Costumes to pull makeup ideas from. I plan on being Lil Red Ridding Hood this Halloween.
Halloween is a holiday celebrated on the night of October 31st. It is celebrated with Halloween parties and kids going house to house going trick or treating. It is celebrated in the US and in other parts of the world like the United Kingdom and Canada.
How Halloween is celebrated today goes back to the time when ancient pagans believed that October 31 is the day when the boundary between the living and the dead dissolves. Since the dead could cause harm to those who are living, people will go out into the streets wearing costumes and masks to ward off the evil spirits.
But that was then and now, we simply do it for fun. Weeks before Halloween, people would go out and by costumes. The most saleable ones are the skeletons, ghosts, vampires, witches and devils. If you have the time, you can make your own costume based on a television show or movie.
One study shows that of the people surveyed, more than half of the American public plan to buy a costume for Halloween even if it costs $10 more than it did last year. This means that sales will reach more than $6 billion from a little over $5 billion last year.
People in the Halloween spirit will also put up decorations in their homes like carved pumpkins, skeletons and candles.
During parties, aside from the food and drinks, several games are played. The most common is dunking or bobbing for apples in which applies that are floating in a tub or large basin are picked up by the participants using their teeth.
Another is to eat syrup coated scones that is hanging by a string. Again, you have to eat it without using your hands.
If you don’t want to go to party and do something daring, try going with a few friends and visit a haunted house. Many people don’t do this literally when they can have fun visiting a theme park that has something special for the occasion.
The favorite fruit during Halloween is the apple because it comes during the wake of the harvest season. You can eat it directly or have this mixed with sticky syrup and nuts.
Other countries celebrate Halloween differently. In most Asian countries, the people put food and water as well as a lantern so those who have departed will have something to eat, drink and a lighted path as they travel the earth during Halloween night. In Czechoslovakia, chairs are placed by the fireside on Halloween night. Each chair represents a living member and those who have passed on. The Swedes simply give students a day-off and a shortened working day for the employees.
But paying homage to the dead is what most countries do during Halloween. In fact, the day after which is November 1, is considered to be All Saint’s Day while the 2nd is called All Soul’s Day. This is done to commemorate those who are in purgatory with the hope of being cleansed of their sins so they may go to heaven.
For most children and adults, Halloween is simply a time to have fun with friends and family. They can go around getting candy by moving from one house to the next while the grown ups will go to a party where there is a lot of food and drinks.
Halloween is one of the most celebrated occasions of the year. Aside from commemorating departed loved ones, Halloween can also be a venue to have fun in a spooky and enjoyable way.
But, to ensure that you will be having a Halloween party blast, you must familiarize yourself with the things that you need to do in organizing one. This is very important to ensure that you as well as your guest will be satisfied and will be having lots of fun!
Organizing a Halloween party
Organizing a Halloween party can be as easy as 1-2-3 if you know the basics. To make sure that this will be a successful one, try conducting a simple research on the things that you can use, tips, and other preparations to make the event easier for you.
In organizing a Halloween party, the first thing that you need to do is to make a simple list of the people you will be inviting. This will serve as a major determinant about the outcome of your party because the interests of these people will help you decide which particular theme to use and their number will determine where you will be holding the venue, the amount of food to be prepared and the like.
Once you have a draft of the list of people who will be attending the Halloween party, you can now proceed in sending the invitation. The means of sending the Halloween party invitations will depend on the preference of the people you will be inviting. If the people who will be invited access the Internet regularly, it is best if you send them online invitations. You can search the Net for various patterns of electronic invites and customize it if you have time. You can visit websites like the “Evite” and “Sendomatic” where you can design grand Halloween-themed invitations for free.
But, if you’re friends are more into the traditional invites, you can send them invitation cards which can either be ready made or customized for them. You can find ready-made invitations in the bookstore or make your own by buying raw materials and unleash your creativity in making Halloween-themed invites.
After making or sending your invitations, it is now time to think of the decorations that you will use. Since it is a Halloween party, the usual decorations should be present such as the Jack-o-lantern, skeletons, monsters, witches, and other popular Halloween characters. You can come up with you own theme and make your own decorations if you want to. If you don’t have time to be hands-on on the decorations, you can but these in bookstores and specialty stores. These ready-made decorations will save you time and effort and can allow you to pay attention to the other details of your party.
The next thing that you should pay attention to is the food that you will be preparing. The set of food will depend on the time that you will be holding the party. Since most Halloween parties are usually held at night, you will have to consider a dinner menu. When it comes to food, it will be your option to mix light and heavy meals, which can satisfy everyone.
Just make sure that all of the food-from the appetizer, soup, main course, drinks, and dessert-will be Halloween-themed. Meaning they should come in Halloween colors such as black, orange, and green.
Setting the right atmosphere is important for any holiday, but it is especially important for Halloween. Halloween decorations, costumes, and of course candy are what make a good Halloween party. Nonetheless, one of the most often neglected elements of the Halloween decorating is also one of the most important ones. Put on a tape of free Halloween sound effects and you’re guaranteed to get people into the spirit of the holiday. Without it, Halloween just won’t quite feel right.
There are plenty of different kinds of Halloween sound effects. If you are having trick-or-treaters come to your house, you should get the creaky door haunted house kind of sound effects tapes that are so popular with kids. No matter how many years go by, kids always love these. As little kids, they find the spooky noises to be genuinely terrifying. As teenagers, they think they are amusing but cool nonetheless. Even adults like them.
Then again, Halloween music can make a great alternative to Halloween sound effects. There are plenty of different kinds of Halloween music out there. One of the most popular kinds, of course, is the science fiction theremin dominated electronic Halloween sound effects music. Get a CD of music by the band Goblins, for example, or anything else that features prominently in the Italian horror films. Then again, classical or especially baroque music can often be quite appropriate on Halloween. Night on Bald Mountain is just one example of a composition that people associate with the holiday. I personally prefer the organ music of Bach. Passacaglia is especially creepy, although the Tocatta in Fugue has a certain timelessness when it comes to Halloween.
Sometimes, I like to mix up the different Halloween sound effects. I will start with a sound effects Halloween cd early on in the evening, Move on to some Italian horror music, and ends everything on a nice classical note with some organ concertos. You can also put things on randomizers, so that you never know what weird Halloween track is about to come on. Some people even like to use modern electronic music designed for Halloween. I have heard some pretty spooky rave music in my time which incorporates interviews with serial killers, old news reels, and sounds from horror movies. This can be a little bit scary for kids, so you should watch who you expose to it. There is always cute ghost music for younger listeners.
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