General Tips:

It’s never too early to start planning for the holidays – and, as you can see above,  Halloween is right around the corner. To help get in the mood, go outdoors and enjoy the fall foliage (if you can, that is – nothing much changes on Guam). Take a walk in the brisk air. Check out the Halloween decorations around town. Take some photos for your memory book. The only lasts till October 31, then you’re headed straight into the Christmas holidays!

Make a list of everything you'd like to do for Halloween--such as making/getting costumes, having a party, attending a festival, carving a pumpkin, getting some scary books or videos at the library and taking the kids trick-or-treating, safety precautions, and baking pumpkin pie. Enter everything in your Halloween planner.

Search through your TV listing and make a schedule of all Halloween programs and cartoons you wish to watch. If the family can't be together when a particular program is airing, video tape it and watch it together later on.  Make a party out of it and serve some Halloween treats while you watch the shows.

Pick up Halloween treats at the supermarket now so you're ready for trick-or-treaters.

If you already have plans to go to a Halloween party elsewhere, determine what you'll need to bring to the party. Will you need to bring food? Find out what dish you'll be bringing, and determine if it can be prepared ahead of time. Enter it in your planner.

Need a costume? Begin making one now, or be sure to hit the costume shops early, while you still have time. If you are going to order a costume, do so well in advance of Halloween. Shipping to Guam can take 6 weeks or more, and this gives you time to make sure that the costume is okay, and gives you time to buy accessories and make adjustments.

Start thinking about how you will decorate your home, front yard, car, office space, or dorm room for Halloween.

Before Halloween night, take the time to divide your Halloween candy into treat bags or even plastic baggies, so every trick-or-treater gets the same amount of treats. Then have your treats prepared and by the door so you don't have to go looking for them.

Create a unique way to give out the treats. Simply placing the treats inside a carved-out pumpkin or in a special Halloween basket makes them special.

Put a Halloween screensaver on your PC. You can find several free ones if you do a Google search for “free Halloween screensavers.”

Create a video memory of your holiday: videotape an interview with some of your trick-or-treaters, your yard haunt, carved jack-o-lanterns.

Decorate yourself for Halloween, too: paint your nails in black, orange or candy corn colors.

If you live in an area where pumpkins are grown, take a trip with your kids and let them pick out their own pumpkins at a pumpkin farm or stand. Besides, pumpkins are usually less expensive there.

Watch a scary film, an old classic Halloween movie or a newer horror movie every weekend before Halloween. Make some popcorn, invite friends over! For film suggestions, visit Halloween-Online.

Music will add the perfect mood to your party. Set a boom-box on the roof and play some lively Halloween. I’ve collected enough music to last several hours – here’s a partial list. There are several Halloween-themed CD’s to buy out there, especially this time of year. Try some oldies hits (The Monster Mash) for a traditional party, some scary-picture soundtracks  for a spooky party, or sound effects for your haunted house.

Take Halloween photos of your guests and decorations. If you have a party, leave disposable cameras around so everyone can catch candid shots! It’s even better if you have a Polaroid camera – you can give each guest a photo to take home.

Visit your local haunted houses.

For great Halloween photography tips, visit Halloween Pictures 101.

Send Halloween cards – you can find great ones at the store, or send e-cards. Spread your Halloween spirit.

Get together with your neighbors and have an old fashioned neighborhood Halloween block party! Get everyone on your street to decorate for Halloween and let the local news station and paper know about it!



Party Ideas:

Check out our Halloween Entertaining page for some great party ideas.

If you are having a party for the kids, make sure to have lots of entertaining games ready to go. “Pin the nose on the pumpkin” is one of my favorites. There re plenty of other ideas on the Internet.

Instead of bobbing for apples, hang them from the ceiling and let party goers try to bite them!

Have a circle ghost story! Sit in a circle and start a scary ghost story. Each guest adds on to the story until it reaches a scary ending.

For a simple party game, have a pumpkin hunt (like an Easter egg hunt, but with mini-pumpkins).



Foods & Presentation:

Use a hollowed out pumpkin as a bowl for chili, pumpkin soup, or for veggie sticks. Cut of the top and clean out, leaving the top in a jagged edge design. Line the pumpkin if it’s been hollowed for more than a couple of hours. Use mini pumpkins to hold dips.

Serve your kids a spooky Halloween dinner – they’ll be less likely to eat the candy they collect before you have a chance to check it for them. Check here for some recipes to start the evening off right.

Keep your pumpkin seeds when hollowing out your pumpkin so you can roast them later. Just wash off the strings and bake them at 325° for about 25 minutes. (Before roasting, I prefer to soak them overnight in salt water, or in soy sauce – so the flavor is infused in the hulls – but it’s not necessary.)



Safety:

If Trick-or-treating is discouraged in your area, don't let that ruin your Halloween fun. Just host a trick-or-treat party for your children and their friends – or see if your church is sponsoring one.

Preparing for Trick-or-Treaters:

If you have porch steps, make sure they are easy to navigate and use well-lighted jack-o-lanterns to light them. Clear your yard and walkways. Remove any obstacles (tools, ladders, skateboards, toys, stools) and repair any loose steps.

If you are having a party or expect a lot of trick or treaters, be sure to put your pets in a bedroom or someplace quiet.

If you are having an open yard haunt, you might check with your insurance company to make sure you're home owners insurance covers you should there be an accident.

If you are using a lot of Jack-O-Lanterns for your party or haunted house, try a battery powered light source or light sticks to light them instead of candles. This reduces the fire hazard and you don’t have to worry about wind blowing out your candles.

When lighting a carved jack-o-lantern, always use a candle with a solid base. I like to use a votive candle in its holder. Never leave a candlelit pumpkin unattended.

Notes for your Trick-or-Treaters:

Instruct your children not to eat any treats until they bring them home to be examined by you. Discard any that are unwrapped or have torn wrappers. Discard fruit and homemade treats unless you personally know their source. When in doubt, throw it out!

Think costume safety for your children. Avoid clumsy shoes or boots. Use face paints, available in special kits, rather than vision-restricting masks.

Make sure that any store-bought costume is fire retardant.

Tie or sew glow-sticks to your child's costume so they can be seen more easily in the dark. You can also use reflective tape.

Always accompany young children when they are out trick-or-treating. Stick to familiar neighborhoods and houses.

Tell your children not to cut through back alleys and fields when trick or treating. Make sure they know to stay in populated places and never go off the beaten track. Tell them to stay in well lit areas and make sure they carry a flashlight – you can find one to enhance their costume such as ghosts, skulls and many more designs – and they can walk safely through yards. Be sure the batteries will last.

Make sure you set a time that your older kids should be home if they go trick or treating with a group or are at a party. Make sure they know how important it is for them to be home on time or to call home if there is a problem. Consider giving them your cell phone to use if they get in a jam.

Food & Drink Safety:

If using dry ice in a punch bowl, make sure that the person serving keeps any dry ice chips out of drinks!

When using a fog machine indoors be sure you have adequate ventilation. Also, glycol based fog juice can leave a thin oily film on wood surfaces, making them slippery. Learn more about using fog here.

If you have a particularly gruesome yard haunt set up, make sure you have warning signs up to warn young and old visitors alike. Consider setting up a less gruesome one for the younger kids to enjoy.

If you and your child are going out trick or treating with a group, make your child's costume a unique one so you can spot them easily in a crowded area. If there's something eye catching about their costume or what they are carrying, you can find them easily in any crowd.

If you are holding your party in your house, make sure that you move any breakable pieces of furniture or knick-knacks to another room where they can't get broken. This protects your things and an uncluttered area makes it safer for your guests.



Links to check out:

Sometimes you just don’t have the time or patience to review and filter out all the sites when you search for Halloween links. Try visiting halloweenlinks.com or check out my collection:

For a real-time countdown to Halloween, check out this link - it even reads your computer for an exact time (for example, we on Guam have a day less to go than the mainlanders).

For free Halloween e-Cards, visit   Halloween Greetings: It's Halloween ! Whether you want to scare or wish all your friends and family members a very Happy Halloween they can help you reach out with a spooktacular e-card and add a little zing to your boo day !

You can add the effect of lightning to your haunted house, haunted yard or Halloween party with the Lightning Machine from Haunted Creations. This unit realistically simulates the effects of both thunder and lightning! Check it out at The Yard Haunter.

Adding a fog machine to your party table or haunted  yard makes a great decoration, and can be used to thrill your trick-or-treaters. Visit gotfog.com for everything you need to know.

Order some custom-printed M&M’s to give out as treats or at your party.

Use some Halloween-themed fonts to dress up invitations and make banners for your party. Visit Halloweenfonts.com for a great selection

Halloween Movies: - put together by Halloween Online Magazine, it's a comprehensive list of movies for the season, with ratings and reviews.

Halloween Music: - put together by the same Halloween Online Magazine.

More Halloween Music: - from Monstrous.com, includes songs about Halloween.

Kraft Foods Halloween - look here for great food ideas, party-planning tips, etc.

Martha Stewart Online - for a great collection of Halloween ideas, templates, party ideas, haunted house tricks and recipes. This lady LOVES Halloween!

For an in-depth article on how to take terrific Halloween pictures, visit Halloween-Online.

And, after Halloween:

Plan ahead for next year’s Halloween by buying supplies at the after-Halloween sales. You know you’ll use them eventually, and you can get some great deals. Just be sure to pack them with the rest of your Halloween supplies, and keep a list of what you have on hand in your holiday planner – you’ll be that far ahead next September!

[Halloween Countdown]  [Pumpkins]  [Halloween Entertaining]  [Halloween Party Themes]  [Halloween Games]  [Halloween Foods]  [Halloween Costumes]  [Halloween Decorations] [Halloween Music]  [Tips & Ideas]



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