The other day I saw a link for a zombie t-shirt on Facebook. I clicked on the link and it took me to the SnorgTees website. SnorgTees make a variety of silly t-shirts and hoodies, many with a Halloween theme. The t-shirts I looked at on their website; www.snorgtees.com, cost $18.95 each.
Zombies Hate Fast Food t-shirt
Friday the 12th t-shirt. Poor Jason, so sad that today isn't Friday the 13th.
Batman and Robin?
Halloween and anything with a brain theme, what could be better for an addition to your Dr. Frankenstein's Laboratory display?
Zombies are always fun at Halloween.
Zombies hate politics, but they love politicians brains.
Freddy Krueger Slashes His Way Back to
Halloween Horror Nights as Universal Studios Hollywood Presents 'A
Nightmare on Elm Street: Never Sleep Again!' an All-New Horror
Experience for 2010
UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif., Aug. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Freddy Krueger, the
iconic undead dream stalker whose burned, disfigured face, tattered
green and red sweater and four-bladed glove has been the searing central
figure of nine movies, a television series, video games and comics,
will provide a cutting edge for Universal Studios Hollywood's(SM) "A
Nightmare On Elm Street: Never Sleep Again," an all-new horror maze
experience for the 2010 Halloween Horror Nights®" event, where the
legends of Hollywood horror will come to life, beginning September 24.
"A Nightmare on Elm Street: Never Sleep Again," will bring guests
back on a nightmare journey to the town of Springwood, the scene of
Freddy Krueger's unspeakable crimes. They'll wind through the ominously
twisting corridors of the Badham Day Care Center, glimpse ghastly scenes
of carnage among the young people of Springwood and face the ultimate
showdown with Freddy in his infamous boiler room lair.
The new maze is based upon the 2010 motion picture, "A Nightmare on
Elm Street" which opened to number one at the box office earlier this
year. The Blu-Ray and DVD is set to release on October 5.
The 2010 "Halloween Horror Nights" event at Universal Studios
Hollywood will offer spine-chilling new mazes based upon the horror
genre's most compelling characters. Rob Zombie and other top artists are
collaborating with Universal Studios Hollywood in the creation of new
mazes, "scare zones" and backlot experiences.
The theme park's favorite thrill-ride attractions will also remain
open for "Halloween Horror Nights" as well, many with menacing twists.
Favorites include "The Simpsons Ride®," "Revenge of the Mummy(SM) - The
Ride" and "Jurassic Park® In the Dark."
Updates on "Halloween Horror Nights" will be available at
HalloweenHorrorNights.com and also on Twitter and Facebook, as Creative
Director John Murdy reveals a running chronicle of exclusive
information. Fans are invited to follow John Murdy on Twitter at:
Twitter.com/HorrorNights or via Facebook at: "Halloween Horror Nights -
Hollywood (Official)."
Universal Studios Hollywood, The Entertainment Capital of L.A., is a
unit of Universal Parks & Resorts, a division of Universal Studios, a
part of NBC Universal. NBC Universal is one of the world's leading
media and entertainment companies in the development, production,
marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience.
Formed in May of 2004 through the combining of NBC and Vivendi Universal
Entertainment, NBC Universal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of
news and entertainment networks, a premier motion picture company,
significant television production operations, a leading television
stations group, and world-renowned theme parks. NBC Universal is 80%
owned by General Electric, with 20% controlled by Vivendi.
Vampire Dancer Hopefuls Strut Their Stuff and Bare Their Fangs at Universal Studios Hollywood's Halloween Horror Night Auditions
Ghoulish go-goers recruited for annual Horror extravaganza, kicking off Sept. 24
UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif., Aug. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Hollywood's most
expressive "undead" performers made a rare daytime appearance today as
Universal Studios Hollywood(SM) held an open call audition for a troupe
of dancing vampires. The audition coincides with efforts to recruit
hundreds of actors and behind-the-scenes artists in preparation for this
year's Halloween Horror Nights® where the legends of Hollywood horror
come to life beginning Friday, September 24.
The fanged troupe of dancers will echo one of this year's all-new
maze experiences. "Vampyre: Castle of the Undead," based on an original
concept created by Universal Studios Hollywood, will make its debut at
this year's Halloween event, along with a new "House of 1000 Corpses"
maze created by Rob Zombie, a new "La Llorona" scare zone and three
other new mazes based on the world's most terrifying and intense horror
legends.
The theme park's favorite thrill-ride attractions will also remain
open for "Halloween Horror Nights" as well, many with menacing twists.
Favorites include "The Simpsons Ride®," "Revenge of the Mummy(SM) - The
Ride" and "Jurassic Park® In the Dark." Additional new content for the
2010 Halloween Horror Nights mazes and attractions will be announced
shortly.
Updates on "Halloween Horror Nights" are available at
HalloweenHorrorNights.com and also on Twitter and Facebook, as Creative
Director John Murdy reveals a running chronicle of exclusive
information. Fans are invited to follow John Murdy on Twitter at:
Twitter.com/HorrorNights or via Facebook at: "Halloween Horror Nights -
Hollywood (Official)."
Universal Studios Hollywood, The Entertainment Capital of L.A., is a
unit of Universal Parks & Resorts, a division of Universal Studios, a
part of NBC Universal. NBC Universal is one of the world's leading
media and entertainment companies in the development, production,
marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience.
Formed in May of 2004 through the combining of NBC and Vivendi
Universal Entertainment, NBC Universal owns and operates a valuable
portfolio of news and entertainment networks, a premier motion picture
company, significant television production operations, a leading
television stations group, and world-renowned theme parks. NBC
Universal is 80% owned by General Electric (NYSE:GE)
, with 20% controlled by Vivendi.
Empty out the contents of your china cabinet, and ta-da! Another area
you can fill with Halloween decorations. I made the Halloween themed scrap
book on the top shelf, and the orange/green fused glass plate on the
bottom shelf.
Get Crafty with Halloween Decorations
Do you have any special arts and crafts skills? You can make a variety of inexpensive, homemade decorations to use at your next holiday celebration. I like to do a bit of scrapbooking and altered art projects, so I made a large 12 inch by 12 inch Halloween themed scrapbook a few years ago. You can display the scrapbook, opened to your favorite page, as part of your Halloween decorations.
I made the pumpkin fused glass plate, shown in the upper right of this photo. A package of inexpensive, reusable, fabric leaves, which were purchased on sale at the local craft store, are scattered throughout this display.
Inexpensive Halloween decorating tip: buy cheap cheese cloth from
hardware store. Wash in washing machine with detergent. Most laundry
detergents are black light reactive. Now you have black light reactive
cheese cloth, which you can drape all over your display. NIFTY!
Glow-in-the-Dark Items
Two years ago, my husband added two black lights to our living room, which are used as part of our yearly Halloween display. There are a variety of common, household items that are black light reactive, which can be used as part of your Halloween display. For the best effect, you have to wait until after dark, then turn off your regular lights, before turning on the black lights.
Laundry detergent - glows pale blue
Tonic water - glows pale blue
Milk - glows a pale orange
Silly string - available in glow-in-the-dark version
Hair spray and face paints - look for glow-in-the-dark paints and sprays at local stores. Anything that is glow-in-the-dark will glow more brightly under black light. Neon colored paints really come alive under black lights. Orange, green, yellow and pink are the most common colors of neon colors. But I have also seen purple and blue available at some stores.
Neon tape - I purchased neon green, pink and blue tape from my local home improvement store two years ago. You can use the tape to decorate your walls, tables, etc... Turn off your regular lights, turn on the black lights and ooooh-aaaaah!
Black light reactive paints.
Homemade Halloween Creations
I also have an artist studio, in the back of my house, that is set up to make a variety of fused glass creations. I made a pumpkin fused glass plate a couple of years ago that I use as part of my Halloween display. Are you a painter or jewelry artist? I'm sure there are many Halloween themed items you could think of to make for your next holiday celebration.
Inexpensive outdoor decorations purchased from local home improvement store.
After Holiday Sales
After the holiday has ended, check the clearance section of local stores and online vendors to see what discounts they are giving on their overstocked/leftover holiday merchandise. We purchased a 7 foot tall artificial Christmas tree for $10 a few years back from our local Home Depot store. A tree this size normally retails for around $75, so it was a steal at only $10.
Leave a Comment for the Horror Diva
Do you have a favorite Halloween decorating tip you would like to share with other Horror Diva fans? What kind of inexpensive craft projects have you made which are now part of your Halloween display?
The poster shown above, is an invitation I sent out two years ago for our annual Halloween Costume Birthday Party. I first got the idea to have this party back in 2006 when my husband turned 50 years old. His birthday is October 21, so we plan our party on the Saturday closest to that date. I found the artwork for the invitation on Print Shop and cut and pasted my husband face into the bottom of the poster. He's second on the left, sporting the pirate bandana - AAAAARRRRRR!!!!!
Donation request table, for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
Donations in Lieu of Gifts
Since my husband doesn't really need anymore coffee cups or silly t-shirts, in lieu of gifts we ask for donations for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. We have been volunteering our time with our local Leukemia and Lymphoma Society office through their Team in Training (TNT) program. My husband is one of the TNT cycle team coaches and we are currently training for our 5th century (100 mile) bike ride with the TNT program to help raise money for the Leukemia Society.
Turn your china cabinet into a Halloween display. On the night of our Halloween party I open up the doors on the far left and far right of the cabinet, to give guests a better look at all the interesting decorations.
A variety of lab ware on display in the Frankenstein's Laboratory section of our haunted house. This section of our house has two black lights so the night of the party we fill up all the containers with glow-in-the-dark and/or black light reactive liquids. Check out online supply houses such as American Science Surplus, Cynmar Corporation or Edmund Scientifics for a variety of lab ware and scientific supplies.
Part of the Witches Lair which greets guests as they enter our haunted house.
I always decorate one room of our house as Frankenstein's Laboratory. It changes a bit each year as I add new props to the previous years display.
My husband added black lights to our Frankenstein's Laboratory display. So now a lot of the decorations actually glow in the dark and/or are black light reactive. Our Halloween party takes place from 8 PM to Midnight, so the decorations looks a lot more interesting at night with the black lights turned on.
This is a multi shelf curio cabinet which I normally use to display all my cycling and duathlon medals and trophies. For our Halloween display, I remove all the shelves and turn it into an upright coffin display. It lights up at night, and I have a couple of green uplights on the bottom of the cabinet which gives the skeleton a real creepy glow.
Removing the contents of our china cabinet, gives me another area to setup Halloween displays. This part of the cabinet was decorated in a Dracula/vampire theme last year.
I always decorate my mannequin at Halloween. Last year it was wearing one of my Renaissance festival costumes. I made the cream colored bodice, which I absolutely love, but I've lost a ton of weight since making it and now it hangs off of me, so now it's a permanent part of my Halloween display. The mannequin is standing next to my fortune telling display, with motion activated fortune teller head, tarot cards, pendulum, glass pendulum board and a magic 8 ball!
Part of the Witches Lair display, which greets guests as they enter our house. The night of the party, I block off the hallway to the right with a 6 foot tall, motion activated witch. She stands behind a large copper cauldron which is covered with cobwebs and contains one of those rainbow lighted misters.
I would love to hear about your Halloween party decorating ideas. Feel free to leave a comment at the end of this blog post that is related to Halloween.
Nox Arcana creates background music which is perfect for using at your next haunted house or Halloween party. Each CD they produce has a specific theme, such as Dracula, fairy tales, dragons, zombies, etc...
According to Nox Arcana literature "each CD contains 21 tracks of haunting
melodies and pulse pounding orchestrations, with Gothic choirs and
sinister sound effects."
Halloween Music
I just purchased three CDs from Nox Arcana. They are mostly musical CD's, with a few tracks that contain vocals as well. I will be playing the CDs throughout the night, during our Halloween costume birthday peaty. My husbands birthday is October 21, and we will be celebrating this years party on Saturday the 23rd.
I'll place one of our portable CD players in our front yard, by our haunted graveyard. I'll hide the CD player behind a small bush so it's not viewable by our party guests. Every so often I'll go out and change the CD. I think I might have bought one or two Nox Arcana CD's last year, but I won't know until I start unpacking all our Halloween decorations.
Over the Top Halloween Decorations
I go kind of crazy, and decorate the entire house, so I'll start putting up decorations the middle of September, if not sooner. I like to have everything ready by October 1st so we can enjoy the decorations all month. I'll be posting up photos of previous years decorations in the upcoming weeks, as well as taking lots of pictures of this years Halloween celebration.
My husband is in charge of doing the outdoor graveyard, I just tell him how I want everything setup, then he'll work on that as it gets closer to the party. We live in SE Florida and are in the middle of our hurricane/rainy season, so we can't put the graveyard up too early or everything will get ruined.
Here are the names of the Nox Arcana CDs that I just purchased:
Grimm Tales - goblins, elves, witch queens - produced in 2008
Transylvania - vampires, witches, werewolves - produced in 2005
Theater of Illusion - magic and dark fantasy - their latest CD - produced in 2010
Nox Arcana Biography
Joseph Vargo composer, founder and producer of Nox Arcana,
has produced 16 albums
to date, 12 Nox Arcana albums
plus 4 more albums with other recording artists. Vargo is also
an internationally acclaimed Gothic fantasy artist and writer.
His artwork graces the covers of numerous magazines, books, and
CD's. He began his own publishing company, Monolith Graphics,
in 1991, which is now a world leading producer of Gothic and
dark-themed products.
William Piotrowski, composer and engineer for Nox Arcana,
began his professional music career at the early age of 15 when
he created the musical score for an independent production entitled
"Ghosts of Ohio," a video documentary about the original
"Ghost Whisperer," now a TV series on CBS. William
plays several instruments including guitar and keyboards, and
is well versed in digital recording technology.
All Nox Arcana CD Titles
Darklore Manor
Necronomicon
Winter's Night
Transylvania
Carnival of Lost Souls
Blood of the Dragon
Shadow of the Raven
Grimm Tales
Phantoms of the High Seas
Blackthorn Asylum
Winter's Eve
Theater of Illusion
Additional Information
Go to the Nox Arcana website to find stores in your area that carry their music CD's. You can also order directly from their website. Nox Arcana CD's can also be purchased at Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble bookstores.
ABOVE: part of the graveyard setup in the front yard.
Halloween Costume Birthday Party
Yesterday I blogged about a Mad Scientist's party we held at our house as a fundraiser. For the past few years, my husband and I have hosted a Halloween Costume
Birthday Party at our house. My husband’s birthday is on October 21st,
and when he turned 50 four years ago, we decided to combine his birthday
party with a Halloween Party. The party was so much fun, that we have
turned it into an annual event.
ABOVE: mad scientist’s laboratory, it looks much scarier at night.
Charity Fundraising Event
Three years ago we decided to also use the Halloween party as a way to help us raise funds for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. We were participating in the 25th annual El Tour de Tucson, a 109 mile road bike ride which took place in Tucson, Arizona, in November 2007.
We have just started training for the 28th El Tour de Tucson with the Palm Beach Team in Training chapter. My husband, Rob, is the cycle team coach, and I am a member of the team. El Tour de Tucson will be the 5th century ride we've done with our local TNT chapter. Each team member has pledged to raise a minimum of $3,500 for the society, while training for an endurance cycling event.
Donations in Lieu of Gifts
We setup an area near the
kitchen which had donation slips, business cards with our fundraising
website, pictures from previous Team in Training events, a poster of our
honored hero along with a donation bucket. We had a suggested donation
of $10, but didn’t turn away anyone that couldn’t make a donation, as it
was my husbands birthday party. We managed to raise $600 that night –
not too bad!
This year we are asking people NOT to bring a gift, my husband
doesn’t need anymore coffee mugs, or silly t-shirts. In lieu of bringing
a gift, we are asking guests to make a donation, in our name, to Team
in Training.
ABOVE: our Team in Training display at the Halloween party.
Over the Top Decorations
I am a total nut when it comes to decorating for Halloween. We own
more Halloween decorations than Christmas decorations. We decorate the
entire house – inside and out. We put up an extensive graveyard display
in the front yard, which greets guests as they make their way to the
front door.
Each room of our house is decorated in a particular theme. Here are the themes I have planned for each room of the house:
Front yard - Haunted graveyard
Entryway - Witch’s Cottage
Living room - Mad scientist’s laboratory
Kitchen - Creepy crawly kitchen i.e. fun with food
Dinning room - Dr. Jeckyll's cabinet of curiosities
Family room - Dracula's lair
It takes me approximately 2 weeks to get all the Halloween decorations setup. It
takes quite a bit of time to get all the Halloween decorations put up but I really enjoy transforming the house from our home into the Haunted Mansion.
Each year I always change/tweak the displays a bit. I don’t want our
guests to get bored looking at the same decorations each year.
Fun With Food
In addition to all the cycling articles I write, I also publish recipes
for a few sites, such as Suite101.com. I am always testing and tasting recipes, and coming up
with new ideas. Last year I got a bit creative with the food we served
at the party and that’s how we ended up with the Creepy Crawly Kitchen
display. I served ordinary food, with creative names including:
Bat Wings – chicken wings
Bucket of Blood – punch bowl filled with pomegranate juice mixed
with lemon/lime soda
Dragon Poo – chocolate walnut fudge rolled into interesting shapes
Pig Entrails – crock pot full of mini franks and baked beans
Brain Salad – coleslaw
Charred Bones – BBQ ribs
Dried Scabs – dried cranberries and raisins
Devil’s Eyeballs – deviled eggs topped with an olive slice
Flesh Rings – ham and cream cheese roll ups
We plan the party to run from 8 PM to Midnight, that way guests are
arriving after dark – very dramatic. Many of the display pieces are
motion activated, they move and/or make noise as guests walk past them. I
use many different colored lights, strobe lights, black lights,
multiple fog machines, scary Halloween music and usually have a horror
movie running on the HDTV in the living room (with the sound turned
down).
ABOVE: part of the witch’s cottage display.
ABOVE: everyone has a good time at our Halloween party!
Charity Fundraising Ideas
I would love to hear about the fun and crazy ideas you have come up with,
while raising funds for your favorite charity. Add a comment to this blog post, or email me: thebikediva@yahoo.com. I'll be posting up additional photos and decorating ideas as it gets closer to Halloween. Please visit our Team in Training fundraising page: pages.teamintraining.org/pb/tucson10/lsmythe
Lots of laboratory supplies on the mad scientist's operating table
I’m always hosting all kinds of crazy fundraising events at my house
each year, to help raise funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Right now, I'm training and fundraising for the 28th El Tour de Tucson which takes place on November 20 in Tucson, Arizona.
My past fundraising themes have included Girl’s Club Tea Party, Italian
Dinner Celebration and Halloween Costume Birthday Party. Last year I hosted a Mad
Scientist’s Party at our house. Here are a few details on how I decorated the house for that event.
Party Supply Stores
The Mad Scientist’s Party is like a miniature version of the annual
Halloween party we host, so I know I can use a lot of the same props and
decorations for both parties. The obvious places to find decorations are
party supply stores. I buy a lot of my supplies online from Oriental Trading. If you are
purchasing supplies from a local party store, ask the manager or owner,
if they can make a donation, or offer you some sort of discount towards
the purchase of supplies for your fundraising event.
Medical
Props From Scientific Surplus Store
Find Decorations at Thrift Stores
Party supply stores aren’t the only place to look for fun, interesting
and inexpensive decorations. Local thrift stores are a favorite of mine.
Faith Farm, located in Boynton Beach, has a huge section of
brick-a-brac. It’s kind of a mish-mash of tables filled with a lot of
junky looking, garage sale rejects. But I look at it like a treasure
hunt. A little bit of digging, and you can find all kinds of goodies.
I’ve found many silver-plated Reed & Barton serving pieces at
Faith Farm. With a little elbow grease, these highly tarnished pieces
can be given a new life. And they only cost between 50 cents and $3.00
each. I love using silver pieces for tea party celebrations. They would
also be perfect as serving pieces for a bridal shower, baby shower, or
Sunday brunch.
Garage and Yard Sales
And don’t forget to check the local garage and yard sales in your area.
One man’s treasures is another man’s junk. Last year we hosted a large
yard sale at our house, as one of our cycle team fundraisers. I spent
$20 and got a ton of treasures! Try to be creative when looking at
potential props. Items that can be used over and over again, and not
just for one party, will be money well spent.
IV Pole From Medical Supply Store
Scientific Supply Stores
My guilty pleasure is scientific surplus stores. I will even list a few
of my favorites in this blog. You can find all kinds of craft supplies,
office supplies, lab ware, hardware, and other funky stuff at scientific
supply stores. I really like to make all my Halloween displays look as
real as possible. My most recent find was an I.V. pole that I found
online at a medical supply store for only $16. I.V. poles can cost
upwards of $200, so this was a real find.
I just found a copy of Sue and Simon Lilly's book; Healing with Crystals and Chakra Energies at my local Barnes & Noble bookstore. The softcover book is 256 pages long, contains tons of color photographs and was only $7.98, quite a bargain. I love all the photographs that have been included in the book, they make it easy to identify specific crystal varieties. The book is divided into three sections; crystal healing, color healing and chakra healing.
Crystal Healing Chapters
The world of crystals
Clearing & grounding; white and black stones
Energizing & organizing; red, orange and yellow stones
Azure Green is a mail order catalog of pagans supplies. Besides selling items through their retail catalog and website, Azure Green also offers wholesale pricing to qualified businesses. Their complete catalog can be viewed online, or you may request to have a mail order catalog sent to you.
