Top 10 Halloween Season Must Have's/Do's

so, i'm off from my spoOoOoOky job today since is goOoOd friday...
i'm doing a little halloween-related web surfing and i was reading about halloween 2008.

one site says, and i quote:

Well, Halloween 2007 has come to an end. The great news is that the next three years will be great for our favorite holiday! Next year, Halloween will fall on a Friday. In 2009 it will be on Saturday and in 2010 on Sunday. (courtesy of halloween-online.com).

i like how halloween-online is already looking ahead 3 years. they're right up my alley. although i have to say that halloween is great every year, not just the next three years. and believe me, i plan on capitalizing on all of the glory that is halloween on a friday..i may have to take off of work for the 3 days prior just to prepare.

i also decided to begin my "plan of attack" for halloween season '08. halloween-online says the season begins in september...but for me, it's a year round thing. i'm just waiting on everyone else to hop aboard.

without further ado, this is a small list of the "must haves and must do's" for a successful and awesome halloween season (pre monster bash of course):

1. Pumpkins. they are the mascot of halloween like turkey is to thanksgiving and mistletoe is to christmas. i personally find that going on a hay ride, going to a farm, or going with a group of friends to a pumpkin picking patch really enhances the thrill of the pumpkin. nothing beats finding "the perfect pumpkin" and then ruining him by trying to carve eyebrows into him (jim 2005).

What can you expect? the most awesome day of your life...that's what.
not sure where you can find a good pumpkin patch near you? try this. and apparently, if you're really into pumpkin patch locales, there's a patch in illinois that is boasting it is the BEST pumpkin patch on earth.

2. Hayrides. this kind of goes hand-in-hand with pumpkins...getting a pumpkin is only made better by a hayride...but a hayride can take on many forms besides a pumpkin-retrieval....there's a daytime hayride to examine and admire the amazing fall foliage...and my favorite: a spoOoOoOky hayride at night to...the...unknoooooooown! night time ones, depending on where you go, may not be for the squeamish or faint of heart. be prepared to have teenage kids in scaaaary makeup jumping out at you! a personal favorite hayride of mine was one i went to in 2005... it was at Corrado's Farm in Hackettstown, NJ. it was the most awesome hayride on earth...it was about 45 minutes, riding on bales of hay, through the open woods and witches served you donuts and cider halfway through...does life get any better than that?

What can you expect? enjoying the outdoors, smelling the aroma of autumn (you know how good it is), feeling like you're in a real horror movie and...there's no escape!! find some hellish hayrides near you at hauntworld.com!

3. Haunted Houses. Nothing scares me more. did someone really die a horrible death in this house and refuses to leave? sounds reasonable to me. now your options for this are very open. you can hunt down a real, authentic haunted house and risk getting arrested to peek inside...or you can find yourself an attraction-esque one. real haunted houses are tricky to find-i tend to believe weirdnj's recommendations. we have one near me (blue hill) but you can go to jail if you're caught near it. i went there when i was still a wee tot in high school, and trust me, i'm a believer. attraction haunted houses are fun because there's no real ghosts.....or is there?

what can you expect? a great friday/saturday night with a date or friends, other groups of people acting like they're tough and then crying like girls in the house, people in crazy makeup and costumes scaring the crap out of you, and of course, leatherface chasing you out with a chainsaw at the end. i have never been to a haunted house that doesn't end with butcher and chainsaw. never. hauntworld.com has a great list of haunted houses based on state. Last year, we went to Blood Manor in NYC and seriously, the room with the hanging body bags made me very, very scared. the wait in line is pretty long, but there's a guy spitting nails and blood outside, so no worries.

4. Fright Fest. I have to tip my hat to Six Flags Great Adventure in NJ for delivering Fright Fest. I adore that they pay homage to my favorite holiday in a great way. Every year, I'm impressed...except last year, we didn't go. I'm still bitter about it.

What can you expect? all of the fun and thrills of six flags, plus fog, scary costumed people, and a huge horror show theme park. i'm foaming at the mouth thinking of how good it is. check out if you have a six flags/amusement park near you...chances are they probably include some fun during the spoOoOoOkiest time of year.

5. Scary movie-a-thon. I like to prepare mentally and physically for the spoOoOOokiest time of year...by unwinding and watching some of the classics: texas chainsaw massacre, halloween, jaws, the exorcist, friday the 13th, nightmare on elm street...and now basket case..a new fave. this works out especially great, because there is nothing jim likes more than watching movies. so we compromise.

what can you expect? finding something new, or finding something old, and making it new for someone else. either way, it's a great night in. so get out there to a video store, best buy, or whatever else and pick up a new one or a classic...then prepare to be scared out of your mind!

6. Creepy Recipes. This is a personal favorite of mine. I like to look up and rework food to make it look scary and disgusting. The first M.B. i made a kitty litter cake that was a little to close to reality for comfort....last year i did an oozy guts spider cake that oozed out green goop (pudding). i also created the term "smashed ghostatoes" which...well...you get it. i once made a meatloaf that looked like a corpse too. just sayin'. what i'm trying to get at, is that halloween is the only time of year that you can create a dish called "green boogers" and people will eat it. that's the bottom line.

what can you expect? people to be grossed out and full at the same time!

7. Costume Hunting. I have only 4 words: Think outside the box. I'm serious, people are tired of the same old same old...no more baby costumes, no more sexy nurses/devils/uncle sams, no more thoughtless costume planning..it's time to use your noggins. couple's costumes...well...i'm on the fence....i don't like to depend on my counterpart to make it happen. although i have seen some great ones in my day. i'm not going to divulge into specifics, because i don't want to give away anyone's costumes, but please please please, get creative with it! especially for monster bash '08...because it is going to wow you like you've never been wow'ed in your life or afterlife!

what can you expect? making the most difficult decision of your life...should i be a jar of mustard or an owl?

8. Prop Purchasing. Nothing gives me a greater thrill than ebaying/party citying/party boxing/amazoning/etc for props and decor for monster bash and house decorating. seriously. nothing. i get giddy about it. last year, my two favorite purchases were 6 foot tall jason voorhees and a lot of 12 bloody heads/arms/legs from ebay. seriously, nothing makes me happier than finding a great prop for monster bash. N-O-T-H-I-N-G.

what can you expect? blowing half of your salary to bid on that great spitting debbie prop

9. Scary Music. This makes or breaks the party. Do you go lighthearted with "Monster Mash"? Do you take it movietown with "Ghostbusters theme"? Do you go obscure with weird orchestrated music? Do you take the sound effect route? It's your call. Make it count.

what can you expect? moans, groans, cat's screeching, bubbling cauldrons, and the monster mash

10. Fog. Face it, without fog, you don't have anything. Fog makes a party spooky. I almost wish all events could include fog....actually, if you think about it...they kind of do...they just call it "smoke machine". same thing, if you ask me.

what can you expect? allergic friends, people not being able to see, the spoOoOoky aura of halloween filling your room!


well, I think that's good enough for now...still looking for more? go to my new fave place: GOOGHOUL.COM (Get it? Google-gooooooghoul? hahaha genius!) type your zip code in and find some frightening fun near you!