There are many milestones that usher in the Halloween season, and depending on your interests, some will be decidedly more exciting than others. The changing colors of the leaves and new flavors of candy corn are nice, but one sure sign that October 31st is nigh is the X-Entertainment Halloween Countdown. Its kickoff means a near daily dose of the unadulterated celebration of our beloved holiday. Every weekday Matt, the Man Behind the Curtain at X-E, writes about “new-for-2007 Halloween stuff and tons of ghoulish goodies from yesteryear.” Some highlights from last year include a review of the new Jones Soda Halloween flavors, The 3D effects of Friday the 13th: Part 3, the tale of his best Halloween costume ever, and a 3 part series on the best new candy of the season. Matt is a huge Halloween fan (obviously) and to set aside enough time to write those hilarious articles is a kind of dedication that few of us know first-hand. Oh, and did I mention that he’s been doing these countdowns for FIVE years now? If there was a Halloween Badass Award, he would certainly deserve one. Needless to say, if you weren’t sufficiently motivated to click away by now, go have fun in the 4 years of Halloween archives on X-E.
During a recent search of “handmade Halloween” auctions at eBay, I discovered a seller who is sure to impress and delight my fellow Halloween lovers. Among the pumpkin covered hair clips and collaged Halloween cards, the gory goods from sleepyhallowprops really grab your attention. The store is run by Erik, a high school student trying to make money for the summer up into October. His specialty is butchered limbs, so if you’re planning on Texas Chainsaw Massacre or Saw themed decor this year then you know where to go.
Erik says, “I love Halloween and have been making props and decorating my front yard since I was little. This summer I decided I would take my skills and use them to make some extra money and to make quality homemade props that people can enjoy too. I will be making props to be regularly listed on eBay until the end of October. I am creating and sketching out new plans for more props that I will be making and selling soon. I am hoping soon to open my own Halloween prop website and selling homemade Halloween props.”
PS- Only 60 days until Halloween! And Happy Birthday to our resident 365 Halloween zombie, Sean!
Has anyone ever told you that you look like someone famous? You know, “that guy from that show” or “the girl in the funny commercial”? Even if your face seems so unique that no one has claimed you have a celebrity doppleganger, chances are you resemble somebody famous. Even if it’s just slightly, this could be a good way to help you choose an interesting Halloween costume.
We tried using the free online service MyHeritage Face Recognition to see if we resembled any actors. Our idea being that if we did look similar to an actor it might be fun to make a costume based on a character they played. The database of “celebrities” at MyHertigate isn’t exhaustive by any means, but you will get a lot of different results based on each picture of yourself that you upload. As you can see with our model Alison, there was 1 common look alike (Alexis Bledel), but her 2 slightly different headshots produced 6 different look alikes.
Now we just need to pop onto IMDb and see if any of these supposed dopplegangers played roles that were;
1) of any interest to us, and
2) had costumes that were recognizable enough to reproduce.
Let’s see, Reese Witherspoon’s characters in Legally Blonde and Election were pretty recognizable, but that’s about it. Well, Catwoman too, but with a mask involved that pretty much negates the idea of being a “look alike”. We tried again using several pictures of ourselves and found a few more interesting and costume-worthy results, so it really depends on the photos being used.
Try it yourself and let us know if you get any good costume ideas!
As you woke up this morning, rubbing sleep from your eyes and candy corn from around your mouth, what was your first thought? For many of us, it was something along the lines of “Halloween couldn’t be any further away”. That may be true, but take heart, Halloweenies: that’s why 365 Halloween exists! The neighbors may not reward you with candy if you try trick-or-treating in February, and they might actually complain if you leave your spooky decorations up all year, but at 365Halloween.com, we’ll feed your habit all year long. The Big Day itself may be over for 2006, but the spirit of Halloween is always alive (except in France).
Not only can we celebrate Dia De Los Muertos on November 1st and 2nd, but we can relive our memories by sharing photos, stories, and other goodies online. For starters, some amazing artists have participated in an online collaborative gallery themed “Black and Orange“. There are tons of beautiful Halloween works of art, and the winners will be announced
If you don’t have your own website you can still share your Halloween memories with the world. Websites like Yahoo! Groups and Flickr offer free services that allow you to upload pictures and post comments. More feature-rich paid options are available through Smugmug. If you only have a handful of photos you can try a free image host.
Didn’t take any good Hallowen pictures this year? Then head over to Flickr groups, where everyone else did!
PS- Happy World Vegan Day, too!
The Big Day is finally here! All your preparation and excitement are paying off today. All year it feels far away, and then BAM you’re watching the sun begin to set on Halloween night. Everyone has their own rituals for this day to make it memorable and fun. On a weekday like this year we finish our day at work or school, get home around sunset or dusk and; put on a costume, throw or attend a party, trick-or-treat, visit an outdoor event, watch scary movies, prepare and eat a themed meal, pass out candy, pass out drunk, cause trouble, go to a club, attend a “harvest festival” or other church event, chase the paranormal, tempt monsters of the night, or do nothing and all and go to bed early. Or a hundred other alternatives, depending on your location and tastes.
What are you doing today and tonight? What are your Halloween traditions? How’s the season been for you in general? Please answer our polls and leave some comments below.
Will you be wearing a costume this year?
What are you doing on Halloween?
PS- Come back tomorrow for a Halloween decompression. We’ll make you feel all better.
Picture credits to Rob Alder and Harpersbizarre for their zombie and candy photos, respectively. Thank you!
The next 3 days or so is the final rush for online Halloween shopping, so retailers are offering some good deals. Costumes are flying off the shelves too, so if you don’t have your costume yet then you need to either buy RIGHT NOW or plan to wear a DIY get-up. I did some online shopping this morning and had an eerily perfect experience, but I’ll save the details for after the deals and coupons below. Some of them expire this weekend, so don’t wait!
Extremely Time-Sensitive Deals
- Fright Catalog: Same day shipping on most orders placed by Noon EST. Variable shipping costs. Place an order of $50 or more TODAY (October 21st, 2006) and receive 2 R.I.P. Rewards cards worth $10 each for future purchases of $40 or more (details here).
- Buy Costumes: $0.99 FedEx Ground shipping and $5.99 FedEx Express shipping for orders over $60. Expires Sunday October 22, at 11:00 P.M. CST. Not sure which shipping method you will need? Check their handy “order by” chart.
- Hot Topic: 50% off all pre-packaged costumes. Orders must be received by Monday, October 23rd to arrive by Halloween.
More Great Deals
So this is the first year that Sean and I are buying our costumes (here are some of our past homemade costumes). Buy Costumes is always our first choice for online Halloween shopping, but the costume I wanted had been out of stock during the critical time of Oct 12th until this morning. When I woke up and saw an e-mail alert that was a mere 15 minutes old, I scrambled to place my order before my costume sold out again. The product page noted that every other size was sold out for the season and only my size was available. No pressure or anything. I placed my order as fast as I could, and afterwards the costume page was noted as being “sold out for the season”. Wow, I got the last one! Fast forward 4.5 hours and I just received my shipment confirmation e-mail, ensuring that I’ll have my outfit in time for the costume party I will be attending on the 28th. Now that’s Halloween magic.
