As a child Halloween was never celebrated in my family, yet the last few years of college have opened my eyes to the fun to be had. The best of which was always the annual Halloween party on the day itself. No matter what kind of party you threw, Halloween was always a good time to get a little weird with friends, eat more candy than normal (hopefully), and responsibly drink tasty caramel apple inspired cocktails. While I’m personally not celebrating Halloween with a get together this year, I’m sure some of you will be getting a few friends together for an intimate party, or even going virtual hanging out on Zoom. If that’s the case here are some fun and easy ideas to help make the most out of the spookiest day of the year
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Dec-horror
Early in September I dragged out my plastic tote full of Halloween and fall decorations ready to get to work. I stick to the cute and cuddly, I may or may not be cuddled up with a pumpkin blanket from Target as I write this, but there are a wide range of decoration options for you to pick your favorite type of theme. Here are some spooky and scary decorations that won’t terrify your wallet.
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Se-ambiance
Lately my favorite way to spend the morning has been to throw on an ambiance video from youtube to set the mood with a bubbling stream, or at night when I’m doing homework I’ll put on a library scene with the sound of a thunderstorm. It’s helped to make staying in the same space to sleep, hang out, and do homework a little bit easier. Come Halloween these videos are perfect for setting the ambiance with a range of realistic scenes you feel a part of. If you want to relax in front of a fire and kick up your feet check out this Halloween lodge, or this party scene that has Dracula playing in the background. To feel a hit of nostalgia for trick or treating, try this Halloween night front door. To really start feeling shivers down your spine I suggest checking out one of the haunted mansions, or regular old creepy house, or a graveyard. If you’re looking for something downright bone chilling, here are 5 hours of a particularly bleak graveyard, and a really unique video from a channel called The Ambiance of Cinema that is dedicated to the music and sounds of A Nightmare on Elm Street. With one of these in the background the mood is sure to be set for all the twisted fun.
- Mu-sickly Twisted
If you want to layer audio to create a fully dimensional Halloween space over your crackling fire, or simply wanna jam out instead, Spotify premium has a good range of playlists to set the speakers on hellfire. Fright Fest is a playlight dedicated to all things scary, while Disney Halloween takes you back with A Nightmare before Christmas. Classical Halloween contains gems from scary movies, opera’s and more to curate the perfect instrumental accompaniment. Metal music fan? Headbanger Halloween is for you, with Creepy, Stupid Love for our demonic romatic’s out there. Lastly check out the playlist Scary Stories for tales of torment such as Egdar Allen Poe’s “The Raven”, or Frankenstien.
- Enter-if-you-dare-tainment
No idea what to do with friends over Zoom? Thankfully, websites like Netflix have things like Netflix party, a browser extension that allows you to stream movies and TV shows with friends on your own accounts. If you are into gaming, Among Us will get the adrenaline going, and while not specifically Halloween related, a good round of “who done it?” will have everyone getting into a mysterious mood. Etsy also has a range of downloadable powerpoint quiz games, like a horror movie quiz for $12. For those of us over 21, there are a ton of drinking games available online like this one for Hocus Pocus, or check this comprehensive list on Drink’When of 30 horror movie drinking games.
Halloween is a unique time to celebrate the weird and unconventional parts of life. With these tips in your backpocket you have all you need but some flesh fresh food to have a boo-tiful evening with friends or family.
Happy Haunting Kutztown!