Thu 29 Sep 2011

Halloween Thing

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Okay, so why a site called Halloween Thing ?

The title of this site may provide  a clue as to why such a  name for this  site , it is obviously geared towards all things Halloween.

I always loved Halloween as a kid as I think most children do and I know both of my children enjoyed it immensely in their younger years and in fact still do to a degree at   22 and 27 Years old.
In reminiscing about this  scary holiday in  the 60’s ,70’s ,80’s and 90’s  I realized all though I  have experienced  many Halloween’s, there was still a lot I didn’t know about it  , like

1) What are it’s  origins, how did it all get  started and why, after all it is    the second most   celebrated holiday in the United States next to Christmas .

2) What about  all the concerns and worry my parents went through  due to the  allegedly real life   horror stories that seemed  to stress them out so much  every time my sister and I would go out in the neighborhood to trick or treat. They had to let her go because her birthday happens to fall on Halloween , the stories about candy apples with razor blades in them etc.are they true?.

3) I also began contemplating about the real safety concerns that  exist especially for children on such a busy holiday were most activity peaks at night  , are there  tips available to ensure everyone in the family enjoys our  westernized version of the Samhain Festival safely ?
So I decided to create a site where I could share some   information on the history and origins  of Halloween,   places were you can  find some  Halloween, games   , a recipe or two for the festivities ,various safety pointers  and   information about those urban legends mentioned earlier along with informational   links  about  allegedly  haunted places were you might find  a few ghosts to visit in your neck of the woods.

What I came up with is really a strange  mix of  facts and fiction,  an  overall   interesting summary   of  detailed information about what many  consider simply to be just a scary costume  and candy celebration .

 

Thus you have it in Pumpkin Shell “Halloween Thing” the only truly descriptive site title I could conjure up for the Holiday !

 

Fri 30 Sep 2011

Halloween Recipes

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Halloween Recipes


These are some recipes for Halloween,  some scary some not , but I have known many who can make perfectly good food scary ,   if not totally Haunting

Bloody Eyeballs

These scary-bloody  Halloween treats, are simple to make  and start  with a doughnut hole dunked in white chocolate.
Ingredients/Needs
22-24 OZ  bag of  white chocolate chips
12 Plain or Glazed doughnut holes
Small Bag of Semisweet chocolate chips
Large Tube of red decorator frosting, large for plenty of blood
2 tablespoons of Olive  or vegetable oil
12 Toothpicks
Wax Paper
How to
Melt the white chocolate chips with the oil over low heat you’ll need  keep the chocolate warm while you work with it. . With a toothpick , spear each doughnut hole and submerge it in the melted chocolate to coat it well , then tap off any excess chocolate .
Stick  one semisweet chocolate chip into each donut hole with the pointed ends into the doughnut hole .  Put the Doughnut Holes on a piece of wax paper to cool and  harden
Use  the  tube of red decorator frosting to add veins out from the semi sweet chip  pupils.
Mummies in a Blanket
Ingredients
1 Can of refrigerator type crescent rolls or  bread sticks
1    Pack of  6- 8   hot dogs
Yellow Mustard –Ketchup-other condiments as desired
How to
To make each  mummy, separate one breadstick from the roll or one perforated crescent roll from the tube  use a knife to slice it in half long wise to create two narrower  strips.
Wrap a single strip at a time snugly around the hot dog. Leave about ¼- ½  inch of hot dog exposed unwrapped at the top for the face area and wrap the rest of the hot dog.
In a 350º  degree oven  Bake your  mummies on a cookie sheet for 15 to 18 minutes or until the breadstick/crescent roll  wrapping is browned .
Take the cookie sheet from the oven and cool your mummies  for 5 minutes. Add red or yellow eyes with mustard or ketchup just before serving. Makes 6-8   mummies.

Spider Pretzels
Super  easy-to-make spider pretzels ready for a quick , healthy and actually tasty .
You’ll  Need
1 Box  round crackers
1 small jar  smooth peanut butter
1 average size bag small pretzel sticks
1 medium size box of  raisins
How To
Take two  crackers cover one side of one cracker  with peanut butter. Press  eight small pretzel “legs” into the peanut butter arranged like a spider and ensuring they stick out an inch plus beyond the edge of the cracker . Place the bare cracker on top and meld to together ether use enough peanut butter to make sure the crackers stick firmly together Take  two  smidgeons  of peanut butter and put on top , stick two raisin eyes into the peanut butter on  top. This is a very simple one and great even for young children to help with!

Additional Halloween  Recipes you may want to consider are

Marshmallow Witches

Dracula Cookies

 

Quick Ghost Cookies

 

 

 

Fri 30 Sep 2011

Halloween Crafts

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Halloween Crafts

This section  of Halloween Thing will provide you with a few crafts that cab be made in preparation for Halloween. Most are suitable for children to participate in creating,  some are not,  you will have to be  the judge.
Spooky Spider
These   should last maybe  4-5 days. Suitable For ages 4 and up but will require  adult help.

WHAT YOU NEED:   2 round, black balloons black construction paper, black thread  or yarn, see through  adhesive tape, large white self-adhesive stickers , notebook paper  hole reinforcements, scissors, markers, large bowl.
1. Blow up the balloons, one big  for the body and a smaller one for the head. Tie a thread tightly  around the knot on the second one so the head and body are joined.
2. Get 8 small pieces of tape ready to use. Cut 8 strips of construction paper approx. 1 in. wide and the length of the paper. These will be the legs  Hold the big balloon spider body steady while your helper tapes on the legs, if this is a problem  wedge the bottom half of the spider body in a large bowl to keep it fro moving . Tape 4 legs to each side of the biggest balloon , two  towards the front and two  towards the back. Bend the legs into the position desired.
3. Now with the  marker draw eyes and a tongue on a sticky label. Cut them  out and stick them to the the small balloon/spiders  head. Decorate spider hole reinforcements. Tape some thread ring to the top of the spider’s body so you  can it  hang from someplace high or maybe even gently  bounced the floor.

Bendable Mummies in Six Simple Steps

You Will  Need:
Wire Type Pipe cleaners
Cotton or canvas I.E old t-shirt  torn into  strips
Cotton balls
Masking tape
Gauze strips – If Desired
Black Marker Pen
Red Food Coloring or Ketchup
Hot glue gun or high tack cloth glue  scissors
How To:
1: Take the  pipe cleaners and bend into the  shape of a stick man. Twist the pipe cleaners firmly around each other to hold in place. These will be the main body of the Mummy so size them accordingly
2: Take pieces of cotton ball wrap around head, hands, feet and middle of body. Tape  in place with masking tape.
3: Rip the strips of  cotton or canvas into 1/2 inch strips. Using 1-2  inch strips, wrap these around the head, hands and feet over the cotton you taped earlier , to form the  top of the  head and ends of hands and feet.
4: Now rip up some longer strips of your  cotton or canvas into ½-3/4  inch strips about 7-10 inches long. These strips  will be used to wrap the  mummy
5: Place a spot  of hot glue or high tack cloth glue on the end of a strip of the  cotton or canvas. Wrap the strip around your mummy. Start at the  head and work downwards . Once a strip is used put a spot  of glue at its end to hold it  in place. Keep  wrapping with strips until all parts of your mummy are  completely covered.
You can go back and a little  glue under your strips to help hold them  in place. Ensure  all areas are covered. You my want to use a little  extra on head, hands and feet to make them more resilient.
6: Once the  mummy is completely wrapped you can decorate it  You can draw or Glue on beans or buttons for Eyes. You can smudge  up the  mummy by using charcoal or fireplace ash.  If you have some first aid gauze on hand you can  tie small strips around the head, arms or legs  for effect a little red food coloring or ketchup can be used to make the appearance of old wounds etc.
After your  done bend the  mummy into a standing or sitting position, or you van hang it from a ceiling doorway etc.

Halloween Guard Katz
Guard your house from Goblins  with a with a Guard Kat Patrol made from  acorn squash. You’ll need  some black paint, cardboard scraps, felt markers, and glitter glue. Children will love to make these!
You Will Need
3-5 Small Acorn squash in varied  sizes
Black acrylic paint
Medium-sized dollar store paintbrush
Cardboard strips  for ears, eyes, mouths, and whiskers
Glitter & glue for the whiskers and mouths
Colored felt  markers: yellow, green, blue, and black
Household tacky dement glue or a glue gun to attach ears, whiskers, etc.
Scissors
Pencil
Aluminum  foil to line inside of the guard kitties ears

Instructions
1. Paint each squash black and allow to dry entirely. Due to the color of the squash and its porosity  It may take two or three coats to completely change the color

2. Put  the squash on its side so the stem end becomes the nose.

3. Grab your cardboard and cut out  two triangles for ears; two ovals for eyes; two small ovals for the pupil
of each eye;; four strips for  whiskers, approximately 3 inches x 1/4 inch; an wide “U”  for the mouth.

4. With your felt markers, color the ears black and all  other features blue, green, yellow or black as you wish

5. Put a little  glitter glue to the whiskers and mouths.

6. Glue all features to the painted squash with tacky glue or a glue gun.

These Guard Kitties can be put on a mantel , window sill or other spot to ward of Goblins for the entire holiday season

 

Fri 30 Sep 2011

Haunted Houses

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Haunted Houses

Do Haunted Houses really Exist ?

I’m sure that  one of  interest of most folks have around  Halloween is   haunted houses !

Well according to some,  absolutely .  Here are details on a few along with links  where you can find the ones that are closest to your home.

Infamous Haunted Houses In the US

The Amityville House :   A house located in the small village/township located on the south shore of Long Island, New York.  known as the Village of Amityville may very well hold the #1 position as the most well known haunted house in the United States  , although there has not been any significant paranormal activity claimed since around  1987, prior to this the house has a rich history of alleged haunting and even had several books and  movies made about it spanning more than 20 years , the initial film “The Amityville Horror ’ was first released  in 1979 and  an additional 8  sequels/ variants/ remakes  based on the house located  at 112 Ocean Avenue were released all the way up to 2005 Additionally a bestselling book was initially published in September 1977 an was really the instigating force behind the subsequent movies. The haunting has much to do with the grisly occurrence that occurred in this house on  November 13, 1974 when Ronald DeFeo Sr., 43, and his wife Louise DeFeo, 42, were found   sprawled out on their bed also found were the DeFeo children, Dawn, Allison, Marc and John-Matthew . This was not just a simple single person being shot , this really fulfills the definition of a mass murder  I encourage you to read up a bit ore on this particular Haunted House it is  simply Ghoulish !
Secondly there are alleged Haunted Houses all over the country depending on how serious you are about doing your own Halloween Thing , you may want to so consider a quick visit to a Haunted location in your neck of the woods I can think  of nothing else that would really get you in the old school  Samhain mindset for Halloween and may give you a horrifying tale or  two to share with all your trick or treaters !
In Huntsville, Alabama You May want to check Out :

Dead Children’s Playground
There is a lot of lore about this place and even most of the locals agree it is quite haunted worth checking out if you are going to be close  the Huntsville area according to what I have read it is best to go before sunset !

Ana says:
March 22, 2011, 10:53 am

I go there every weekend and always see weird unexplainable things. It’s an amazing place and I love it there.

chad says:
August 8, 2011, 5:56 am

ok i have been there dcp gave me and my friends a hell of a laugh and a scare, we had a friend named basil roughly a 300+ lbs kid at the time after he saw what we saw rand faster than any sprinter could jumped higher than any hurdler and squeezed his frame through a ford blazer window over the front and back seats and cowered n the back of the blazer yelling lets get out of here lets just get the f*** out of here now! now I’ve seen all kinds of things out there the kid like features and the tall dark figures, one even pointed to us and then we jetted/ got out of there this may sound like a lie but I’m not that place freaks me the hell out and if people want a good scare or just go for a good adventure its a place to go but do watch out for the police and the crabby old family who lives at the house at the beginning of the path to the playground

Truth is there are many place all over the country to many for me to list here ,but if you want to try and find a place nearby were you can kick off you Halloween Thing Season check out this link and see if you can find a haunted location to get you in the “spirit” just click me chicken  , what are you scared of ghosts !!!!!!!

 

Maybe a few Horror Stories are In Order  SCARY STUFF !

 

Fri 30 Sep 2011

Halloween Games

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Halloween Games

This slice of Halloween Thing will provide you with a few Halloween Games that can cater to both adults and children . Some of these are very traditional in nature while others are not. As with any Holiday,  holidays  go smoothest  when a little preparation takes place ,  to include some safe minimal cost activities and of course the universal component of food.  It is my hope this information  will  help  you achieve this
Halloween Games
There are many traditional Halloween games that are as popular today as they were when they were first conceived and most  can be altered by slightly changing their themes.
Bobbing for Apples

This classic is always a blast and doesn’t require a 50 gallon tub of water to play if you have a large serving/mixing bowl , a small family can still enjoy this game without the need for the elaborate 50 gallon tub of water and the preparation and mess that may ensue . Additionally for those of you who live in a location where on October 31st the temperature may be a bit questionable when it comes to playing outside in the water . The approach of using a large bowl allows this game to take place at a kitchen table with the help of a couple of bath towels. Give it a try it is really a lot of fun!

Here  are some  alternatives that don’t  involve water  :
Halloween Hanging Apples: Take three or four apples and decorate them with a scary face using some squeeze tube type cake decoration icing (Kids can Help decorate them) .   Stretch a cord or piece of twine across the room and attach it at each end. Now attach 3 or 4  apples to the line with some sewing thread or other light duty string.  Now have on person lightly tap each Apple to get them swinging to an fro . Now  each child or adult takes turn trying  to catch a swinging  apple with their mouth with their  hands held behind their back. This game can be done entirely indoors or moved out doors  without any concerns about cold weather or  water concerns
Halloween Hanging Doughnuts Much  like hanging apples, but has those with a sweet tooth more in mind . Follow all the steps as in Halloween Hanging Apples  above but substitute  doughnuts hanging up to be caught. This undoubtedly will  require  more doughnuts  than the Hanging Apples  game above does Apples  because each time a child  or adult succeeds at grabbing a doughnut part of their reward is eating their treat .
Halloween Flour Apples Warning this is the messiest,  if done indoors it  will require a sheet or plastic garbage bag to make clean up manageable or it can be taken outdoors . This simply consists of  replacing  water with baking flour , the apples can be placed in a bowl of flour instead of water. The basic principle is the same as used in the traditional water  bobbing game  Each Child or Adult takes a turn rooting in the flour with their hands behind their back and tries to  grab an Apple.   Fun to watch as all players come up with a ghost  white face!    A camera  or video recorder is recommended here  because the pictures can be timeless and possibly priceless if submitted to “Americas Funniest Videos” !

These are just a few variations on one  of many games I could explain/present here , in the interest of space I have included some links to additional resources where you can find games, printable,   coloring  pages and entertainment resources that will ensure your  Halloween is memorable these resources are most suitable for children

Children’s Coloring Printable

Children’s Halloween Games

Pin the Mouth on the Bat

Pin the Tail on the Cat

Pin the Nose on the Jack-O-Lantern

Pin the Nose on the Skull

Zombie Game

Fear Factor Game

 

Fri 30 Sep 2011

The History of the Holiday

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The History of the Holiday  

 

This section of Halloween Thing will attempt to provide you with an educational  summary on the  history and origins of Halloween . Fundamental  origins of Halloween date all the way back more than 2000 years ago and were it was originally celebrated as a Celtic pagan holiday  primarily meant to honor the dead. The ancient Celtic festival of “Samhain” also referred to  as All Hallows Eve  blended with All Saints Day all rooted in  cultural and   religious factions that share similar practices is responsible  according to  historians  for originating the celebration. The Druids, a Celtic counter culture originating across  Ireland, Britain and Northern Europe. Religiously celebrated  the feast of Samhain, to honor the dead  this celebration occurred  annually on the same date as represented on our western calendar as  October 31st.

The Druids, believed that this  end of the  season /year  time  on their calendar was a the time in which the barrier between the living and the dead became almost non- existent. Accompanying  this belief,  they believed the souls of the dead roamed the streets this  night and many of those “souls” were evil  and  thus needed to be appeased to ensure that their next years crops of pumpkins, squashes , corn etc . would be abundant. Furthermore , they believed evil spirits were sent  to attack humans, who could escape only by assuming disguises  using costumes to look  like evil spirits themselves.  This led to the Druids leaving out treats and other items to appease the evil souls/spirits. However; more than a millennium ago the Roman Catholic church enacted a holiday to deter the worship of evil spirits, and made November 1st as All Saints Day to honor the saints and martyrs of the church. This day was also known as All Hallows Eve! The inability of the Roman Catholic church to totally eradicate the Druid Pagan Holiday resulted  in the two religions mixing  many  of the traditions of Samhain, such as dressing up in costumes and dancing around the fire, became one with All Hallows Eve.  Fast forward a millennium and add a few twist  as provided in the video and the scary Holiday , Halloween as we know it began to evolve along with the customs of dressing up as evil spirits and trick or treating. While this is a brief summary , I believe it will help you better understand at least at a high level the history of how modern day Halloween came into existence.  Enjoy your candy this Halloween!

For those of you who prefer a visual explanation on Halloweens History you may appreciate this video: