grohl, and they can be found at The Victoria.

Riffs Bar holds its festive bash to the indie-party sounds of covers band Penfold with everything from ‘The Arctic Monkeys to The Zutons’, apparently.

Young and dynamic classic rock is on the menu at The Rolleston with Bad Obsession and tunes that run ‘from Aerosmith to Zeppelin’... and does anyone else see an alphabetised marketing theme developing here?

More heavy rock covers can be found at The Ashford Road Club courtesy of Shepherds Pie who declare that they play ‘everything from AC/DC to ZZ Top’... See, there it is again.

Finally, Operation 77 will be at The Swiss Chalet with a range of covers covering punk, post-punk, ska and mod genres. They didn’t offer a neat alphabetized sound bite.

Level 3 has a night that is 100% Drum and Bass for those that want to carry the party on into the night.

Music obsessives might wish to know that during the day at the Central Community Centre there will be a Record and CD Fair so all you audiophiles (that is a real word, I checked) start saving your money.

A second chance to see The Hamsters From Hell comes on Sunday at The White Hart in Wroughton. One of the reasons for mentioning this is that the pub has just changed hands and it would be in every live music fan’s interest to support the gig and prove to the new owners that live music is worth hosting and, more importantly from a business point of view, a lucrative income for the pub. Use it or lose it as they say.

Last mention of the week is for D’Bize at The Beehive, also on Sunday. The best of the old Irish tradition with a young beating heart, sounds like a great way to enjoy a pint and let the roast dinner slowly digest.