Adult Halloween Costumes: Why should kids have all the fun?

Fearful Films: Find lists of Halloween-related classics…and perhaps a stinker or two as well.

Halloween.com: A one-stop shop for history, safety tips, costumes and links to haunted houses.

Halloween Ghost Stories: All kinds of chilling tales to help put a fright into the night.

Halloween Online: Providing how-to articles, product reviews and useful links for more than a decade.

Halloween Safety Guide: Keep the big night safe for you and your kids.

Halloween Screen Savers: Help your computer get into the act.

Halloween Tombstones: Find out where to buy ‘em, or learn how to make your own.

Hauntworld.com: Touts the best haunted houses in all 50 states.

History Channel Halloween: The roots of Halloween stretch back thousands of years.

Pumpkin Carving 101: It’s not as easy as it looks, so get hints on how to make your efforts count.

Wanda’s Halloween Cookbook: Even a frightened person has to eat.

Yard Haunter: All kinds of advice on how to make your yard an “unforgetable” experience.

Related lists:

• Best Horror Film Scenes
• Top Halloween Movies
• Top 10 Horror Movie Franchises That Will Never Die
• William Friedkin on 13 Must-See Horror Movies
• Top Haunted Houses
• Great Places To Sleep With A Ghost

Go to Original Six’s Green Halloween page for more details:

1. Make your own costume from reusable/recyclable materials or thrift store purchases.

2. Make your own decorations from reusable/recyclable materials.

3. Send party invitations by email rather than using paper.

4. Look for fair trade and/or organic treats with natural coloring and flavoring.

5. Use cloth or canvas bags (or pillowcases) for collecting candy, rather than paper or plastic.

6. Compost your food waste after the party.

7. If possible, walk, bike, carpool or take public transportation to and from parties.

8. Trick or treat for a good cause.

9. Use beeswax or soy candles instead of paraffin-based ones.

10. Save candy wrappers and dispose of them properly – don’t litter!

The phrase started with the first Saw movie back in 2005, followed by an annual Saw flick every October. Even now, Saw V draws crowds to the ‘plex. But don’t be fooled by the Roman numerals. These are not dignified, classical excursions.

What follows is a splattering of flicks with sharp horror edges — some honorable, some not. But each has an individual scene or an overall style that goes for your throat.

Saw V (2008) boasts an opening that focuses on a sharp pendulum and its graphic after-effects. The first Saw (2004) displayed a character with a “reverse bear trap” attached to her head. Saw II (2005) set a new low in artillery. A baseball bat filled with sharp nails was aimed directly at the victim’s face. As for Saw III (2006), it gleefully depicted brain surgery performed with a power drill, accompanied by the titular saw. Last year’s Saw IV’s highlights included the scalping of a woman, pony-tail first.

Some people insist that these macabre cavalcades of carnage provide an outlet for our darker instincts. A healthier alternative might be therapy or even just a jaunty jog around the block.

When we went searching for the Top Halloween Movies of all-time, Halloween.com seemed like a pretty good place to start. And, yes, the Peanuts gang and the guy with the hockey mask both made the cut (if you’ll pardon the pun).

Here’s the list:

– It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

– Halloween

– The Rocky Horror Picture Show

– Friday the 13th

– The Amityville Horror

– The Shining

– Carrie

– The Fog

– Poltergeist

– Psycho

– Nightmare on Elm Street

– Scream

– The Exorcist

Related lists:

• Best Horror Film Scenes
• Top 10 Horror Movie Franchises That Will Never Die
• William Friedkin on 13 Must-See Horror Movies
• Top Halloween Web Sites
• Top Haunted Houses
• Great Places To Sleep With A Ghost

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First up: Transforming that venue into something just spooky enough to offer a different sort of Halloween experience.

Here’s a list of some of the best of those October makeovers, by way of WeJustGotBack.com.

Mickey’s Trick-Or-Treat Party
Disneyland: Anaheim, CA
Select dates, October 3-31

Brick-or-Treat Trail
LEGOLAND: Carlsbad, CA
Weekends only, October 4-26

Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party
Magic Kingdom: Walt Disney World, FL
September 5 to October 31

Hersheypark in the Dark
Hersheypark: Hershey, PA
Weekends only, October 17 to November 2

Fright Fest
Six Flags Theme Parks: Nationwide
Weekends in October

Halloween Horror Nights
Universal Orlando Resort: Orlando, FL
Select dates, September 26 to November 1

Universal Studios
Universal City, CA
Select dates, October 3 to November 1

Knott’s Scary Farm Halloween Haunt
Knott’s Berry Farm: Buena Park, CA
Select dates, September 25 to November 1

To read more about these, visit WeJustGotBack.com.

Related lists:

• Best Horror Film Scenes
• Top Halloween Movies
• Top 10 Horror Movie Franchises That Will Never Die
• William Friedkin on 13 Must-See Horror Movies
• Top Halloween Web Sites
• Top Haunted Houses
• Great Places To Sleep With A Ghost

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Halloween is a time of play, decorations, dress-up and trick-or-treating. But with this excitement comes the risk of fires and burns from ignition sources such as candles and jack-o-lanterns, if they come into even momentary contact with certain Halloween costumes.

The National Association of State Fire Marshals (NASFM) provides fire safety tips in the hopes of reducing fires and burn injuries during Halloween festivities. Follow this costume safety advice from NASFM:

• Avoid flowing and loose-fitting costumes, as well as masked and over-the-head designs, which can impede vision or make removal difficult in the event of fire. Costumes that are snug or form-fitting are less likely to come into contact with ignition sources, and children are also less likely to trip over them while walking.
• Look for labels that indicate the costume is made of flame-resistant materials. These costumes, if they come into contact with a flame, are supposed to stop burning if the flame is removed.
• If you cannot find a label indicating flame resistance, choose costumes that are made primarily of polyester or nylon fabric. Such fabrics typically do not ignite from a small flame and if they do, the resulting fire may burn slowly and readily extinguish. If you are making costumes from scratch, choose polyester or nylon fabrics for greater flame resistance.
• Costumes made from cotton, rayon, acetate or their blends can be more dangerous because these fabrics are inherently more flammable. If not treated to be flame resistant, such costumes may ignite quickly if they brush across or into a small open flame or very hot surface. Avoid costumes made of these types of fabrics.
• The addition of fake fur, stringy strands, lace trim, ornamentation, added padding and foam, imprinted or stenciled designs and flimsy material can make any costume more flammable and increase a wearer’s fire risk. Such designs should be avoided.
• Always supervise children as they go trick or treating, taking special care to avoid lit candles and jack-o-lanterns, high heat or flaming decorations.
• If a costume does catch fire, remember to “Stop, Drop and Roll.” This serves to keep flames away from the upper body, neck and facial areas. It also helps to slow or reduce flame spread and smother the flames.
• When you decorate for Halloween, use battery operated or electric lights that have been tested for safety by a recognized testing laboratory. Check each set of lights, new or old, for damage. Throw out damaged sets.
• Do not use candles or other open flames, inside or outside. Keep any small open flames away from curtains, decorations or other objects that could catch fire.
• Do not overload extension cords.

For more fire safety information, visit the NASFM web site.

Source: National Association of State Fire Marshals

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The new generation of popular sour candy is more trick than treat, warn dental experts. Most of it contains acid levels so high that it approaches the ph level of battery acid, according to the California Dental Hygienists’ Association (CDHA).

Sour candy comes in dozens of varieties and forms including hard, soft, chewy, gummy, gels, liquid sprays, crystals, foam sprays, powders, cotton candy and chewing gums. Most people think this type of candy is safer because it has less sugar, but they don’t know that the acid content is toward the extreme end of the acidic spectrum.

The CDHA is offering the following tips for this Halloween:

• Avoid, limit or seriously reconsider choosing or eating candy labeled “sour or tart”
• Remember that “sour” means “acid,” which is bad for teeth
• Look for the following acids on the back label of ingredients and avoid them: citric, lactic, malic, tartaric, fumaric, adipic, ascorbic
• Don’t be fooled by “concentrated fruit juice extracts,” which is a code phrase for ingredients that can be highly acidic
• If you choose to consume sour candies, rinse your mouth with water immediately afterwards to reduce the damaging effects from the acids
• DO NOT brush your teeth directly after eating sour candy as the toothbrush and toothpaste are abrasive. This will scratch and will remove more of the already softened enamel

Source: California Dental Hygienists’ Association
Photo: Erika Feltham

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