Halloween Haunt Guide

2011-09-09T12:10:00.000-07:00

You want to make your Halloween party memorable, right? But what to do? Well, there are many facets to putting together a great Halloween party from a theme to invites to food, music, games and more. Check out places like Halloween-Online.com and Halloween Costume Party for some ideas. The second site is a great how-to site that takes you step by step through planning a party including ideas for themes.

This year we are going to do Alice In Wonderland from the Tim Burton movie. We have our costumes planned and are coordinating with our friends that are coming so that no one will be dressed the same. We have ideas for decorations, music, food and games to play.

If you can plan well ahead of the party date then you'll have plenty of time to get everything done, ready and prepared for the big night!

2010-09-01T18:12:00.001-07:00

Coming up with new and exciting treats for Halloween every year, year after year, can be a pain! Most of us don't have the time to spend making a lot of fancy treats for a Halloween party or just for our families. Some of us don't have the extra money either, with the economy the way it is now that the country is being run into the ground. So, we need some fast, inexpensive ways to make some tasty treats for the Halloween party this year and here's some ideas that I've come up with.

First, check out some websites that specialize in Halloween recipes like Wanda's Halloween Cookbook and HalloweenRecipes101.com for ideas. You may have some of the things that you need right in your kitchen and that can save you money. Check out some company websites like Libby, Pillsbury and others for printable coupons that will help at the check out, too. Find recipes that the kids can help with, if you have kids or that you might be able to get your hubby to help with. That will save you time by having helpers and it's also a project that can be a family time together.

If you are having a party and need some snack type treats, try making a Chex type party mix in large batches. If you check out some warehouse stores, you can get large boxes of cereal at low prices. Instead of making cookies from scratch, buy Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix and make a few dozen. You can freeze some for later, too.

By doing some digging both on line and off, you can find lots of ways to come up with tasty treats without spending an arm and a leg. And as we all know, we need those to use for props in our yard haunts anyway...

2010-05-24T11:58:00.000-07:00

After coming across the website www.halloweengraveyard.com, we've decided to build an even bigger Halloween graveyard in the front yard this year. Haven't decided which type of graveyard fence to make yet, either the wrought-iron or gothic picket fence, will depend on our budget, but we want to start building next month. We want to have at least a dozen plus tombstones inside it.

We've collected quite an assortment of tombstones over the years, from cheap Wal-mart stuff to high end, specially made tombstones. We've always incorporated fog machines into the graveyard somehow. Either as low laying ground fog or just floating through the air. This years addition of a huge gate and fence will realy set it off!

We'll write more as things develope!

2010-02-23T20:16:00.000-08:00

Halloween 2009 is over, everything was great, the parties went off without a hitch. And so starts another year of planning for the upcoming Halloween season once again. I don't know about you, but we get all these ideas of stuff that we want to do, things that we want to design and make for our haunt and the like and then forget to write them down. We do our best thinking on long drives so I've stuck a pad of paper and a pen in the glove box just for writing down ideas on the road.

The Halloween & Party trade shows are taking place now and in March. We'll be going and can report back with some of the cool new stuff that's going to be around this year for Halloween and what the costume manufacturers were showing for this year. We have friends that get us in because it's a professional show only. All I can say is that we lust after many things that we see there!

2009-10-09T19:32:00.000-07:00

It's going to be a big, bad blow-out this Halloween, being our 25th wedding anniversary, too! We have people coming in from out of town for the week-end so we'll have a full house which is fine. The more, the scarier! Since Halloween is on Saturday this year we can have Halloween fun starting Friday night and go right through until Sunday morning.

Friday night schedule is a dinner party, a fancy costumed dance and cocktails. Not is that order, but cocktails, dinner and then a party and dance. We are setting up an 18 foot tent in the back yard with a complete sound system and computerized DJ. We want formal style costumes, fancy vampires, Gothy stuff. This one is just for our out of town friends, family and closest local friends.

Saturday night we will be all taking turns milling around the yard haunt, handing out candy and spooking the trick-or-treaters. When we finally send the last kid packing, we'll go back out to the tent for the big party for all friends, family and anyone else that drops by with an invite. We'll decorate the tent with gross, gory Halloween stuff and the costumes are whatever people want as long as they are wearing a costume.

Sunday morning will be a breakfast party for anyone still at the house. We'll do a big breakfast but on a Halloween theme starting with Bloody Marys, both virgin and non. Now we just have to start pulling all this together!!

I'm getting ideas for food, music and more at the following sites:
Halloween Music: Halloween Music 101
Halloween Food: Halloween Recipes 101
Halloween Decorations: Halloween Online Decorations section

2009-05-17T22:05:00.000-07:00

I know I've said it before but using fog machines for Halloween just makes the night seem scarier, more sinister and just plain cooler! Every year new ones come out that do different things. We always incorporate them into our grave yard and what ever else we can think of.

This year, we are thinking about putting some up by our gates using a fog chiller, so the fog is roiling across and down the dirt road we live on. That should make it easy for people to find us! While there are fog machines that have chillers built in, we'll probably use old fashion chillers there since we can load them with dry ice and they'll last most of the night with one fill. Of course, we'll have to have someone check the fluid reservoirs once in a while.

You'll find the instructions for making your own fog chiller at GotFog.com, a great web site dedicated to fog machines and their usage. You won't find a better site!

2009-03-30T14:27:00.000-07:00

It's never to early to start shopping for Halloween costumes and Costume Kingdom has a great selection and the best customer service we've found. You'll like the wide selection of costumes that suite any need and all the accessories that go with them! Last year we got my mom three Nun costumes and her and two friends went as singing Nuns! It was a hoot! These ladies are all in their 60's & 70's! They also used them for a talent show at their Methodist church that got a standing ovation!

They have this great gorilla costsume, the head on that thing hangs down to the waist and looks like a screaming, mad gorilla! We got that for my 17 year old nephew and he had a riot with it, scaring the girls at the Halloween parties he went to with his friends. He'll have that costume the rest of his life, it's that well made! I can picture him grown with kids of his own, chasing them around in it.

We got a beautiful set of Devil and his Lady costumes from them last year for us. They were just beautiful! The Lady Devil was all satin and lace and deep red and black, I got a long red hair devil wig that had horns attached to it and that's all I needed. Spooky, he was Satan himself, all dapper in his suite with vest, cape and horns. I did a all makeup on him to give him Jack Nicholson eye brows, he looked positively demonic! We were the hit of the Halloween party!

What ever you want to be this Halloween, what ever you decide your Halloween costume should be, please check this place out, they are the best on the Net!

2009-02-14T13:49:00.000-08:00

Here are more easy ideas to add something extra to your Halloween haunt. We've tried most of these ourselves and they do work and most are fairly easy to do.

You can easily build a rotting corpse out of a cheap plastic skeleton using paper towel, spray glue, spray foam insulation and a little more. It'll add some life to your Halloween haunt and it's actually fun to make! Read how here!

Sitting there wanting to find Halloween sites that are informational and will give you ideas for your haunt but tired of looking at the thousands of search links? Try this web site specific site that has only Halloween links, Halloween Family!

Want to plan a scary vacation for Halloween? Did you know that Las Vegas, Nevada is a rockin' Halloween town?? It makes a great vacation destination for Halloween! For more info, check this out!

2007-10-28T15:14:00.000-07:00

Today's Tips

Check out this website, 101 Halloween Tips! You'll find all kinds of ideas for Halloween that you never thought of or may have but forgotten such as:

Old tree trunks or cut sections of thick limbs make great stands for your Jack O' Lanterns.

Use clear food handlers plastic gloves to freeze ice hands to throw in the punch bowl. It will keep it cold and look great!

An alternative to bobbing for apples is to hang them by their stems with thread from the ceiling and let party goers try to bite them! Bobbing for apples is actually unsanitary, all that saliva mixed together! Yuck!

Tie small glow sticks to string attached to helium balloons and let them sail over your house for spooky lights in the sky. Make sure to tie off the strings to something solid so they do 't get away! Check out the Goblin Lights article at Halloween Online

2007-10-01T13:07:00.000-07:00

Everyone wants to have a happy, safe Halloween. All it takes is using common sense (remember that old thing our parents were always trying to drill into us?). Whether it's trick-or-treating, building props for your haunt, getting ready for a party, picking the right costume and make-up or fixing a Halloween meal for the kids before they go out grabbing up candy,we hope we can offer ideas to help make your Halloween better from what we've learned over the years.

Today's Tips:
Lighting your Jack-O-Lantern.
Keeping your pets safe on Halloween.
Picking out a costume.

LIGHTING YOUR JACK-O-LANTERN
Candles have traditionally been used to light jack-o-lanterns for centuries! Before that, when the tradition was started in my native Ireland, they carved turnips and added a glowing lump of coal. Today we even have the option of battery powered tea lights and pumpkin lights. Check out this website, Pumpkin Carving 101 for info on a new product called Pumpkin Lights that look very realistic!

KEEPING YOUR PETS SAFE ON HALLOWEEN
Animals scare easily and having people coming to your door for hours on end is likely to make your dog or cat crazy! Keep them in a room away from all the noise, leave them food, water, a litter box and close the door. Remember, chocolate is your pets worst enemy!! Dogs as well as cats can die from ingesting chocolate!! Fire is not their friend!! Keep any lit candles away from areas where a dog could wag it's tail and knock over a lit candle or a cat could brush against it. Both could end in disaster for your beloved pet if they catch fire! Check out The Halloween Safety Guide for some useful info.

PICKING OUT A COSTUME
You want to stand out from the Halloween crowd at your local club party or Halloween office party so think long and hard about what you want to be! Adult Halloween Costumes has a ton of costume ideas for men, women and couples that will give you, maybe, too many choices to think about!

2004-02-26T01:33:00.000-08:00

Here are some of our tips for having a great Halloween, sort of our guide to a Happy Halloween!

TIPS FOR CHILD SAFETY

Anytime a child has an accident, it's tragic. The last thing that you want to happen is for your child to be hurt on a holiday, it would forever live in the minds of the child and the family.

There are many ways to keep your child safe at Halloween, when they are more prone to accidents and injuries. The excitement of children and adults at this time of year sometimes makes them forget to be careful. Simple common sense can do a lot to stop any tragedies from happening.

Help your child pick out or make a costume that will be safe. Make it fire proof, the eye holes should be large enough for good peripheral vision.

If you set jack-o-lanterns on your porch with candles in them, make sure that they are far enough out of the way so that kids costumes won't accidentally be set on fire.

Make sure that if your child is carrying a prop, such as a scythe, butcher knife or a pitchfork, that the tips are smooth and flexible enough to not cause injury if fallen on.

Kids always want to help with the pumpkin carving. Small children shouldn't be allowed to use a sharp knife to cut the top or the face. There are many kits available that come with tiny saws that work better then knives and are safer, although you can be cut by them as well. It's best to let the kids clean out the pumpkin and draw a face on it, which you can carve for them.

Treating your kids to a spooky Halloween dinner will make them less likely to eat the candy they collect before you have a chance to check it for them.

TIPS FOR ADULTS

Parents of trick-or-treating kids can get so caught up in the fun that they might forget some simple safety ideas that could save everyone some trouble.

Below are just a few common sense tips that can help.

Know the route your kids will be taking if you aren't going with them.

The best bet is to make sure that an adult is going with them. If you can't take them, see if another parent or a teen aged sibling can go along.

Know what other activities a child may be attending, such as parties, school or mall functions.

Make sure you set a time that they should be home by. Make sure they know how important it is for them to be home on time.

Explain to children the difference between tricks and vandalism. Throwing eggs at a house may seem like fun but they need to know the other side of the coin as well, clean up and damages can ruin Halloween. If they are caught vandalizing, make them clean up the mess they've made.