Articles and Ideas August, 2007
How to Create a Scary Stump Lizard Toss Game
Supplies needed:
White bucket or popcorn tin
A stack of paper double thickness freezer bags you get from the frozen food aisle at grocery store or several packages of small brown lunch bags)
2 cans of spay paint (one brown and one red brown)
Many bottles of Elmer’s school Glue
A bag of moss from a craft store
Hot glue gun
Rubber ants or spiders
Bag of fall leaves
Mini strobe light
Duct tape
I used my same Three Stooges Paper Mache ...
Posted in 'How to' Halloween, Yard Haunters | No Comments »
How to Make a Witch Hat Ring Toss Game
Supplies needed:
Three or six tall black witch hats
Three or six 2 liter bottles, full of your favorite beverage
Decorations for the hats (ribbon, sequins or yarn)
Sacks or felt to temporarily cover the bottles
Jumbo pipe cleaners (several packs)
Halloween vinyl table cloth to set the game up on
Simple black witch hats, full bottles and seasonal trim make this a fast game to make, and the kids love it!
Decorate the hats with different ribbons; use ...
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How to Make a Snake Toss Game
Supplies needed:
Three to five rubber snakes
Three to five interesting containers (Open top skulls, goblets or any Halloween container - the spookier the better).
Soda flat (cardboard box) to set the game in and decorate if you want to.
Get a handful of rubber snakes and any unusual kind of container for the kids to toss the snakes in. Here are a few suggestions for creepy containers: Open-topped skulls, baskets, and/or goblets for them to throw the ...
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How to Make an Easy Coffin Toss Game
Supply list:
1/4 inch sheet of plywood to cut into coffin pieces - top and sides
Piece of plywood or Masonite for the bottom
bunch of nails, or wood screws
Cheap, blow-molded bones - available at party stores
A can of black spray paint
Two hinges
This is a really easy project and actually pretty fast to put together. You can make a toe pincher coffin at your local home building store. Our Lowe’s is outstanding for helping people like ...
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How to Make a Haunted Tree Bat Toss Game
Supplies needed:
Tall, round, sturdy patio table (about 24” or slightly larger)
2 large cardboard boxes with flaps
A large stack of paper, double thickness freezer bags you get from the frozen food aisle at the grocery store or several packages of small brown lunch bags)
2 cans of spay paint (one brown and one reddish brown)
1 can of fluorescent spray paint
Black or very dark brown bottle of acrylic paint and brush for shading and outlining ...
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How would you like to make your beloved Halloween night last longer, provide countless hours of fun, and even get your neighborhood behind you? Do a Haunted Carnival in your yard along with all your decorations and toss in a haunted garage to boot for a wonderful night of fun and frights!
If you’re like me, decorating your yard for Halloween is one of the most important times of the year. What I hated in years past is that I would ...
Posted in 'How to' Halloween, Yard Haunters | 4 Comments »
by Sheila Wheeler
Ding Dong.
“Trick-or-treat!”
So begins the yearly procession of witches, vampires, movie stars and super heroes visiting door to door in search of candy and cookies. As with most traditions, trick-or-treating has evolved over centuries and is likely to continue to do so.
Kids’ holiday? Good reason for both adults and kids to get dressed up? Satan worship? Halloween and trick-or-treating have been considered all these things. It is the only day of the year when we give free food to ...
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Back to Vol. 5, Issue 2-3
By Dusti Lewars
When I was a child, I (like many other bored and curious suburban kids) owned an Ouija board.
I can’t say I necessarily believed in its power (though I sure wanted to). I’d seen others use them, very obviously manipulating the plastic letter indicator (the planchette) as they asked questions about marriage and wealthy futures. So while I enthusiastically used the board and talked to a spirit named Glen who claimed to have ...
Posted in Happy Halloween Magazine | 1 Comment »
Back to Vol. 4, Issue 3
by By Dusti Lewars
The 1960’s were a magical time on television.
Vampires, genies, and witches claimed leading roles on prime time shows. TV viewers eagerly ventured into “The Twilight Zone” and “Night Gallery,” realms where reality warped into something foreign, strange. And a slick spaceship staffed by humans and aliens boldly took its audience to where no man had gone before.
Into this era, two families emerged from Middle Class Suburbia. The first, made up of ...
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Back to Vol. 2, Issue 2
by Christine Smith
Halloween Pumpkins are very special to our family. Who knows how things start, especially on a farm (Insert 1). We have pictures when my two brothers were just babies of them sitting by a small pile of pumpkins by the road with a can and the honor system when we had too many to use. This was back in the early 60's. In the 80's we made the decision to have a ...
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Back to Vol. 2, Issue 1
Throughout history storytellers have been prized members of society. A good storyteller captures our attention and pulls us into the story so that we may experience any number of exciting emotions. Halloweenites' favorite stories are suspenseful in nature, especially those that bring us face to face with terror. And what character is more terrifying than Michael Myers, the quintessential bogeyman in Halloween H2O; and who more appropriate to play the role than Christopher Durand, ...
Posted in Happy Halloween Magazine | 6 Comments »
Back to Vol. 1, Issue 4
One of the most positive things that happen around Halloween are fundraising events. Two groups who successfully aligned their causes with Halloween are profiled here to share with us the lessons they've learned.
The Hartford Halloween Parade to Benefit AIDS Project Hartford (CT): AIDSWALK
AIDS Project Hartford was in need of revitalizing its October fundraiser. Hartford had lost it's main Halloween attraction, a haunted house, to New York City, and Hartford's ...
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By Rosemary Ellen Guiley, Ph.D.
© Visionary Living, Inc. 2002
You open the door on Halloween and there before you stand the good, the bad and the ugly-fairies, superheroes, villains, creatures, monsters, even terrorists. You know them by their masks.
Halloween is an evening of fun and entertainment, and masks are essential to the party. But did you know that masks have a long history as a sacred and mystical bridge to other dimensions and worlds?
You've heard the adage, "you ...
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Back to Vol. 1, Issue 3
When you think of Halloween, what celebrity comes to mind? If you're like millions of us, Elvira-Mistress of the Dark, is one of the first on your list. Since unveiling her character in 1981 as host of a local television program (Elvira's Movie Macabre) in Los Angeles, Elvira has become known world-wide for her brassy style (among other things). She is affectionately known as the "Queen of Halloween." Her trademark look and persona have ...
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Back to Vol. 1, Issue 2
Capturing the spirit of Halloween is a challenge. Yet, "Halloween... The Happy Haunting of America" achieves this difficult task with humor, wit and visual artistry befitting the holiday at it's best. A presentation of Chuck Williams Productions and Whiz Bang Entertainment, this video gives us a comprehensive tour of Halloween celebrations across America. In a mere 50 minutes we're given a lifetime of Halloween memories.
Haunted Attractions
For starters, we're given a behind-the-scenes look at some ...
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Back to Vol. 1, Issue 1
Festivals are a day for rejoicing. In playing together we unite as a community, if only for a brief time. And what better reason to celebrate than Halloween. Each October thousands of cities around the world host festivals. For some communities the celebration takes the form of a costume party at the local recreation center. Others may celebrate with a carnival or a parade. For Halloween enthusiasts the chance to combine costumes, candy and ...
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© Copyright by David Lady
"Aww, COOL!" exclaimed Jody as Susan turned the page. The eight-year-old smiled broadly at the picture of his Aunt Susan, taken when she was about his age, dressed in an implausibly bright and colorful witch costume for Hallowe'en. "That was the first Hallowe'en costume your great-grandma ever made me," smiled Susan, "and I drove my parents nuts with it! I wanted to wear it around even after Hallowe'en, I loved it so much." "Did Grandma and ...
Posted in Poems & Short Stories, Stories, Myths & Legends | No Comments »
By Rochelle Santopoalo
On October 31, 2003 the well-worn adage by Thomas Wolfe - "you can't go home again" - proved to be incorrect. For on that day, accompanied by two of my grade school classmates, I returned to my roots and attended the annual Halloween festivities at my childhood elementary school, Glenwood Grammar School in Waukegan, IL. The experience was surreal. Allow me to share my story.
Like nearly all the adults I know who love Halloween, my love for ...
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By John Pearson
It was more than 20 years ago that Bob Burns and his crew of Hollywood FX masters magically transformed his quaint home in Burbank, California, into a haunter's paradise. This past Halloween, they resurrected the tradition one last time hoping to dazzle guests once again with a final show based on the 1951 film "The Thing."
Bob began haunting his home 1967. Tired of hearing true horror stories of razor blades in apples and poisoned candy, he and ...
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When you start with a chilling upstate autumn evening and add in the mausoleum cold that entombs the imagination of a ten year old boy on Halloween, you can be guaranteed to hear the sound of chattering teeth at some point during trick or treat night.
The October 31st tradition my brothers, sisters and I stuck to was as follows: we ran home from school as fast as possible to scare up the costumes that had been haunting us every night ...
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