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For a novice event planner, nothing is more daunting than the question, “Mom, can I have a Halloween party?” There are Halloween decorations, costumes, recipes and activities to plan, which can be a big task.

To throw the best party, try to keep the group small (10 is ideal) and organize Halloween fun games. Whether you’re planning for a teenager, a pre-teen or a young child, there are a number of fun and affordable games to keep the entertainment rolling!

Or perhaps you’re looking for fun Halloween party games for teens. Don’t feel daunted in your quest for “the cool factor” with this age group, as they’re a lot easier to impress than you may think! One mother said she sent out a story starter with the party invitations and asked the kids to write a creepy ending to be judged at the event.

She said the stories were so funny, gross and fascinating that they reread them each year! Given the popularity of YouTube and viral videos, and how tech savvy kids are these days, you may also want to have a “Blair Witch Project Style Film Festival,” asking each kid to write and film a five-minute horror movie to be screened at the party.

Or if you’d like, you can make this a party activity by assembling old costume accessories and writing down movie ideas, letting kids pick out of a hat. Give each team 20 minutes to film their own movie as the other kids do another activity, waiting for their turn.

Halloween hide-h-go-seek can be terrifying when the seeker is dressed up like a horrifying monster, creepy music is playing in the background and those caught have to lay on the floor like vampires in their coffins. Board games are always a howling good time for teenagers as well.

One of the best Halloween Party games for adults is the “murder mystery dinner.” Each party member will receive an advance invitation with instructions on the role they’ll be playing. In your kit, you’ll receive instructions on Halloween recipes to cook, what Halloween decorations to set up and even how to dress.

Usually, character booklets, scripts and CD or DVDs will guide you through the plot to discover whodunnit. A few recommended murder mystery games include: “Lethal Luau Murder Mystery Party Game” with a Hawaiian theme, “A Taste for Wine and Murder” with a Hollywood theme or “A Murder on the Grill” with a summer of 1950s theme. All are from Bepuzzled.

To read more Halloween Party Night Games

If you’re looking for Halloween decorations, then you’ll need to plan wisely if you’re on a budget. Many people add pieces to the Halloween decor each year, buying one big-ticket item, like zombie animatronics or a full-sized coffin and several haunted house accessories, like body parts, pictures and banners. If you will be having a Halloween party this year, then vamped up decorations are essential to creating the right ambiance! Oh, and don’t forget the creepy sound effects!

Would you like the Halloween theme of your party to be old-fashioned Halloween horror? Then visit www.oldfashionhalloween.com for some timeless classic Halloween decorations. Artist Ronda makes impressive glass ornaments with old scientific sketches of small human and animal skeletons for just $10, as well as hand-painted pillows of antique witch photos for $30.

You’ll also love artist Coleen McIntyre’s Halloween magnets, shiverbones postcards designed by Matthew Kirscht and Michael Bogfiglio, and paintings by Nicolas Caesar, which will make especially great prizes for a teen Halloween costume party!

At www.oldfashionhalloween.com, you’ll find paper decorations, table settings, candles, prize bags, lights, jack-o-lanterns, sculptures, signs, noise makers, magnets, games and many more items that are perfect for kids parties, all at very reasonable prices that will allow you to deck your house out for less than $100.

Last, but certainly not least, consider how the Halloween music and Halloween horror sound effects can really help set the tone for your Halloween party. If you’re looking for a huge selection of CDs, then check out www.goregalore.com, which offers some scene-specific soundtracks, such as chainsaws, industrial machinery sound effects, cemetery sounds, thunder and rain, night creatures, demonic whispers, zombie attacks, pipe organ music, creepy carnival, dark orchestral or Danny Elfman inspired soundtracks.

To read more The Halloween Theme Of Your Party

It’s Halloween Night. The sexy costumes have been purchased, the Halloween recipes are made and the Halloween decorations are up. The only question remains, “What happens once all the people get here?”

It can be bad news to have everyone standing around in costumes with nothing to do but make the same host of remarks about everyone’s costumes again and again for several painstaking hours. The best Halloween parties have some sort of theme in mind and a few key activities planned.

A Halloween Night craft party is another great idea for the artistically-minded. Kid parties are made easy when you check out all the Halloween fun craft kits at www.orientaltrading.com for foam Halloween magnets, Halloween necklaces, suction cup Halloween characters and more.

Pumpkin decorating and scarecrow building are two of the most popular craft parties for kids and can be easily arranged via the nearest craft supply shop. For teenagers or adults, you may be interested to know that www.goregalore.com and www.monstermakers.com have kits for building authentic Halloween masks and corpse Halloween decorations, although these may take several gatherings and a few months to complete.

Don’t kid yourself. The #1 thing people look forward to when it comes to parties is the food. If your food stinks, then your party will stink, even if people have no other way to spend their Halloween Night. Appetizers like bacon water chestnut rolls, hummus platters, olive puffs, spiced pumpkin seeds, black bean chili, cornbread muffins and popcorn balls work great.

For the main course, you can go with goulash, pulled pork sandwiches or meatloaf, if you’d like. The website www.epicurious.com also recommends devilish eggs, deviled ham, roasted deviled potatoes, deviled fried chicken, black linguine with orange and red peppers, braised short ribs and roasted golden nugget squash.

You may want to go with a pumpkin pie dessert, devil’s food cake, creepy Halloween decorations made with a Jell-O mold or tarantula cookies.

To read more Halloween Night Movie And Dinner Party

Babies love to cuddle, which is why the costume you choose for your newborn should be a bunting. These soft one-piece costumes are perfect for newborns and babies up to six months of age who lie in your arms and ride in strollers.

Since these costumes are like swaddling in a blanket, your baby’s not likely to make a huge fuss that there are no legs. Once your baby starts to thrash around or stand on his or her own two feet, then it’s probably time to retire that adorable baby bunting Halloween costume design.

For your toddler, newborn or infant, whether they are walking or not, visit www.anniescostumes.com for the costume you want. The sizes there are easily separated into newborn, newborn walker, infant of 12-24 Month and toddler 2T-4T. You’ll melt browsing the selection of adorable plush baby and toddler costumes.

There are Baby Einstein characters, a Shrek bunting, soft pink and blue bunnies, baby bees or baby bats, and all are just a little bit cuter than what you can find on other sites.

Also, there are some really creative costumes that aren’t elsewhere, such as the creative money sack “Billion Dollar Baby” costume, a “Dazzling Baby Flower,” a “Baby Strawberry,” a “Little Trees Car Freshener” costume, the “Mini Muscle Man” costume, a “Tootsie Roll” or “Sugar Babies” candy bunting, a “Jack in the Box” bunting, the “Chili Pepper” suit and the “Sunflower” bunting. Toddler costumes like “Captain America,” “Chewbacca,” “Winnie the Pooh” and “Baby Thomas the Tank” really stand out.

The costume you choose should be something your toddler can feel excited about. For example, at www.zoogster.com, the adorable “Our Lil’ Frankenstein,” licensed by Universal Studios, has a big headpiece to make your toddler squeal with laughter when he looks in the mirror. At www.babystyle.com, the colorful “Proud as a Peacock” toddler costume appeals to imaginative toddlers who will be dazzled by the soft fur, multi-color stripes and fancy velveteen tail!

What better way to show off and have some Halloween fun? Little infants will like the “Peas in the Pod” costume from www.onestepahead.com because they can grab onto the big fuzzy peas. Your trip to a costume shop should be fun as you take this opportunity to show off your little bundle of joy.

To read more The Costume For Halloween Babies

As you hold the flashlight beneath your chin, eerily illuminating your face, you glance around the semi-circle of kids holding onto marshmallows and sticks over the camp fire, and some are intently staring at you with wide eyes, others looking around at their friends for support.

Telling ghost stories is one of the oldest pastimes in the world; a way of exorcising our anxieties and deepest fears through a cathartic tale. If you’re looking for another ghost story to tell around a campfire, then here are some suggestions for all different ages and scare levels.

If you want to get your adult fix of ghostly stories this Halloween, then you’ll get chills reading “The Shining” by the master of macabre, Stephen King. “Books of Blood” by Clive Barker offers a collection of short stories that will get you in the mood for Halloween horror.

Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories are timeless classics that will never lose their appeal, causing shivers to creep down your spine and your heart beat to rise. Also recommended are “The Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton,” “Dagon and Other Macabre Tales” by HP Lovecraft, “Cold Hand In Mine: Strange Stories” by Robert Aickman and “Ghost Story” by Peter Straub.

For some people, ghostly stories aren’t enough. Now there is a whole cultural phenomenon surrounding the idea of ghost hunters, as seen on the TV show by the same name. Some avid paranormal enthusiasts use books of ghost stories as launching points for ghost hunting expeditions of their own.

They’ll visit Alcatraz, Amityville, The Winchester House, Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery, the Lemp Mansion, the Viscilla Ax Murder House, the Old Slave House on Hickory Hill, Bobby Mackey’s Music World, Myrtles Plantation and Gettysburg.

To read more Ghost Stories For A Halloween Night

Child safety is a parent’s #1 concern, so it’s only natural that parents are especially apprehensive and protective of their children on October 31st, when their kids come in contact with numerous, total strangers.

However, some joke that the biggest danger is kids overstuffing themselves with Halloween candy, getting sick and getting fat. There are many stories surrounding Halloween that have been circulating for decades, but how many of them are actually true?

Another Halloween safety fear is that razor blades, pins or needles may appear in children’s Halloween candy. However, this fear is largely unsubstantiated. Professor Joel Best reports that he’s tracked at least 80 cases of sharp objects inserted into food since 1959 and all of them were hoaxes. Only ten cases resulted in injury that required a trip to the hospital or stitches, he added.

Follow ups indicated that nearly all the cases were actually just pranks from the children or the parents. Even so, harsh prison terms were imposed in Canada, New Jersey and New York following razor blade laced apples in the 1960s, and many airports went so far as to suggest parents bring their kids’ candy to their x-ray machines for safety’s sake.

To keep kids safe this Halloween, parents should accompany all children under the age of 12 (at ideally a 4:1 ratio). Older children should have an appropriate curfew and should be required to take cell phones and flashlights. Be sure kids costumes fit well and do not have dangling strings that could cause kids to trip and fall. If pumpkin carving is part of the family ritual, then the kids should decorate the pumpkins with black magic markers and leave the actual carving to adults.

Flashlights or bulbs should then be used to light up the pumpkin, rather than a flammable candle. By taking appropriate safety measures, parents and kids can have a truly safe and spooky night.

To read more Halloween Tall Stories

When October 31st rolls around, it seems that all the girls are prancing around in scantily-clad sexy costumes and all the guys are wandering aimlessly, staring at eye-candy, while wearing their last-minute, thrown-together garb.

How many guys have you seen dressed up as a beer keg or women wearing Halloween costumes portraying nurses, police officers or Playboy bunnies? We can do better than this. Whether you’re prepared to make your own ensemble, seek out a movie character or find a group theme, there is an original costume for you.

If you are brave and resilient, then you may want to choose Halloween masks and costume accessories to complete your look this year. The scariest Halloween costumes usually involve masks, whether you’re a pumpkin monster, a vampire or a terrifying clown.

At www.halloweenmask.com, you will find the best selection of original, high-quality Halloween masks for all price ranges and objectives. Have you ever wondered what it’d be like to be Barack Obama, John McCain, Mitt Romney, Hillary or Bill Clinton, George or Laura Bush, Al Gore, Dennis Rodman, Bill Gates, Mike Tyson, Tiger Woods, David Letterman, Donald Trump, Tupac, Jay Leno or Tony Blair?

All these masks are available for less than $30. If you’re looking for the real deal in film studio-grade masks, then you can buy a Planet of the Apes mask for $250, Jeepers Creepers for $130, a signed mask from The Fly for $250, Slimer for $200 or a large Alien collector’s mask for $500.

If you’re making Halloween costumes this year, then be sure to start in advance. Make a list of items you’ll need and reference with your closet. Then it’s shopping time. Hit the thrift store first for old cheesy suits, out-of-date styles and uniforms, the army surplus store second for jumpsuits or military accessories, the dollar store third for odds and ends accessories, the fabric store fourth for sewing fabrics, velcro or felt and the Halloween costume store for wigs, make-up and hard-to-procure items last.

Generally, the time and effort it takes to make your own costume design will pay off greatly because no one at the party will look just like you!

To read more Halloween Costumes And Masks Online

For some adults, handing out Halloween candy is a happy Halloween and for others, it’s winning a costume contest. Whether you’ve organized a theme party with decorations and food or you’ve just settled before the fire to read a ghost story with the kids, there is a fun tradition for everyone this October. “Variety is the spice of life,” the old adage says, so why not try something different this Halloween?

To make this a particularly happy Halloween, why not plan a special family vacation to see a special Halloween attraction? At Universal Studios and Disney each October, there are a number of spectacular displays. Universal’s “Fangoria Weekends of Horror” will give you intense haunted house displays galore and it was rated one of the best theme park destinations for Halloween, along with Knotts Berry Farm and Tampa Busch Gardens.

Greenwich Village in New York City has an annual Halloween parade and street festival beginning at 7pm Halloween night. On Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood, you’ll see an impressive annual Halloween Carnival extravaganza. Salem and Philadelphia have special historical haunted ghost tours if you dare.

At www.hauntworld.com/page_2007.htm you can find a list of some of the best Halloween attractions around America. If you’d rather stay local, then check for haunted hayrides, haunted houses, corn mazes or walks for ghost hunters in your area.

Perhaps your happy Halloween is diminished by fear after all. You’re worried about the kids on their trick or treat mission in the dark. You worry that you’ll run out of cupcakes at the party. You fear vandals will trash your house with eggs and toilet paper. Take a deep breath and realize that Halloween is statistically no more dangerous than any other night.

Be sure your kids carry flashlights, stick together, wear reflective tape and cross together at crosswalks. Share with them the very real traffic concern and let them know they’ll have to take the adults with them if they can’t follow your rules.

When planning a party, understand that not everything will be perfect and you can’t guarantee that everyone will partake in the Halloween fun. Keep realistic expectations and relax with some witches brew!

To read more Happy Halloween With A Scary Party