photo credit: Vicki & Chuck Rogers via photopin cc

You may remember when I posted about how much I love Friday the 13th a few months ago. Well, Halloween totally trumps Friday the 13th! And since it’s officially October, I’m getting very excited for my favorite holiday (don’t worry – I love Christmas, too. But I consider Christmas to be in its own category. Therefore, logic dictates that Halloween is the best.;)).

Interestingly enough, my husband didn’t like Halloween at all when we were first married. When I told him what an enthusiast I was, he was half convinced that I was some crazy, satanic devil worshiper. This was actually a good experience, as it taught me how to make this holiday fun for people who don’t like to get scared. I was also able to turn my husband to the dark side a little (a task I continue to work on) and he’s warmed up to Halloween over the years.

So the purpose of my blog today? To motivate you all to get into the Halloween spirit! It can be so much fun at this time of year. The weather is changing, you can put up some very creative decorations, enjoy reading some creepy stories. So many things! My brain is about to explode with all the fun things I get to do this month. But I’ll just leave you with a few ideas. Something for each age group and scary preference. Fair enough?

Let’s start with family oriented activities. Something I like to start at the beginning of October is Boo Your Neighbor. You can Google it and find printouts that explain everything to your neighbors when you deliver the goodies. What you do is make a plate of Halloween goodies for a couple of different neighbors and leave them at their front step. When they receive them, they put up a picture you provide with the plate, telling others that they’ve already been Booed. Then, they make copies and take a plate of goodies to two more neighbors. Kids especially get into this activity, but it’s something everyone on the block can enjoy.

Something else a little more on the tame side would be to go to a corn maze. Some of them are “haunted”, but it’s on a very low scale and nothing you would get frightened over.

Of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the haunted houses. These are on a higher scare level. They are a bit pricey, but so much fun! I’m always amazed at how inventive those guys get. What a fun way to make a living. On this same note, most amusement parks do a haunted theme and are a lot of fun to attend at this time of year.

If you’re on a budget, you can always check out a scary book from the library. You could go for a classic, like Dracula or Something Wicked This Way Comes, or you could branch out to the newer books. If you don’t normally read this type of genre, I would recommend authors like Tami Hoag, Kim Harrison, or Patricia Briggs. They have scary elements, but their books are more about intense plots and character dynamics. My publisher is actually having a short story writing contest this month. If you’d like to read something Halloween-ish but don’t have the time for a full novel, you can click here to read the short stories, then vote for your favorite. My story is called Death by Proxy. You should read it and tell me what you think.

As for movies, well, let’s just say I could write an entire blog on movie recommendations alone. But any classic Hitchcock will do. The original movie, Nosferatu is one of my favorite vampire movies. They even made a movie about the making of this one, called Shadow of the Vampire, because the main actor was such a creepy vampire.

I’ll leave off with only those few suggestions. But really, there’s so much more! I might write another blog about the fun kinds of things you can do for a Halloween party. If not, look on Pintrest. It’s Halloween-party-heaven!