X Factor's John & Edward become surprise Halloween inspiration

Iconic film and television characters including Freddie Kruger, Hannibal Lecter and the Joker have replaced witches, cats and ghosts as the UK’s favourite Halloween fancy dress choice – with over half (52%) of partygoers polled by Orange taking inspiration from the screen.

The poll also reveals one in twenty revellers plan to celebrate Halloween dressed as ‘X Factor’ duo John & Edward Grimes, with Twilight-mania also impacting festivities, as 7% get set to dress as Robert Pattison’s spooky vampire character.

Top TV/Film Fancy Dress Characters

1. Freddie Kruger 13%
2. The Joker 11%
3. Edward Cullen from Twilight 8%
4. John & Edward from X Factor 5%
5. Hannibal Lecter 4%

An Orange spokesperson said, “Film and television has always influenced Halloween costumes, but we never thought X Factor would be up there with Hannibal. For those struggling for ideas, the Orange Film Portal has plenty of inspiration – you can even watch a trailer of Zombieland to get you in the mood.”

As well as scary movie trailers to start the night with a bang,

Orange World offers spooky ringtones and frightening wallpapers on their House of Horrors portal. Simply go to Orange World from your Orange mobile phone for more Halloween treats.

And, if you’d rather spend a scary night in on October 31st, make sure you watch one of the top scary movies of all time, as voted for by Orange customers**. Visit Orange.co.uk/film for more inspiration:

Top horror movies of all time

1. Halloween 16%
2. The Exorcist 13%
3. Scream 12%
4. Saw 11%
5. The Ring 9%
6. Texas Chainsaw Massacre 9%
7. The Shining 6%
8. The Blair Witch Project 6%
9. Dawn of the Dead 5%
10. 28 Days Later 4%

Ends

Notes to editor:

*Research completed between 15th and 21st October 2009 on Orange World with 1,018 respondents **Research completed between 15th and 21st October 2009 on Orange World with 1,511 respondents

About Orange

Orange is a key brand of the France Telecom Group, providing mobile, broadband, fixed, business and entertainment services across Europe. It is one of the world's leading telecommunications operators with more than 170 million customers on five continents.

In June, 2006, Orange became the single brand for mobile, broadband and multi-play offers. In addition, Orange Business Services became the new banner for business communications solutions. Orange Business Services is present in 166 countries with network reach in 220.

In the UK, Orange provides high quality GSM coverage to 99% of the UK population. At the end of June 2008, Orange had almost 16.8 million customers in the UK – 15.8 million active mobile customers and over one million broadband customers.

Orange and any other Orange product or service names included in this material are trade marks of Orange Personal Communications Services Limited.

Further information about Orange can be found on the Orange website at www.orange.co.uk or the France Telecom group international website at www.orange.com and www.francetelecom.com

For further information, call Louisa Ham on 0207 067 0495/ lham@golinharris.com /the Orange press office on 0870 373 1500 or email: Orangepr@golinharris.com