Happy Halloween!

Today's the day!  Hope you all had a marvelous Halloween!

Halloween 2011 Party Playlist

Today is the day of our Halloween party, and here's what we'll be listening to this year.  You can download the entire mix here.

1. Dead Man's Party - Oingo Boingo
2. Die by the Drop - The Dead Weather
3. Dead Disco - Metric
4. Nail in My Coffin - The Kills
5. Ghost - Little Boots
6. Creeper - Islands
7. Witchy Woman - The Eagles
8. Sympathy for the Devil - The Rolling Stones
9. I Feel Evil Creeping In - Islands
10. Pet Sematary - The Ramones
11. I Put A Spell On You - Screamin' Jay Hawkins
12. Highway to Hell - AC/DC
13. Devil's Triangle - Primitive Radio Gods
14. Full Moon - The Black Ghosts
15. Bloodletting (The Vampire Song) - Concrete Blonde

And if you're still trying to figure out what to put on your Halloween party mix, these lists from Paste and Nerdist may help.  They certainly did me!

It's the Great Pumpkin!

If, like me, you spent all day preparing for Halloween, it's time to unwind a little this evening, and what better way than to watch It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!  Good thing it's on Hulu!

Jezebel Wants Your Ghost Stories

Have you been haunted?  Jezebel is soliciting true ghost stories, to be published on the blog on Halloween.  Short of alerting the Ghostbusters, this seems like as good a forum as any to tell your tales.

Heidi Klum's Halloween

Supermodel/Project Runway host Heidi Klum's Halloween parties seem to be a thing of legend in celebrity circles.  I really respect people who go all out for Halloween, which is why I love this feature on Klum's costumes in the Daily Mail.  The piece includes pictures from several past Halloweens, and pictures of her in-progress costumes for this year, including this gem:

Also, the Weekly World News is claiming the above picture is a Bat Boy costume, which is awesome, but seems a rather poor likeness (shouldn't she have pointed ears?).  [Via Jezebel]

The Science of Screams

io9 had a neat piece last week on the science of screams.  It should come as no surprise that horror movies use screams to elicit particular emotions in viewers, but the neat thing that researchers have found is that, the more irregular they are, the harder screams are to ignore.

This article also alerted me to the existence of Wilhelm scream, a stock Hollywood sound effect scream that's been used on tons of movie since the 1950s.  I'll never be able to listen to another horror movie the same way.  Here's a supercut for your enjoyment.

Halloween Recipe Roundup

Allrecipes has a roundup of Halloween recipes, so if you're still looking for something to serve at a Halloween party this weekend, check it out!  Personally, I'm in search of a good punch recipe, so this looks promising . . .

I Put A Spell On You

For the past two years, I've put together a little ukulele cover of a classic Halloween song for the amusement of my friends and family.  I'm no great musician, but I have fun learning a new song, and my dad always obliges me by cutting together a little video.  So without further ado, here's a ukulele cover of Screamin' Jay Hawkins' "I Put A Spell On You."

Halloween Chalkboard

While browsing my local Jo-Ann Fabric, I came across a cheap wood-framed slate, and I decided to turn it into a cute little Halloween chalkboard.

You Will Need:

Framed slate (about $3 at Jo-Ann Fabric)
Masking tape
Orange acrylic paint
Paint brush
Rubber stamps
Ink pad
Other decorations (I used buttons and some cut-out bats from some Halloween scrapbooking paper)
Glue

Start by blocking off the inside edge of the slate's frame with masking tape, to prevent the paint from running onto the slate.  If you have a very steady hand, maybe you don't need to worry about this, but I'm a sloppy painter, so it helped me.  The good news for us slobs, though, is that if you make a mess, the acrylic paint can easily be cleaned up with a little soapy water.

Paint your frame.  It took several coats before I'd achieved a nice, opaque orange.

Once the paint is dry, remove the tape and block out the words you'd like to stamp onto your frame.  In the interest of keeping things simple, I went for "Happy Halloween," but obviously you can do anything you like.  Be sure to map out the placement of the letters so that you have enough space.  That said, I mapped mine out and still wound up with some crooked, off-kilter words, so to each according to her abilities, I guess.

At this point, you may want to spend some time playing around with the placement of your decorative bits and bobs at this point.  I wound up using two paper bats from a $1 package of Target scrapbooking paper and and three buttons of various sizes.

Once you're happy with the arrangement, glue on decorations.  Let them dry.

Grab some chalk and write a message!

I think this chalkboard would be great to put beside a bowl of candy if you won't be around to hand treats out on Halloween night.  I've been using mine to fill my hankering for a Halloween advent calendar, with a chalked-in countdown -- although I keep forgetting to change the numbers!

2010 Halloween Playlist

A while back, I posted the playlist for last year's Halloween party.  I'm working on this year's playlist, but to tide you over, here's a downloadable zip file of all the songs on last year's playlist.  Enjoy!

Halloween Makeup Tutorials

io9 has a slideshow of Halloween makeup tutorials, including this one for Natalie Portman's Black Swan maquillage.

Do you think I could get away with just wearing this to class?  Maybe if I could use an eyeliner pencil without poking my eye out . . .

Reschedule Halloween? Never!

Some silly politician from Connecticut is proposing to reschedule Halloween.  Says Rep. Tim Larson, D-Conn.:

Halloween is [a] fun night for the whole family, but not so much when you have to race home from work, get the kids ready for trick or treating, welcome the neighborhood children, and then try to get everyone to bed for an early school and work morning.

Obviously, Mr. Larson, you have no sensitivity to the season.  Yes, it's inconvenient, but October 31 is immutable.  What do you think this is, Thanksgiving?  No, thank you.

Our Front Steps

That's Daphne on our front steps, getting ready for Halloween!

Campaign Against Racist Costumes

As part of the ongoing struggle to problematize racist Halloween costumes, members of the group Students Teaching About Racism at Ohio University have started a "We're a Culture, Not a Costume" campaign, juxtapozing images of racist costumes with members of the groups they stereotype.

[Via Jezebel]

The Exorcist on Stage . . . Now With More Teller

Why is possessed Linda Blair so happy?  Because not only is there a stage play of The Exorcist in the works, but now it looked like Teller, of Pen & Teller fame, will be working on the stage effects.  Strange, but true.  [Via The Mary Sue]

On a side note, I'm more freaked out by that photo than I was by the entire film.

Mourir Aupres de Toi

If you're in the mood for some macabre stop-motion animation that isn't The Nightmare Before Christmas, check out this cute animated film directed by Spike Jonze.  There's all sorts of delightful weirdness when the covers of the books at Shakespeare & Co. in Paris come alive!


Spike Jonze: Mourir Auprès de Toi on Nowness.com.

[Via Jezebel]

Mockingjay Pumpkin Template

If you feel the need to alert the neighbors that you not only love Halloween but also adolescent death matches, then check out this awesome Hunger Games-themed jack-o-lantern by So Geek Chic!

[Via The Mary-Sue]

Farber Gravestone Collection

Hope Cemetery, Worcster, MA, 1965 (Farber Gravestone Collection)

If you're itching to do some grave hunting, but are stuck at home this Halloween week, check out the Farber Gravestone Collection, a photogtaphic archive of over 9,000 historical headstones.  The collection is both macabre and beautiful, and, since it's sponsored by the American Antiquarian Society, it's also a great historical resource.  Whether you're just browsing, or looking for references on early American history, it's well worth a look.

One Week Til Halloween!

This is it, folks: we officially have one week left until Halloween! Let the countdown begin!

Halloween Countdown

Leaf Maze

From this weekend's FoxTrot:

Pixar Lamp Costume!

For all you animation nerds out there:

[Via The Mary-Sue]

"Dead End Jobs"

Laura Chase-McGehee, The Capital

My local paper profiled several area haunted house attractions this weekend, including the Psycho Safari at Bowie Baysox Stadium and Heidi's Haunted Hills.  The latter is run by a 16-year-old, whose level of vision is truly enviable.  I wish I'd been running a haunted house out of my back yard when I was sixteen.  Nice to know there are so many creepy attractions close to home.

10 Worst Haunted House Cliches

In honor of the recent release of Dream House, Complex has a list of the ten worst haunted house movie cliches.

In case you ever feel like keeping count, here's a horror cliche bingo card for you, via Sarah Hates Your Movie:

Giving Birth on Halloween

According to io9, a Yale University study that has found women don't want to go into labor on Halloween. I'm not sure why, as that would pretty much be the most awesome thing ever, as far as I'm concerned. Any Halloween babies out there want to weigh in?

Tim Walker for Italian Vogue

I love this wonderfully gothic photo by Tim Walker for Vogue Italia.  The whole photoshoot is eerie and unsettling and also phenomenally beautiful!

You can see scans of the entire editorial here, or click through a slideshow at some of the shots (including some that don't appear in the magazine) on Walker's website here.

8 Alternatives to "Sexy" Costumes

Jezebel today delivered this gem: eight alternatives to "sexy" costumes.  Rosie the Riveter is pretty much to go-to, I think, for liberal, educated woman (am I wrong here?), but I love the idea of Nancy Drew or Annie Hall . . .  Or, even better, some magical hybrid of the two, a lounge-singing sleuth in menswear.

Collaborative Halloween Drawing

I did this with the kids from daycare last week, and it makes me so happy.

Halloween drawing by Carlea, Liam, and Johnny, with help from Mary and Lilly

NPR on the Haunted House Business

djwudi, via Flickr

NPR has a fun behind-the-scenes look at the world of professional haunted houses.  You can listen to the article, or read the transcript, at the link.

It's Decorative Gourd Season

Leave it to McSweeney's to provide some delightfully twisted commentary on the Halloween season.  When it comes to ringing in the season with something strange, Colin Nissan's "It's Decorative Gourd Season, Motherfuckers" is about as good as it gets:

I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to get my hands on some fucking gourds and arrange them in a horn-shaped basket on my dining room table. That shit is going to look so seasonal. I’m about to head up to the attic right now to find that wicker fucker, dust it off, and jam it with an insanely ornate assortment of shellacked vegetables. When my guests come over it’s gonna be like, BLAMMO! Check out my shellacked decorative vegetables, assholes. Guess what season it is—fucking fall. There’s a nip in the air and my house is full of mutant fucking squash.

Oh, yes. This shit just got real.

Black Dog Syndrome

As the owner of two wonderful black cats, it makes me sad to know that people are prejudiced against black animals.  Some shelters, I know, hold special drives to adopt out animals that are considered "unadoptable" because of their unpopular coloring.  [Via Jezebel]

And in case you doubt that black cats can be sweet, here are my two, being as un-evil as possible:

A Guide to Inappropriately "Sexy" Costumes

Jezebel has a slideshow up of bizarre "sexy" Halloween costumes, including a sexy clownfish and a sexy Scrabble board.  Actually, that second one is kind of awesome.  In theory, anyway . . .

Other Uses for Candy Corn

@vonplatypus

You can order a t-shirt of this image by @vonplatypus here.  [Via Jezebel]

Halloween Rock Paintings

Crafting with Kids

 If you're looking for a Halloween project to do with young children this weekend, why not try some Halloween rock painting?  I'm not sure what you'd do with them once you're done, but it would be fun to go out looking for spooky stones.  I love the one that looks like Frankenstein's monster -- such a good fit for its shape!

Bat Drinking a Milkshake

 Here are some photographs of a bat drinking a milkshake.  Enough said.

[Via Jezebel]

The Woman in Black

Oh, hell yes.  [Via io9]

The Gawper

[Via The Mary Sue]

Black & White Pumpkins

Chica and Jo

I've been seeing a lot of beautiful black and white pumpkins recently, such as this awesome zentangle pumpkin by Chica and Jo.

If the crazy zentangle designs are a bit too complex for you, here's a tutorial for cute, simple Missoni-inspired zigzag pumpkins!

It seems that painting the pumpkins white, so to speak, gives decorators a whole new lease on the idea of pumpkin as canvas.  You can go simple, with monochromatic polka-dots or monograms, or you can try a little tromp-l'oeil, or you can create black and white toile patterns using Modge Podge and patterned paper napkins.  All these designs look elegant while still capturing a kind of Tim Burton strangeness that is so essential to Halloween.

Etsy Halloween Shopping Guide

Mimi Cafe Union

Fresh Home Ideas has a nice slideshow of Halloween Etsy items, like these fondant dismembered hands, an iPod dock in the shape of Bram Stoker's Dracula, and many others.

DIY Halloween Blocks

Poppies at Play

I love these adorable Halloween letter blocks!  The very simple instructions, along with downloadable print-outs for the letters, are here.

[Via The Crafter's Cafe]

On Vampires

Over on the Huffington Post, Varla Ventura reflects on vampires.  Having just recently watched the 1931 Dracula, I can't argue with that.

"The Raven" Trailer

John Cusack as Poe.  Why do we have to wait until March for this?

Altern-o-Lanterns

Photo by Arbitror, via Instructables

 If you're worried about the pumpkin shortage this year, the Hairpin has a round-up of pumpkin alternatives, including the reasonable squash, the adorable apple, and the slightly more ridiculous grape and tomato.

Dead Bat in Jo-Ann's Halloween Aisle

"Bat" by possumgirl2, via Flickr

It may sound like set-up to a bad joke, but a dead rabid bat was found recently in the Halloween aisle of an Olympia, Washington, Jo-Ann Fabrics.  Strange, but true.

[Via The Consumerist]

DIY Halloween Paper Lanterns

I've been seeing a lot of awesome Halloween paper lanterns recently -- like these, these, these and  these from Pottery Barn, and these, for example.  But instead of paying between $10 and $25 for some readymade lanterns, I decided to try my hand at making my own, so I bought a $5 string of paper lanterns at my local Five Below and got to work.  What I wound up with is, I think, fun and customizable, and much more personal than the store-bought versions.

You Will Need:

A string of lighted paper lanterns
Glow-in-the-dark acrylic paint
Paint brush
Paint receptacle (I used a takeout lid)
Pencil
Sharpie
Scissors
Halloweeny templates or stencils
Newsprint-covered work surface

Untangle your lanterns and spread them out on a newspaper-covered work surface.

Brush a coat of glow-in-the-dark paint onto each lantern.  Let this dry, then repeat.  I used two coats, and my lanterns glow very faintly in the dark.  If you want a more robust glow, you may want to do three or four coats.

While your paint is drying, decide what images you want to put on your lanterns.  I used this bat from Good Housekeeping and this raven.  You could also do spiders, haunted houses, or whatever else your spooky heart desires.  Resize your images to fit and cut them out.

Once the paint is dry, hold your stencils up to the lanterns and trace the outline with a pencil. (The duller the pencil, the better, so you don't poke holes in the paper!)  I fit two images on each lantern, and alternated the pattern, but you can arrange them any way you like.

Color in your outlines with Sharpie.  You could also fill them in with black paint, but I feel like I have more control with a pen, and I also wound up liking the kind of distressed-looking results of the streaky ink.

Once the ink is dry, you're ready to hang your lanterns and admire!  Be sure to expose the lanterns to a generous dose of light to activate the glow-in-the-dark paint.

I suspect that you could also cut your spooky shapes out of black tissue paper and paste them onto your lanterns if you so chose, although that seems a bit more fiddly to me, and doesn't involve the dubious pleasures of a marker high.  It would also be fun to find some orange lanterns and do Jack-o-hanging-lanterns.  Next time, perhaps!

Also, if you're really not in a DIY mood, Five Below has the best deal I've seen on Halloween lanterns, with $5 strings of Halloween-print lanterns.  You can locate the nearest store here.

Sopapilla Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

Willow Bird Baking

Willow Bird Baking has a recipe for these delicious-looking sopapilla pumpkin cheesecake bars.  I cannot believe how many tasty foods are crammed into that one desert.  In a word: yes.

Ricky's Tasteless Eating Disorder Costume

Not that they're exactly know as arbiters of good taste, or anything, but costume and beauty chain Ricky's was really scraping the bottom of the barrel with this oh-so-sensitive Miss Anna Rexia costume.

The Village Voice was the first media source to call Ricky's out on this nonsense last month, and now even TIME is getting in on the discussion.

The costume has since been pulled and is no longer for sale, but its reputation, like the screenshot at left, will live on forever in infamy.

DIY Halloween Tree

Paint Me Plaid

I love this simple, spooky wire Halloween tree from Paint Me Plaid.  Not only does it look easy to make, it could be infinitely elaborated upon.  Check out the full tutorial here.

53% Spent $50 Or Less On Costumes

According to some recent research, 53% of people spend under $50 on Halloween costumes.  20% will spend more than that, while 17% spend nothing at all on costumes.  Where do you fall?

Halloween Costumes The World Isn't Ready For

Divine Caroline has a list of pop-culture Halloween costume don'ts, including Amy Winehouse and Charlie Sheen.  Don't do it, people!

Gilded Pumpkins

Redbook

I love these gilt pumpkins from Redbook!  And if, like me, you're attracted to anything shiny, be sure to check out Good Housekeeping's slideshow of DIY decorating ideas for a bedazzled Halloween.

And in case I haven't mentioned it (or you somehow failed to notice it), the Good Housekeeping Halloween Central is worth checking out for a variety of Halloween-centric tips and projects from all the magazines in the Good Housekeeping family.

How To Hang Onto Your Pumpkins

No, that title isn't a euphemism.

With some people warning about pumpkin shortages this year and advocating early pumpkin shopping, this advice on how to keep your pumpkins fresh may come in very useful, especially if, like me, you can't wait to get started on your Halloween decorating.

Scream Cheese Brownies

The Girl Who Ate Everything

The simple addition of food coloring transforms these cream cheese brownies from your average baked good to tasty Halloween treat.  Genius!  [Via Best Friends For Frosting]

On Our Front Door

Now that October's officially here and the weather's been getting cooler, my mother broke out her seasonal wreath, which she decorated this year in a way that suggests Halloween without being too holiday-specific.  If you come a-knocking, this is what you'll find on our front door:

Steven King on TCM's Night at the Movies

Dread Central would like to remind you that Steven King will be on TCM's "A Night at the Movies" tomorrow night, October 3, at 8 PM.  Following the special, TCM will be showing a bunch of great classic horror films all night, including Frankenstein, Freaks, and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Here's the full lineup:
8:00 PM TCM "Night at the Movies: Horror" 
9:00 PM Frankenstein 
10:15 PM Freaks 
11:30 PM TCM "Night at the Movies: Horror"
12:30 AM Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 
2:15 AM Mark of the Vampire (’35)
3:30 AM The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
4:45 AM Nosferatu 
6:15 AM Phantom of the Opera 

Grown Up Halloween Recipes

From Food & Wine

If you'd rather leave the goofy-looking Halloween foods to the kiddies, check out Food & Wine's collection of recipes, which balances classic creepy concoctions with more grown-up palate-pleasers.

On my to-eat list: butternut squash turnovers and chocolate tarts with candied grapefruit peel. 

There are plenty of cocktail and punch recipes, too, for those of you who want to make you Halloween just a little bit happier.  And for the pun-minded, there's a list of "devil" foods like deviled eggs and devil's food cake.

And once Halloween is over and you've gorged yourself on all the treats you can possible stand, Food & Wine even has a few suggestions for what to do with you leftover candy.  Although I have to admit, I'm pretty game, gastronomically speaking, but I'm not touching those candy corn cookies.

Bath & Body Works Light-Up Soap

In honor of the official start of the best month of the year, this light-up coffin hand soap dispenser is currently gracing our bathroom sink. It lights up and cackles every time you use the soap!