Halloween News Network

We don't want to bore you with news that's just not new...in fact..it's pretty old...but we found these fun-facts too interesting to let slip by.... Ever wonder why costumes are worn on Halloween? The ancient Celts thought that spirits and ghosts roamed the countryside on Halloween night. They began wearing masks and costumes to avoid being recognized as human. Tootsie Rolls were the first wrapped penny candy in America. Jack o’ Lanterns originated in Ireland where people placed candles in hollowed-out turnips to keep away spirits and ghosts on the Samhain holiday. More than 35 million pounds of candy corn will be produced this year. That equates to nearly 9 billion pieces – enough to circle the moon nearly 4 times if laid end-to-end. And for my taste...they can go ahead and send that candy corn into space. Blech!

Forget the candy poisoning on Halloween...if you seen our previous story, you know that it's an urban myth. What is NOT a myth is the spreading of a lot of germs on Halloween...that can easily get your kids or you down with a cold. Bring along a small bottle of that germ killer gel... you can apply it maybe every 2 or three blocks if necessary. Remember....it keeps working while on the hands,,,so there's no need to get carried away. Just remember....a lot of kids pick up candy and throw it back into the bowl. Now that's a Halloween Horror!

One of my favorite haunts before Halloween hits is the dollar store or the thrift store. Aside from getting you costume at the thrift store, there's so many great things you can get. From the thrift store, get a bunch of clear glass-wear and set up you own mad scientist scene by filling them with colored water and perhaps running a fish-tank air hose into a couple. The dollar or 99 cent store is a goldmine for candles and cheap Halloween decorations. I always thought it was a good place to haunt....but I went in the other day and found out that they have really gone ALL OUT. I saw decorations in there that i've never seen in the pricey Halloween stores. Many were perfect as-is. Some were great to use in other projects. And the best part is, you never have to flip over that scary price-tag and get sticker shock. Everything is a buck! Now that's Ghoul!

If you really want to go the extra yard this Halloween, discriminate with your treats! Parents can't wait to drag...I mean bring...their infants and toddlers trick or treating....but who on earth would give a 1 year old a hard candy or chocolate bar? Oh sure...the parents' secret plan is to eat it...nice try....you can thwart their efforts by having a few infant-friendly treats like animal crackers or teddy grahams or other soft cookies or crackers. Most companies now make these in single serving packs for taking to school...why not take 'em to Ghoul!?

If you're a real neighbor pleaser....you can get in good with everybody and be the talk of the graveyard if you have a little folding table outside on the lawn with your own little coffee station for the neighbors. Maybe even hot chocolate for the kids. People will be just dying for a drink at about this time! Perhaps also keep a tub of those tiny party-sized waters handy. You will be the toast of the town. Just keep your little adult lemonade stand away from the doorway...I set mine up at the end of the walk where all of the parents usually congregate while there little monsters head for the door! Who said treats are only for the kids?

I can't tell you how many people's yards scare me these days....and NOT in a good way. They have cool decorations, but then they use big old white flood lights and wash the whole place out! REAL SCARY folks. The christmas crowd is usually the worst! Here's a few simple tips: 1) USE Color spot or flood lights. GREEN is a perfect color for Halloween 2) If you can find 'em, choose a SPOT LIGHT rather than a FLOOD light. The box will say what it is. Believe ir or not, they are different. Flood lights will FLOOD the area with light whereas spot lights will direct the beam towards whatever you want to be illuminated. That way you can still keep other areas dark...and the contrast in the yard will be spooktacular!

Up until now...One of the most Fangtastic ghostly illusions could be seen almost exclusively in professional haunted houses like the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland...the illusion is seeing ghosts transparently floating about. Did you know that this trick...also known as "Pepper's Ghost" from a stage play in the 1800s, is also where the term "smoke and mirrors" came from? Well..hold tight...because now you can do this crowd stopping blow-em-away trick at home without Smoke OR mirrors...and you will not need actors like the old days. Now...all you need is just a piece of inexpensive plastic and a TV set for the image! The trick is done by reflecting the image from the TV in the plastic. The viewers can see right through the image. It's a knock out every time! You can video tape yourself in scary make-up for playback on Halloween...or you can use the awesome effects images from BigScreamTV.com. If you want all the gorey details on how to do this yourself all for free, register at BoooItYourself.com and watch the complete how-to web program available with all of the other free goodies and projects. It's the coolest trick ever...making a monster head float in mid-air like a hologram or ha..like a ghost!

And now for a message from our sponsor! We simply must disclose that our parent company makes this music---but it's news in the form of a shameless plug that people simply must hear about! It really is NEWS for Halloween. New Music, Finally! You know...Christmas has its own soundtrack and music....all of those Christmas Carols....but what about Halloween? Don't say it! Okay...the Monster Mash...one song from 50 years ago. I love it too...but after exactly 13 repititions, I'm dying for something different. Well...get a load of this: HALLOWEEN SCAROLS! Now that's clever!!! You can get 10 bone tapping tunes... a few are so "hip" that even your teen might enjoy them....I know that's a stretch but hey! Check 'em out. There's ten tunes including "Oh Pumpkin Patch," "Haunt the Halls," and "We Wish You A Happy Halloween." There's even two raps including "Count Rapula!" It's time to "Kick it..Old Ghoul!..and get "in the know" about Halloween music!

If you want an all-around awesome Halloween party without leaving a single thing out, then be sure replace the labels on your wine bottles with crafty Bottled Blood labels. For older kids and teens, use grape juice or non-alcoholic wine bottles. These labels are bloody terrific! Your guests will get a blood curdling kick when they notice your serving up your best reserve of Red and white Blood for the vampires to feast on! The puns are never ending: Taste this one: A Bloodeaux from the Veinyard...with a Full Body aroma! We have created 13 labels for you to freely download. Mix and match. The more labels, the more entertainment for the guests! Choose from favorites like: Thurston Bledwell Veinyards' Bloodeaux or Capillary SauVEINuan. Or perhaps Count Bloodstone's Hemo Noir. We also have white wines covered like: Lilly of the Valley White Corpulsel reserve and Sparkling Plasma! All you need do is download the labels from www.BooItYourself.com/wine Print your favorites with an inkjet or other color printer. Print the labels on either inkjet paper that has the adhesive on the back (for making labels) or you can use spray glue or spray mount to attach regular paper. If you do not use the adhesive label paper, you will have many types of paper to choose from. You can choose different colors or fancy paper with textures. Most copy shops will even sell these to you in individual sheets and they will have a little binder full of selections to choose from. Once you’ve chosen your paper and the labels, simply print the labels, cut them out, and paste them on. What a marvelous display and surprise they will make to top off the party! This is an extra “bite” of entertainment that will be a real scream at your “you’ve thought of everything” Halloween party! BLOODY Amazing, mate!

Here's a remotely interesting lighting tip for every holiday. Did you know you can easily turn on or off all of your holiday lights with the push of a single remote control button?! It's true! I've watched people run from room to room all over the house indoors and out bending over and plugging their illuminated decorations into wall sockets. You won't have to stoop that low if you want to invest in a set of X-10 Control Units. They're not dirt cheap, but you can use them for Halloween, Christmas, parties, or all the year long. You can get started for around 50 to 75 bucks...and these devices will serve you for years to come! You'll need at least one PLUG-IN RF UNIT. This is the "Base" module. You can plug one set of lights into it. This is usually ($20). You'll also need the a remote control which may be 12 to 20 dollars. You can usually buy the base with 1 remote as a package deal. for around 30 dollars. For each area that you would normally plug lights into, you will need another different type of module. We recommend an X10 Appliance Module 3-Pin . These are typically ($10). Nowadays for all you super geeks... You can even get an Iphone or I-pad apps to control these babies...and you can get really fancy controlling different rooms and adding other modules like dimmer modules and timers. But let's get back to our story for us simple boys and ghouls. When you have your base, remote control, and appliance modules, Just follow the instructions that come with each device. It should be as simple as 1) put batteries in the remote. 2) Plug in the base module into a wall socket. You may also plug in the lights in that room that you want to control INTO the base module. 3) Go to another room or location. Plug the appliance module into the wall socket. Plug the lights that are nearby into that module. 4) Make sure that the control dials on every device are at the same settings so that your remote will control these devices. Now...with the press of the on or off button, you can control all of your lights! A tip on where to get these: Locally at Radio Shack, Fry's electronics, or most electronics centers. or, search on-line for the best deal. X10.com and Smarthome.com are two popular sellers. I love these things! I never have to leave the couch or my candy bowl!

In the news this season I can't stress enough the bountiful fall harvest that you can get at the dollar store. It's the most boo-per-buck out there! You can get stuff for Halloween Illusions, Halloween Parties, Halloween Effects, Halloween Lights, Halloween multi-media! Need I go on? Most of the dollar stores (or 99 cent stores) will have those cheap jack-o-lantern treat buckets. (This application is probably far safer than using those things to hold edible candy!) They're usually close to a foot in diameter with the usual orange plastic container, black eyes and a black carrying strap. We can covert a pile of these into a great walkway illuminator! Get maybe ten or so. Take one of your strings of clear C7 Christmas lights. You're going to use these to make a string of illuminated pumpkins. Get the tool wielder of the house to drill some 1/2 inch holes in the bottom center of each plastic jack-o-lantern. Then unscrew every second or thrid c7 bulb from the string, put the jack-o-lantern on the string, and rescrew the bulb back in. With the light sockets in between, either insert orange c7 bulbs, or unscrew the lights so they do not light up. Place your string-o-lanterns at the edge of your sidewalk or driveway for decoration and safety illumination! Hey, those guys look like my cousins...the octuplets!

Tonight we shed some light on a cool trick. Have you ever wondered how you can inexpensively and eerily flicker and flutter the lights in your castle ...or home? Sure, there's super expensive light flicker devices out there, but if you want to cheaply flicker your lights to create either a faltering electrical power look with indoor or outdoor lights... or you want to create a flickering fire effect, then listen up.

If you are using black-light for cool glowing stuff…this is a MUST! Make a glowing walkway!!! What’s particularly wild about this effect is that we are used to walking on dark (non-illuminated) surfaces, so when we introduce a glowing, luminescent walkway, it’s almost like you feel like you’re “hovering” as you walk. You don’t feel “secure” or “grounded!” It’s a little disorienting. It’s a GREAT feeling to give to your Halloween guests! Keep ‘em a little “off balance."

Hey, I love candy on Halloween, but who said that treats must be candy? There are some cool alternatives...and NO I am not talking about handing out cards or pamphlets or even crayons. That's as bad as socks on Christmas morning. Here's some better ideas: Play-Doh ---they now have treat sized containers. Now that's Ghoul! Also hand out your piles of loose change...you know...the coins. I have drawers full of coins. You can also hand out party favors like poppers and small toys from the party stores. The parents are going to love you....at least until they step on those jacks.

Welcome to the Frightly Evening News--I'm Justin Grave, and I'm thrilled to report that there's one totally free no-cost, stupendous Halloween decoration that everyone should have, and very few do. Dead Tree branches! Use small ones inside to add to centerpieces and arrangements, but also get some larger branches to tie up outside around your entry ways. The size is only limited by your strength and the size of your car. Scout out the streets...you'll suddenly be amazed at how many are lying around dead out there! Here' a tip...bring along a portable battery saw or hacksaw. You can do some on-the-scene chopping and hacking to make sure your limbs fit in the car or truck...the tree limbs too!..ha..I kill me! Anyways... Once at home in arrangements or fastened to outdoor fixtures,' you can add spider webbing for even more Halloween Decoration Fun. decorating trees does not have to be just for Christmas! Go out on a limb this Halloween! (Who writes this stuff?)