Is Your Halloween Costume Racist?

I know we've still got MONTHS to go before most people even being thinking about and planning their Halloween costume, but for those of us who want to get an early start....

The guys over at College Humor have compiled this helpful infographic to make sure your costume is socially acceptable in this politically correct world we live in.  I hope you find this as useful as I have!

Graveyard Pudding

Today's Foodie Friday post comes from Party Pinching!  These adorable Graveyard Pudding Cups are super easy to make and are sure to be a hit at any Halloween party.  All you need are chocolate pudding snackpacks, crushed up Oreos, Halloween Peeps, and those weird little pumpkin candies that Brachs makes along with its candy corn each year.  Add them to a graveyard scene cake, complete with cookie/cracker tombstones or simply use your imagination to further embellish these spooky lil' guys!

'Tis Near Halloween!

Ouija Wear

Halloween Party?  Hell, I'd wear this on an average Tuesday, Zozo be damned! 

6 Historic Witchy Documentaries

Salem Witch Trials

I love all the awesome documentaries that can be seen FOR FREE on Youtube!  I've picked six of my favorites regarding the topic of witches, but I'm sure there are plenty more...if you have a favorite, let us know! 

1. The Blitz Witch--The Unexplained:  During the Second World War, Helen Duncan was known throughout England as being a spiritualist and a psychic medium.  But, when the dead started telling her things the government would have liked to have kept secret, she was suspected to be a spy. But, instead of actually trying her for espionage, she became the last person to be jailed under the Witchcraft Act of 1735.

2.The Pendle Witch Child: Nine year old Jennet Device was a key witness in the 1612 Pendle Witch Trials.  Her testimony led to the execution of ten people, including her whole family.  But why did she do it?

3. Witchcraft--Myth and Reality: An interesting cultural look at the history of witchcraft through the ages.

4. Witches: Leonard Nimoy hosts this Ancient Mysteries documentary on witches and witchcraft.

5. Salem Witch Trials: In Search of History takes a look at the unpleasant period in Puritan New England now known as the Salem Witch Trials.  What caused such a panic? Can it happen it again?

6. Witch Hunter's Bible: This National Geographic documentary explores the creation and the impact of the Witch Hunter's Bible, also known as the Malleus Maleficarum. 

Happy Halloween from the Melons!

What better way to say Happy Halloween than some weird little melon dudes brandishing weapons in the direction of a moon pie? I'm pretty sure this Throwback Thursday post comes from another Tuck postcard from the early 1900s...

What's Your Witch Name?

So what's your witch name?  Mine is Bewitched Light.

Halloween Special

Seems legit.  Fair price, too! 

Breakfast, Halloween Style!

Foodie Friday posts have covered spooky Halloween dishes to serve for lunch, dinner, dessert and snacks...but what about that most important meal of the day---breakfast?

Each Halloween season, Krispy Kreme, the BEST donuts on the planet, puts out its annual Krispy Skremes!  These adorable Halloween donuts are a great way to start any spooky morning...but make sure you wash them down with a creepy coffee, too!

I'm really sorry about the suggestive nature of that last coffee ghost, lol.  Anyway, if you don't feel like spending the bucks for the Krispy Kremes, or if you simply just want to take the creativity up a notch in a really simple, yet cute way, try out this next idea.  All you need is a bag of powdered donut holes and some cheap, plastic spider rings!

Easter Monday

Wishing those of you who celebrate it a wonderful Easter Monday! In Poland, today's celebration is known as Dyngus Day...a day where boys chase girls around throwing water on them and whipping them with pussy willows, lol.  I'm going to celebrate in a much more mundane way---by posting these Halloween Easter eggs!

Happy Easter!

It might technically be Easter...and I totally accept and embrace other holidays...but its still Halloween every day of the year here at my house and on Theresa's Halloween Wonderland!  I'm sure you've already seen the Creepy Easter Bunny posts (in fact, you can find some of those photos on my other blog, Theresa's Haunted History of the Tri-State) so I won't bother with those today.  Instead, I hope to bring you some Easter spookiness that perhaps you haven't seen before!  Isn't this totally adorable? Yes, its a bat snuggled with a plush Easter Bunny!

A Halloween Poem

Happy Saturday! I found this beauty over on the Celebrate Halloween Facebook page.

 

Super Easy Halloween Cookies

We've made it to another Foodie Friday!

I don't know about you, but Betty Crocker I am not.  I absolutely hate to bake; I find it messy and time consuming, and just not at all something I enjoy.  However, I do love having Halloween parties and serving up really clever themed treats.  That's why today's post is dedicated to a few of the yummy Halloween goodies that you can make without ever having to turn on the oven!  That's right...take some store bought cookies, and decorate as little or as much as you like for a cute treat that will make people think you're channeling Martha Stewart.

These witch hats are super easy.  Buy a package of Keebler Fudge Stripe cookies (or any generic knock-off with a chocolate coated round bottom) and flip 'em upside down. Get a package of Hershey kisses and attach with icing. You can then add sprinkles, bows, or any other embellishments, or leave as is. Adorable, creative, and no baking required!

Sure everyone loves Oreos, and there's nothing wrong with picking up a bag of Halloween Oreos, pouring them into a fun bowl and calling it a day...but if you want to go an extra step, consider these spider Oreos!  Candy pieces, such as M&Ms, make great eyes, and black rope licorice gives it that final...kick.  If you can't find black rope licorice, use pretzel sticks! From Betty Crocker.

Are spooky ghost cookies more your thing?  Buy a package of Nutter Butters.  Melt a bowl of white chocolate chips or candy melts in the microwave in 30 second bursts, stirring between zaps until melted.  Dip the cookies in and let dry on waxed paper.  Use black icing or brown/chocolate candy pieces for the eyes and add a mouth if you wish.  Delish!

From Sandy Toes and Popsicles

A Vintage Ohio Halloween

Did you enjoy Halloween in West Virginia, a vintage collection of photographs from the Mountain State?  If so, you're sure to like today's Throwback Thursday post as well.  The Ohio Memory Project has an awesome collection of searchable documents, including newspaper archives, historic photographs, and other primary sources.  Of course I had to search the photos for 'Halloween' and was pleasantly surprised at the results!  Here's a few of the photos I found!

This first one is really intriguing.  Apparently, it wasn't in poor taste in Worthington, Ohio, circa 1950 to dress up as HITLER for Halloween...so long as you were doing it to express a popular belief that the Nazi dictator really wasn't dead.  More information can be found HERE.

Here are some slightly more acceptable costumes.  These contestants are awaiting the judges' decision in a Halloween costume contest on October 30, 1937 at Edgemont Elms in Dayton.

This final picture was taken at a Genoa Halloween party around 1900  Although the party-goers have largely decided against wearing costumes, the jack-o-lanterns are spot on!

 * More Halloween photos from the Ohio Memory Project archives! *

Just a Brief Hiatus!

After a brief hiatus, Theresa's Halloween Wonderland is back, ready with plenty of new articles, artwork, recipes, and other Halloween goodies for all of you out there.  Honestly, I don't have an excuse as to why I haven't posted anything in nearly a whole month...except that I've been bored and lazy, lol.  I apologize....but cannot guarantee it won't happen again, so please just bear with me.

This beautiful work is called Halloween Ghost, and its by artist Tom Shropshire. You can find out more about it and purchase a print HERE.

Tiptoe Through the Tombstones

Do you love the history, the art, and everything else about cemeteries and tombstones?  If so, you're a taphophile!  But, if you have a crippling fear of anything associated with graveyards and burials, you could be a coimetrophobic.  Wanna guess which one I am?

Mikael Bertmar/Getty Images

Young Frankenstein

Werewolf?  There, wolf!

I watched Young Frankenstein this weekend, if you couldn't tell!  While this isn't a horror movie by any stretch of the word, its definitely a great movie to watch around Halloween.  The 1974 Mel Brooks classic starring Gene Wilder and a host of other comedy legends was shot entirely in black and white, giving it a certain old world creepiness.  Added to that atmosphere is the fact that much of the lab equipment used by Frankenstein's grandson in the movie was actually created for the 1931 film, Frankenstein. If you haven't seen this one yet, go watch it right now!

 13 Most Quotable Moments
Wikipedia
IMDb

Halloween Candy Fun Facts

What's your favorite Halloween candy?  This info graphic is from Mentalfloss---written by Jason English, infographic by Mike Rogalski.

Halloween Nail Art

For most of us, its a little difficult to walk around in our Halloween costumes outside the month of October. So then how do you work a little Halloween fashion into your everyday attire?  One way is through nail art! Spooky manicures keep the holiday cheer at your fingertips anytime of year!  I found so many examples that I loved, but here's just a few that I'm gonna give a try.

Halloween Pizza

Yummy! Today's Foodie Friday post is all about one of my favorite foods---pizza! It really is the perfect food; all it takes is the right ingredients and you've encompassed the entire food pyramid in one delicious, easy to make treat for the whole family!

When it comes to Halloween pizzas in particular, there are so many different options. Time to get creative!  I've chosen a few of my favorite inspirations, mainly focusing on mini-pizzas which would be great to serve up for a quick family dinner before trick-or-treat or at any Halloween party as really cool finger foods.  Bon appetit!

These adorable pizza mummies are quick and simple to assemble---just pop on some sliced black olives for eyes, and lay your cheese down in a criss-crossing pattern for the desired 'wrapped' effect.  This particular version comes from the Halloween Alliance website.

These pizzas also rely on intricately placed strings or slices of cheese and sliced olives!  This would look cute as a mini pizza or amazing in a full-sized version with a spider (or two) for every slice! Photo from Indulgy.

What's Halloween without the jack-o-lanterns?  Swap out the traditional mozzarella cheese for a cheddar or cheddar blend and you get a nice orange color.  Add black olives, pepperoni, or your favorite vegetables to create the face and top off with a green pepper stem.  Healthy AND delicious! Courtesy of 360 Family Nutrition. 

Halloween in West Virginia

I have recently discovered and fallen in love with the West Virginia History on View website, which is a HUGE database of over 49,000 historical images from all over the Mountain State.  You could spend hours browsing this site and finding images you've never seen anywhere else.  One excellent feature of the site is the option to search by keyword, and guess which keyword I tried?  Yup.  Halloween!

This first one's description is listed as Children Celebrating Halloween in Costume (ca. 1900-1910)

This next one features the Storer College Choir performing in Harpers Ferry.  The college was West Virginia's first African-American college, operating from 1865 to 1955. 

I love this next scene of a Halloween Party at West Virginia State University (1960-1970).  It doesn't seem like the girls are having too much fun, lol. 

Staying on the campus of West Virginia University, this next image looks pretty horrifying!  However, the description assures us that this is just a Halloween effigy hanging from Glennlock Hall around 1966.

The final photo is actually pretty interesting.  It seems to be an advertisement for an event at Morgantown's Warner Theater.  It's description simply states 'Fanny Foley, Morgantown, W.Va. (1920).'  The Warner Theater (which is haunted by the way!) didn't open until 1931, so I'm going to guess that this photo is closer to that date.  As for Fanny Foley, she may look somewhat like a man in drag in this picture, but Fanny Foley Herself was a popular 1931 movie starring Edna May Olliver as a woman attempting to revive her vaudeville career. 

The Three Witches from Macbeth

Hey, it's Witchy Wednesday and I've got another striking art piece today.  A part of the National Portrait Gallery since 2011, this piece by Daniel Gardner was completed in 1775.  It is a gauche and chalk portrait simply entitled The Three Witches from Macbeth (Elizabeth Lamb, Viscountess of Melbourne; Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire; Anne Seymour Damer).

According to the description provided by the National Portrait Gallery, the portrait features these three women who were very influential in society and Whig politics at the time, and who were all good friends.  It is believed that it was commissioned by Melbourne, and designed by either her or Damer.  Shakespearean scenes were rather in vogue and a contemporary interest in the supernatural made witches a favorite motif, however their depiction as the three weird sisters might have a deeper meaning...

Grim Grinning Ghosts

I'm not one of those huge Disney fans, but even I freely admit to loving The Haunted Mansion and its iconic theme song, Grim Grinning Ghosts---the focus of today's Tuesday Tunes!

Grim Grinning Ghosts was written for the Disney attraction in the late 1960s.  It was composed by Buddy Baker, with lyrics by X. Atencio.  Taking its name from a line in the Shakespearean poem, Venus and Adonis,  variants of the song are played throughout different areas of the Haunted Mansion ride, with the lyrics first being heard in the graveyard scene.  Thurl Ravenscroft (how Halloween-y does THAT name sound?) is one of the voice talents in Grim Grinning Ghosts---you might recognize him from other projects, including the voice of Tony the Tiger!  His face can also be seen superimposed on one of the busts in the graveyard scene.  Give it a listen below, and then check out the links provided for more information.

10 Things to Know About the Haunted Mansion Theme 'Grim Grinning Ghosts'
Wikipedia

Horror Movie Drinking Game

This Movie Monday is for the readers who are 21 years old and up!  Oh, and of course, please do not drink and drive.  Anyway...

Any movie you can think of probably has a specialized drinking game to go along with it.  This seems especially true of HORROR movies!  A well planned horror movie drinking game utilizing some specialized alcoholic beverages can be a great way to celebrate Halloween (or, well, any Friday night) with friends.  Instead of having to memorize a bunch of really specific rules pertinent to different movies, Riddle has devised a list of 13 generic drinking rules that can work with any horror movie.  Please check out their website for example videos for each rule...but if you need a printable list or don't feel like waiting for that page to load, I've copied the rules here for your convenience.

TAKE A DRINK WHEN...

1. Something obviously creepy is happening and the future victim doesn't seem alarmed for far too long.

2. A victim dies in an over-the-top, elaborate way.  Drink twice if its the FIRST victim.

3. Someone runs upstairs when he/she should be running outside.

4. The phone line has been cut or there is no cell phone reception.

5. The police are useless, bumbling, or skeptical.

6. Ominous music starts playing.

7. The person running from the killer can't find the car keys or the car won't start.

8. There is a scene in the middle of nowhere (for example: a cabin in the woods, a house with no neighbors, or a summer camp).

9. Two of the characters are having an intimate moment and the killer is nearby.  Drink twice if they are in a car.

10. There is a creepy child, doll or animal. Warning: This could get pretty messy if you're watching any of the Child's Play or Children of the Corn movies.

11. Anyone in your group watching the movie jumps, gasps, or screams at the TV.

12. Someone makes a bad quip or pop culture reference. Drink twice if its while killing the villain.

13. You think the bad guy is dead but he comes back for one last scare.

Source

The Halloween Name Game

What's your Halloween name?  Mine is apparently Phantom Monster Giver.  What the heck does that mean?!