The word "Halloween" is derived from a few things; All Saints Day (1st November), Eve of All Hallows (All Hallows Eve) or Hallow Even.
The celebration of Halloween was originally the New Years Eve of the Celts, the eve of Samhain or "Winter's Eve". It was generally believed that the dead or disembodied spirits of all those who had died throughout the preceding year would come back in search of living bodies to possess for the next year. It was believed to be their only hope for the afterlife. All who were alive didn't want to be possessed by these lost souls so on the night of October 31st, villagers would extinguish the fires in their homes to make them cold and inhospitable then dress up in ghoulish costumes and parade around the neighborhood making as much noise as possible to frighten away the spirits looking for a live body to possess. Food and drink would be left out for these costume wielding villages.
HOW TO THROW A HALLOWEEN PARTY
Write your guest list - Everything you plan from the date to the activities depends upon who you are inviting. When making your list make a side note of people you would like to come if some on your initial list cannot attend. When the guest list is complete you will probably already have a good idea of who will be able to come and who will not. With this knowledge you're ready to move to step two.
Choose a date - When choosing a date, for your party, cross off dates that will not work and go from there. Keep your guest list in mind and choose a date that should work for the majority.
Select the best time - Timing is important. If this is a kid party makes sure curfews are obeyed and parents are aware of when their youngster will be arriving home or should be picked up. If this is adult party make sure to considerate the needs of your guests.
Send invitation - If your party has a theme you may want to make an invitation that goes with it. Theme ideas include famous historical figures, action heroes, dress up as your favorite song, a masquerade ball and the '80s. You should ask for a quick response on your RSVP. Follow-up with a phone call to those who have not RSVP'd you five days prior to the party.
Plan food and refreshments - Get some great ideas for things like Spider Cakes, Dracula's Blood Pudding, and Halloween Hand Treats. You might even let the guests make some of their treats. Unless your party is formal, paper and plastic are probably preferential for easy clean up.
Buy costume - Buy costume at the store or make your own costume creation. Surf the Web, watch cartoons or check out your local bookstore for ideas to help spark creativity. Access Web sites that sell Halloween costumes by entering the words "Halloween costumes" into a search engine such as Google, Yahoo!, or MSN.
Fix decorations - For a dark theme, use candles, scary CDs for sound effects, spider webs and dry ice. For a light theme, make the decorations more fun and keep the lights up. Decorate with anything from crepe paper streamers and balloons to a full-fledged house of horrors. Get small plates, forks and napkins in Halloween colors.
Plan games and activities - Play one or two short games such as bobbing for apples, musical chairs or charades with a Halloween theme. Or get into a Halloween mood with a Ouija board or tarot card readings.
Prepare party bags - Make party bags for your guests to take home and stuff those treats. They don't have to be expensive, candy, Halloween Pens, pumpkin spice candles, etc.
HALLOWEEN FOOD AND SNACKS
Halloween is the only holiday where it’s okay if your food looks kind of scary. If you're planning a costume theme party, serve food that matches your theme.
Popcorn Pumpkins - In microwave melt 1/4 c. oleo and a 10 1/2 oz. bag of mini marshmallows on high for 1-2 min. to melt oleo and puff marshmallows. Stir in a 4 serving size orange Jell-O mix well. Pour over 3 qts of popped popcorn (12 cups) Have children grease their hands well and form the popcorn into a pumpkin. Use a green spearmint as a leaf and choc chips for the face. they taste good and are awesome to make.
Ghost Sandwiches - You'll need white bread, sandwich fixings, mini chocolate chips, and ghost cookie cutter. Use your cookie cutter to cut out ghost shapes from the white bread. Use deli meats/cheeses, p b & jelly or cheese spread to fill sandwiches. Use the mini-chocolate chips to add eyes and a mouth to the ghost.
Ghosts in the Graveyard – Use instant chocolate pudding, Oreo cookie crumbs, Cool Whip, cookies, icing, mini M&M's. Make a batch of instant chocolate pudding. Spread it into a pan. Sprinkle with Oreo cookie crumbs. Decorate cookies with icing to look like tombstones. Stick the "tombstones" into the pudding. Then use blobs of whip cream to make ghosts in the graveyard. Use mini M&M s for eyes.
Rice Krispie Pumpkins - Make rice krispies and add orange food coloring to the marshmallows. When cool roll into balls and then decorate faces on them. You can use shoelace licorice for a mouth, green gumdrop for the stem, M&M's or red hots for the eyes and nose or whatever you choose to use.
Spiders snack – Use ritz crackers, peanut butter, stick pretzels and raisins. Put a dab of peanut butter on a cracker. Break pretzels into approximately 3" pieces, and stick three on one side of the peanut butter and three on the other side for legs. Put two raisins at one end of cracker for eyes.
Witches Brew - Mix up a batch of lemonade from concentrate. Add green food coloring to the lemonade to give it a spooky look. Get a plastic witches cauldron and place a piece of dry ice in it. Pour the "brew" over the dry ice and watch your kids delight!
Non-Alcoholic – Buy soda syrups in dark colors like blackberry, blueberry, cola or black cherry. Mix with club soda, pour into a martini glass, and garnish with a peeled grape “eyeball.”
Bloody Mary - In a cocktail shaker, add vodka, tomato juice, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, ice and salt and pepper to taste. Shake well, then strain into a tall glass filled with ice cubes. Garnish with celery and lemon wedge.
HOW TO DECORATE A HALLOWEEN TABLE
Drape a black tablecloth over the entire table.
Use traditional crepe paper decoration to add Halloween colors to your party table and anywhere else you see fit.
Stretch cotton spider webbing across the table, sprinkling bats and black and orange plastic spiders on top.
Purchase small pumpkin. There are always lots available in the grocery stores at this time of year.
Pick up some creepy fake spiders to add to the webs. Better yet, add some fake bugs too for your spider's victims.
Place a spooky jack-o'-lantern or candelabra in the middle of the table as a centerpiece.
Get a bowl and fill it full of ping pong balls painted to look like eyeballs.
Pour fake rubber snakes and gummy worms into a salad bowl. Fix a bowlful of "Sticks & Stones" with pretzel sticks and candy that looks like rocks.
Run ghost- and witch-shaped theme lights along the edge of the table to serve as the only source of light.
Take a piece of poster board and write out your menu as follows: Deviled Eyeballs, Roast Rat Sandwiches, Snake Salad, etc.
HOW DECORATING YOUR HOUSE FOR HALLOWEEN
The best houses to visit on Halloween are usually the ones that take the holiday seriously. Houses with decorated lawns, porches, etc. are always the hit of the block. Create the spookiest entertainment on the block, and terrify children and adults alike on Halloween night.
Have a willing live victim sprawl on the floor. Use masking tape to make a body outline. You can do this in any part of the party area. The body outline can be done outside too, with tape or chalk.
Gather up some branches. Spray paint them black. Put some sticking out from behind the couch, put some in a large vase, put some outside! Arrange your branch in some floral foam, weight it with some rocks, & spread some spanish moss over the top. You can decorate with spider web.
Take cheesecloth or fake spider webs (available at craft stores) and stretch them across corners doorways, windows and porch railings. Add plastic spiders of varying sizes.
Display decorative ghosts or jack-o'-lanterns in every window of the house facing the entry. Never leave candles unattended.
Replace the pictures on your walls with spookier versions. Find some creepy pictures to download & frame! Or frame the cardboard cutouts that you can purchase inexpensively in any local store.
Try carving smaller pumpkins and sitting them atop stakes in the ground. Instead of using candles, use a string of white Christmas lights, placing a single light into each pumpkin.
Use peeled grapes as eyeballs, placing them where people will touch them in the dark. Use Styrofoam heads from a beauty supply house and turn them into monsters.
Make a fake corpse. Stuff an old pair of pants using newspaper, plastic bags or fabric. Tuck the pants into a pair of boots and lay the "body" next to a large boulder or planter, or coming out from underneath the garage door or deck.
Create monster feet print. Make an outline of a footprint on a large sponge (the kind you use to wash the car) and cut it out. Pour non-toxic, washable paint in an aluminum pan and press the sponge into the paint. Now use either side of the sponge to paint footsteps on your front walkway, sidewalk, etc.
HALLOWEEN COSTUME IDEAS
Halloween costumes have traditionally been monsters such as vampires, ghosts, witches, and devils. Today, it has become common for costumes to be based on a character from a TV show, movie or comic strip, or choosing a recognizable face from the public sphere. All you need to create a Halloween costume is some creativity, a closet with some clothes, and a nearby thrift shop.
Hippie - Wear bell bottom jeans, long jeans with rips or a peasant skirt with leather sandals (i.e. Birkenstocks) on the top, wear a tie colorful shirt or dye a old t-shirt. Accessorize with love beads, peace buttons and funky sunglasses.
Nerd - Wear a pair of pants that are really too short for you, a buttoned down shirt with a corny bow tie, white socks, black shoes and dark frame glasses and put a white band aid around the nose piece of the glasses. Also, girl could wear a skirt with long white socks, black flat shoes and the glasses.
Old woman - Dress with something look like old. Stuff some newspapers to create a large behind that juts out. Make up yourself to look like old, create wrinkle with a light brown color make up pen. Put baby powder in your hair and your eyebrow to turn into a silvery color and a hair net. Carry a ugly black purse and a cane. Complete the look with wire framed glasses.
Old man – Wear dark paints (cuffed), and jacket, dress shirt, mans flannel hat, walking cane and pipe. Gray the hair, with any of the commercial temporary colors, or dust with baby powder.
Cheerleader - First you get a short pleated skirt. Then you get a t-shirt or tank top that matches your skirt. Next you need pom poms which can be found at Wal-Mart. Then put your hair in 2 pigtails and tie it up with a matching ribbon. Add some tennis shoes for footwear.
Clown: Wear sweet clothes that are too large. Decorate by using either fabric paint, or markers. For those who dare try tie-die. Tack on some large poms poms, add a cheap red or purple color wig and a hat. Get oil base make-up colors white, black, blue, red, orange and/or yellow. Before you makeup the face find some pictures of clowns as example. Be very careful around the eyes.
Pirate - Form a fake wooden leg by wrapping your bad one in brown felt. Wear sailor pants or jeans with a striped top. Tie a bandana around your head and wear an eye patch. Carry an empty alcohol bottle.
Punk Rocker – Wear plaid pants or old jeans with t-shirt and write on it with a blunt marker "Anarchy". Wear a dog collar and high army boots. Gel your hair sticks up, and then spray green or purple hair color on it. Line your eyes with black eyeliner. Apply a few fake tattoos to your arms and neck.
'80s Girl Costume - Copied Madonna's looks in the 1980s. Put on a short miniskirt in any loud color or lacy leggings and wear boots. Put on a lot of makeup and red or pink lipstick. Spread hair mousse through your hair. Remember, the ‘80s saw the extravagance of strange hair colours and cuts. You want it to stand out. Get some rubber bracelets.
'80s Boy Costume –Wear a white suit with pink or white t-shirt and wear loafers without socks. Wear aviator-style sunglasses. Try to don’t shave for few days and let your hair get a little bit shaggy. You could also, wear an old Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden or Metallica t-shirt and wear your old jeans. Get asymmetrical long hair with a wig keep the top and sides short, and dropped off in the back to a longer 'shag' style.
Harry Potter - Wear a long-sleeved shirt orange with a red stripe across the chest. Complete the outfit with jeans and sport shoes. Get a pair of round glasses without lenses, or if you already wear glasses, use your own. Wrap a piece of clear tape around the middle of the frames. Make your hair as Harry's. Remember, one of his trademarks is his messy hair. Use Halloween makeup to create a dark pink scar in the shape of a lightning bolt in the middle of his forehead.
Austin Powers –Get a white shirt with long sleeves and pants blue or red. Put on a matching blue or red blazer. Put a lot of hair on your chest with a wig or try paint chest hairs with eyeliner. Find a big silver or gold chain. Find fake teeth to wear and get a pair of black glasses. Curl your hair with a curling iron or buy a wig.
Monster - You need is a pair of sweats and some felt. Cut the felt into shapes for bat-like wings, a tail, spots, and round piece for the tummy. You can use other colors of felt and add decorations to these pieces. You can use safety pins or sew the felt pieces onto the sweats. Paint your face to match and you're done. This is a great costume for small children.
Ghost – Use a white sheet that you don't mind cutting. Put the sheet over the person who plans to wear it, with the person's head in the middle of the sheet. Draw two circles around each of the person's eyes with a blunt marker. Remove the sheet and cut the eyeholes in the sheet using cloth scissors, and cut the bottom off if needed. You can enhance the eyeholes with black paint. Be sure there is complete visibility from inside the costume.
HALLOWEEN SAFETY COSTUME TIPS FOR CHILDREN
If purchasing a costume from a store, make sure the label states that it is made from a fire-retardent material. If you're making your own costume, be sure to pick materials that are also fire-resistant.
Costumes should be loose enough around the body so that warm clothing can be worn beneath it without it being too loose that it snags on items. Children should wear well-fitting, flat shoes, not high heels
Children should try the costume on a few days before wearing. Pants and robes should be hemmed up so that child's feet are showing. Tripping and falling is the leading cause of accidental injuries on Halloween.
For light-colored costume add strips of reflective tape to the front and back, including treat bag. Remember, the sooner a driver can see your child, the safer your child will be.
Make sure the costume is easy to get out of. Preferably, it should close with snaps or velcro strips. If you must use zippers or buttons, make sure they are located in front of the costume and easily reached by your child.
Wigs and beards should fit properly and should not cover ears, nose or mouth.
Use makeup instead of a mask. Masks obstruct vision and children find it hard to breathe when wearing them. If your child insists on wearing a mask, make sure it has large eye openings and openings for the nose and mouth.
When purchasing makeup, make sure it is labeled non-toxic. However, some children break out in a rash with the heavy petroleum-based makeup’s on the market.
HALLOWEEN GAMES FOR KIDS
Bobbing for Apples
Bobbing for apples is a Roman tradition that was practiced during the festival honoring the goddess Pomona of fruits and trees. It is still with us today as one of the most Halloween oriented games. To play it, a large basin is filled with water, and several apples are placed in it. Each player must try to pull an apple from the water. However, they are not allowed to use their hands or any other part of their body except their mouth.
Pass the Pumpkin
This game works like hot potato and musical chairs. Each person sits in a circle and a small pumpkin (or ball) is passed around the circle while music is playing. Every so often, at a random time, the music is stopped, and who ever is holding the pumpkin is out. That person leaves the circle and the game continues. When only one person remains that person is the winner.
Snap Apple
Snap Apple is a very old, and sometimes dangerous, game. An apple is hung from a string and a coin is pushed into it. Two players must try to bite at the apple without the use of the hands. Who ever bites out the coin wins. For a more interesting game, play with one player and stick a burning candle into the apple as well and then spin the string so the apple spins as well. People with facial hair may want to stay away from this one.