Ghosts, ghouls, bats, spiders and vampires! Why is Halloween so popular? For one thing, every culture throughout history has had some spirit of our modern Halloween – a single day to throw off the constraints of who we are and become someone or something we’re not. We have one night a year to take a break from our fears and laugh at death and make fun of the demons among us, real or imagined. Against our often sterile, antibacterial and overly safe society we can remember a time, not so long ago, when we would huddle together around a warm campfire and tell ghost stories among the long, flickering shadows. Read on for some great stories, facts, haunted places and anything else relating to Halloween.

Healthy Halloween Treats – It Doesn’t Have To Be Candy To Be Delicious

If buckets full of candy at Halloween leave you shuddering and your dentist rubbing his hands in glee, then you need to get into healthy Halloween treats for your kids. Just because it’s healthy doesn’t mean it’s tasteless or that your neighbourhood kids will shun your home during ‘Trick or Treat’. Healthy eating and healthy treats can be just as much fun as store bought candy, as well as being a lot easier on your pocket and your health. These treats are great for a Halloween party you are hosting, for a school snack, or to give out to the kids and their parents you know (give packaged goodies to trick or treaters you aren't familiar with.) Yummy Mini Pizza Mummie...

The Origins of Our Halloween Customs

Halloween is a festival that dates back over 2,000 years, with origins in Celtic celebrations marking the beginning of winter. Believed to be a night when the boundaries between the living and the dead world are blurred, this night of magic and mystical happenings is steeped in traditions and superstitions. Join us as we explore some of the age-old Halloween customs and where they came from. Trick or treating Image Credit This playful pastime dates back to the British Hallowmas practice of 'souling', where the poor would visit houses singing songs and offering prayers for the dead in return for 'soul' cakes made of bread and currants. At the time, it was believed that dead people remained in ...

The Bloody History of the Queen Mary

When the Queen Mary sailed on her maiden voyage in 1936, she was the second largest cruise liner in the world, with almost twice the tonnage of the Titanic. Before the era of jet travel, luxury liners such as these were seen as the only way to travel in style, and famous personalities such as Fred Astaire, Bob Hope, Clark Gable and the royals were often seen enjoying it's first class amenities while crossing the Atlantic from Southampton to New York City. In World War II, she was converted into a troop carrier, earning records for carrying the most troops across the seas. Winston Churchill secretly traveled in it for Allied meetings in the United States, and demanded his ...

8 Awesome Smartphone Apps for Halloween

Halloween is such a great event and with the advent of smartphone apps you can enjoy your favorite parts of Halloween everywhere you go.  We tested dozens of apps and compiled a list of the 8 best ones we could find in terms of the most imagination and uniqueness. We hope you enjoy these selections and have a Happy Haunted Halloween! 1.  Halloween Deluxe  ($0.99) Halloween wouldn't be complete without scary sounds and this app lets you do that and more.  Opt for the paid version and avoid annoying requests to upgrade from the free one.  This app includes a count down to Halloween, a soundboard, ring tones, music loops, trivia, costumes ideas, and even a option that lets you create your own colored flashlight ...

Carnival Arcane Review

With the approach of Halloween comes another tradition - the release of a new album from horror masters Midnight Syndicate (Edward Douglas and Gavin Goszka.) Their albums - Carnival Arcane is their 14th - always fills the air with Gothic dread, ambient sounds and creepy instruments. If the "things that go bump in the night" had a soundtrack, Midnight Syndicate would ring through the echoing halls upon their midnight entrance. Each album they release tells a story in music, a "soundtrack for the imagination" filled with haunting melodies, sound effects, shrieks, groans and the occasional lyrics, all fitting the theme of the album. For instance, their studio ...

Into the Arcane Music of Midnight Syndicate

Whenever I build a Halloween haunt, a horror soundtrack is always running through my mind – while planning this year's layout (always a maze), hiding the monster props in nooks, and decorating the rooms. A house is not a creepy Victorian mansion until you add the lighting, the fog and, of course, the creepy soundtrack dripping in the background. Most of you have heard of Midnight Syndicate. A decade and a half in business, Edward Douglas, along with Gavin Goszka, has been creating dark music specifically for Halloween. You can hear them at haunted attractions, parties and amusement parks. Their award-winning music has been featured on television, video games (like Balder's Gate 2), Hugh Hefner's Halloween bash, concerts by The Misfits ...

In the Pumpkin Patch with Mr. Bumble Bindlegrim

So there I was, tending my small pumpkin patch on the roof (not a roof-top garden, the vines had escaped my backyard and had crawled all over my bungalow) when this strange fellow, previously curled up in a leaf, emerged, yawned, and asked for some refreshments. Over a cup of pumpkin juice, he explained his story to me and a strange tale about a pumpkin dream. It was a cautionary tale, and he spoke all in rhyme. Though it was a blazing hot August morning, his words turned the sky dark, the trees leafless, and a cool, autumn wind began moaning from the north. I asked him questions, and he answered with the same soothing sing-song. He explained that, in the normal ...

Top 10 Albums That Will Have You Thinking Of Halloween

Over the years there has been more than a few great spooky albums with a distinctly Halloween feel to them. These range from gothic rockers to haunted movie soundtracks. There’s a brilliant interwoven connection between Halloween and music and it’s for this reason that Halloween parties are always so epic. Here’s a review of ten of the best Halloween album releases ever to grace the ectoplasmic airwaves around All Hollows Eve. 10. Alice Cooper Trash & Hey Stoopid Ok, so this entry is officially 2 albums, but they came out back to back with a ramped up gothic feel. Alice Cooper’s Trash contains the classic Halloween track Poison ...

Host a Halloween Photo Safari

If your kids are getting just a tad too old for trick-or-treating, or you're hosting a family event a few days before the big night, consider making a Halloween Photo Safari the highlight of your next bash. With the advent of camera cell phones and smart phones, photo safaris have become easier and easier to put on, but remain a classic, fun adventure that can be tailored to any age and location. With a little forethought and planning, your Halloween Photo Safari will be the hit of the season. Brainstorm Your List Start by making a list of items for your guests to hunt for. Don’t be afraid to mix very easy to find items with very challenging ones. Consider specific theme ...

The Year of the Mermaid

As a child, Halloween was my absolute favorite holiday. I started planning my costumes months in advance, polling my friends to make sure none of them were thinking of showing up at school on the morning of the 31st decked out as the same thing as me. I was fortunate to have a mother with infinite patience and above average sewing skills, which meant that my costumes could be just about as elaborate as I wanted. And over the years there were many wild and ingenious costumes for me to dawn on Halloween. There was the year that I wanted to be a blue bird and convinced my mother to cut individual feathers out of bright blue rip stop nylon. She ...

• All About Halloween
• 'How to' Halloween
• Halloween Decorations
• Costumes, Masks & Accessories
• Pirate's Treasure Chest
• Party Tips, Recipes & Activities
• Spooky Stories, Legends & Myths
• Happy Halloween Magazine
• Halloween Links

All About Halloween • 'How To' Halloween • Halloween Decorations • Costumes, Masks & Accessories • Pirate's Treasure Chest
Party Tips, Recipes & Activities • Spooky Stories, Legends & Myths • Happy Halloween Magazine • Halloween Links

About Us • HallowZeen Newsletter • Contact Us • Privacy Policy • Terms / Disclosure / Copyright • Sitemap