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Voted by Entertainment Weekly as the 5th scariest feature of all time, the original Halloween film has truly achieve cult status among horror fans. But like most movies made from that era, no one involved in the making of the Halloween film had any idea it would still resonate so strong thirty years later.

The original script of the Halloween film was called ‘The Babysitter Murders’ but during the development process one of the producers discovered there was never a movie given the title Halloween. In that original script the character of Michael Meyers was referred to as ‘the Shape’ because you never saw his face. The script was rewritten to take place the single day and night of Halloween. It was filmed over the course of twenty days on a budget of $320,000 and went on to become one of the highest grossing independent features of all time.

The story of the original Halloween film takes place in Illinois but was actually shot in Pasadena, California. The art department had to spread around painted leaves to make it look like fall as opposed to the typical sunny California spring when the Halloween film as actually made. The timing of the shoot also caused problems for the art department when they went looking for ripe pumpkins in the spring.

In the Halloween film, the role of Dr. Loomis was played by venerable character actor Donald Pleasance. He was paid $20,000 for his work. As for the role of Michael’s sister Laurie, this was Jamie Lee Curtis’ first film. Director John Carpenter considered casting her as the ultimate a tribute to one of his cinematic heroes, the legendary filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock. It was Hitchcock who cast Jamie’s mother Janet Leigh as the ill-fated heroine in Psycho. For the Halloween film, Jamie Lee actually had to provide all her own wardrobe which she bought at a nearby J.C. Penny for less then a hundred dollars. All of the girls in the movie were supposed to be teenagers but only Jamie Lee was actually in her teens.

The Halloween film proved so successful that is spawned several sequels. Recently, filmmaker Rob Zombie rebooted the franchise with a new version and sequel to the Halloween film.

As for Michael Meyers famous mask, the filmmakers didn’t have enough money in the budget to create a special mask. Instead, they bought a cheap ‘Captain Kirk’ mask, painted it white and teased out the hair. Instant horror legend!

The Halloween tradition is one of the kids most favored holidays of the year. They get to dress up as the fantasy character of their imagination, venturing out into the night with a basket, to be filled with sweet treats, in exchange for a, hopefully, scary neighborhood romp, to be soothed by the sweets they’ll enjoy when they’re back home, safe and sound – and elated! Halloween decorations are essential to the truly satisfying Halloween night, so don’t disappoint those kids! While some people put up just a few lights, the porch light and wait for the bell to ring, this isn’t what stands out in children’s memories. Sure, they’re happy enough to add to their stash of candies, but will they remember your house next year? Probably not. Halloween is party time – make your Halloween decorations fill the bill!

Put yourself in the shoes of the little munchkins approaching your door. They want a thrill, they want to be scared. It’s all part of the Halloween tradition. Outside the house, you want to set the mood. A Jack-o-lantern is, of course, a must, and the more the merrier. If you have a long porch, several carved pumpkins, each with his own personality, is a good start. Place a votive candle inside each Jack and create the ambience your trick-or-treaters are looking for; just as dusk falls, light the candles. Such obvious Halloween decorations merely set the stage, providing the general mood.

A mass of spider webs adds an appropriately creepy touch – spread them liberally among the Jack-o-Lanterns, send them creeping across the porch and up the windows. No, you don’t need to gather real spiderwebs – durable and realistic imitations are available at drug stores and craft shops. While you’re shopping, look for ’smoke cans’ to enhance the nether world effect. Buy a cheap witches costume, mask and hat, as an unforgettable prop in an upstairs window, backlit by candles inside the room, a few feet back. Use a glue gun to affix a couple of large red fake jewels for her eyes, to the mask. Yes, now we’re talking.

Successful Halloween decorations rely on the initial, and hopefully, sustained fright of the trick-or-treater. Pick up, or make, a CD of scary sounds to greet your little visitors. Sounds of thunder and lightning, eerie screams and unidentifiable grunts and groans all feed the fantasy. All across the front of your house, install tiny votive candles in the windows, with no other visible light within the house. Can’t you feel the frightening vibes? This is where you want to go!

An adult, dressed up in scary garb, admirably completes your lineup of kid satisfying Halloween decorations. Have this adult – or older teen – sit still, lazing back like a straw man in a rocker, until a trick-or-treater approaches. As the child passes, the straw man extends a hand, slowly, in a creepy, but unsuccessful grab. The child will be delightfully frightened!

By the time the kids reach the door and the prize – treats – they’ll certainly feel they’ve earned those treats! The big basket of treats are not for those who are faint of heart!

One last Halloween decoration of note: milk, my little sweetie? Buy a glass bottle of milk, color it with a few drops of green food coloring and set it right beside the basket of goodies. You may not have any takers, but the local kitties won’t know the difference after the kids have escaped your clutches!

Although not exactly Halloween decorations, little bags of candy corn, costume prizes and party favors (stickers and the like) make your house memorable. You can bet all of the kids will be back next year!

Halloween costume stores have sprung up like weeds in local malls and outlets over the past twenty years as the holiday itself has become more and more popular amonst people of all ages. Back when I was a kid I had to go to Toys R Us or some other lame toy store to get an even lamer pre-fab costume from a toy company, or come up with something totally from scratch that would invariably suck. Now you can waltz into just about any mall in the country and have two or three halloween costume stores that live for the holiday and can provide you not only with ideas, but customer service designed specifically to help you maximize your costume potential.

Or you could go online, where there are literally thousands of websites that double as halloween costume stores around the globe. Even something as simple as an Ebay or Amazon search can help you come up with a list of potential costumes. It’s excruciatingly simple to do this.

If you do want to visit one of the specialty halloween costume stores online, I recommend starting with HalloweenExpress.com or the like. These will give you an idea of what costumes are in for this particular year, as well as providing you a baseline for what you should expect to spend on your outfit. Obviously the closer you get to Halloween the more the prices will rise, so if you can come up with an idea you like early, it’s best to jump on it if you see it (or the materials to construct it) online.

Of course Halloween costume stores don’t exactly have the market cornered on great outfits. A good idea if you want to be original is to browse through some online art galleries, theatre troupe websites and the like. These can get your creative juices flowing and maybe make it possible for you to come up with a Halloween costume of your own that’s influenced by the masterworks of some of the great artists of the past, or perhaps by the top costume designers of today.

Another good place to look is Yelp! or the like. These will post user reviews of various halloween costume stores in your area, as well as providing chat rooms and message boards to discuss potential costumes and give you an idea of where you should concentrate your energy as well as which avenues will be more likely to bear fruit for you. Should you take this tack, you could even post your own ideas to these sites. Who knows, maybe it’ll be your own halloween costume ideas that start a trend this year. You could be the next Tim Burton or Elvira if you play your cards right.

Halloween is just around the corner, which means it’s time to start thinking about this year’s costume. Actually this is a pretty big deal, considering you only get to dress up as anyone you want and venture out into public once each year. Whether it be a vampire, werewolf, witch, super hero, or goblin, the choice is all yours. If you’re one of those individuals that overlooks the wonders of Halloween, you should really give this celebration time a shot. It doesn’t matter if you’re heading out to a Halloween party alone, passing out candy to trick-or-treaters, or walking through the neighborhood with your little ones. Dressing up in the right costume can make all the difference. Now all you have to do is find the right Halloween costume stores that offer the unique spooky, sultry or heroic getup you need for All Hallows Eve.

Shopping for a costume is not like it was in the past when options were minimal. Children and adults alike had to rely so much upon their immediate area and the few local retail businesses that provided Halloween or costume party attire during this time of year. In this day and age you will encounter plenty of Halloween costume stores online. This means literally thousands of cool costumes to choose from. Not that the local Halloween costume shops lack what you may need. It’s generally a good idea to check out both if you have the option and time for it. This way you can get a good idea of what new costumes are out and how much they sell for in local Halloween costume stores, as opposed to online via web shops.

The only issue some consumers may have with online Halloween costume shops is that you don’t get to try the ghost, ancient Spartan, grim reaper or ghoul outfit on. Whereas in local Halloween stores you can try on all the costumes you please. Now, you should never forget about cost though! As you may already be aware, some online Halloween costume stores will sell the same fairy, princess, or warlock costume at a lower price than a local retail store. Therefore it always makes sense to do some serious investigating before you actually purchase.

Ideally browsing in both Halloween costume stores online as well as in your town or city can be the best of both worlds. This way if you find the perfect movie theme costume or Greek goddess getup in a local Halloween costume shop, you can then search for it online to see if the price is good. If the cost is much cheaper on the web, then you can simply remember your size and order it online to save a little cash. You can have your children do the same thing.

Once October hits there will be millions of people seeking out Halloween costumes for teens, adults, infants and children alike. Will you get that perfect costume you’ve been thinking about all year? Well, much of this depends on where you shop and how early you choose to purchase a new Halloween costume for your teenager, spouse, infant or yourself. It’s all about timing and knowing where to look. The good news is you can now choose from a massive array of costumes to suit virtually any personality or preference. All you need to get started is a decent search engine to guide the way.

To name a few of the major online distributors that specialize in Halloween costumes for teens and adults, there is buycostumes.com, Halloweenexpress.com, incostume.com, as well as costumeexpress.com. All of these Halloween superstores are conveniently available via cyberspace, and each one offers different deals and specials on Halloween costumes for infants and teenagers. Now, before you merely choose one, seek out a cool costume for October 31st, and make a quick purchase, it is important to realize that all of them may offer a costume you like.

From witches, to ghosts, to demons, to heroines, to goofy hotdog costumes, you can browse through them all when you access the right costume shops online. The reality is that several of these major costume distributors may offer the Halloween costumes for teens you need to make this All Hallows Eve a blast. So, what you need to do is pull up each major costume site and start shopping. Find the ideal werewolf getup or superman costume you desire, and then see if each of the other web stores have the same or a comparable costume at a better rate. This really won’t take you long, and in the end you will be glad you shopped around for the best deals on Halloween costumes for infants and adults. With so much to choose from, you may change your mind several times.

There is a trick to finding the best Halloween costumes for teens and children each year. Begin shopping online earlier than most other consumers do. This means not waiting until October 15th to find the right princess outfit or Harry Potter costume. Instead, start shopping for Halloween costumes for adults and children in August or September. Hey, why not! There is no reason to wait until the last minute. Costumes tend to be more expensive around October 31st, because all the retail stores know how desperate everyone is to find the right Costumes for teens, adults and infants. On a final note, check coupon sites for specials on Halloween costumes to see if you can get an even better deal.

There are many firsts in the life of each child. When you think about each of these, your child can not do much to participate, but you want to have good memories to share with them in the future. Some like to get Halloween costumes for infants, even if that child is not going to go out and do anything on that day. Some of these are really cute, and most are safe, but you do have to be careful. You may only put the outfit on your baby for a few minutes to take pictures, but in the long run, you will be glad that you took the time to do it.

When you think of Halloween costumes for infants, you probably think of the traditional costume that goes with the theme of Halloween. You probably do not want to dress your infant up in something scary, but rather, something cute and potentially cuddly. After all, what is more fun that cuddling your baby? Some of these costumes for infants come in very simple yet very cute designs. Some are form fitting and some are not, just remember that you do not want any hanging pieces they could put into their mouths or any closures that could hurt your baby. Most are made well, but check them out anyway.

Your baby is not going to have a preference, but if they are very young, remember how well they can see. They may see a lot in contrast, black, white, and red, but not much else. That means you may want to find Halloween costumes for infants that incorporate these colors. They may have more fun looking at that costume and feeling it with their hands and skin than wearing it, so get something with an interesting texture as well. Halloween is often a cooler time of year, so make sure your child will be warm if you do intend to take them out with you for trick or treating when taking older children.

There are some crafty people that can make their own Halloween costumes for infants. If you are one of these people, keep a few things in mind. You want something that fits, but tight is not a good idea. Your baby will be uncomfortable at best. Use materials like cotton that breathe, but that can also keep them warm. You want to have reflective materials somewhere on the costume, or on your stroller if you will be pushing them in one. Also, make sure everything is securely attached so baby does not pull pieces off to put into his or her mouth.

You can find a wide range of Halloween costumes for infants online if you do not want to make one on your own. Most companies will have what you need, but order early so that you know your choice will be available and that it will get to you in time for the holiday. If it comes late, it will be too small to use the next year. Pay attention to materials and small parts, and order a bit big if you are not sure the costume is going to fit.

When looking for a costume for this upcoming Halloween, it can be overwhelming and time-consuming. After all, all the effort for an outfit that you will wear for a couple of hours at a dark Halloween party seems a little too crazy to some. However, there are ways no to find Halloween costume sales that take little time and maybe just a little imagination.

First of all, it is easier now more than ever to get a really great Halloween costume – and to get it for cheap. There are Halloween costume sales all over, if you only know where to look. Here then, are some tips and advice to finding really great Halloween costume sales and getting you the costume you really want this Halloween for cheap.

The best way to approach Halloween costume sales, and really, any sales at all, is to have a wide approach. This means checking a variety of sources. Just going to one store may yield a deal, but not like checking five stores, and a couple of web sites. Shopping around is a time-honored and successful strategy for finding the lowest price possible, and when dealing with Halloween costume sales, it is good to remember that even something as time-sensitive as a costume is no exception. Checking a variety of web sites takes up little to no time at all; and while driving from shop to shop can eat up time, the savings may very well be worth it.

The other way to approach Halloween costume sales takes a little bit of planning, but might have dramatic results. Most people don’t realize that Halloween costumes are so expensive because people wait until the last minute. However, you can beat this system and find some really great Halloween costume sales by shopping for your Halloween costume in November… for next year’s Halloween. More and more, Halloween superstores look to shed some inventory following the big holiday to make sure that storage space isn’t overwhelmed (as it can be expensive). So having some forward thinking and doing your Halloween costume shopping in the off-peak seasons, well in advance of October will mean that you find the very best Halloween costume sales.

Finding great Halloween costume sales only takes a little bit more time and some effort. Shopping around different web sites for the costume you are looking for not only ensures that you get the best price available, but also that you get the costume that you really want.

If your teen is a typical teenager, he or she is interested in finding the best costume that expresses their individuality without verging from the preconceived notions of what is acceptable amongst their peers. In other words they want to be distinct, but not unique – that is to say, they want to stand out but not be one of a kind.

That sort of makes it hard to come up with a halloween costume for teens, as it rules out the traditional halloween costumes right from the start. Or does it? This is where a bit of creativity could stand you in good stead.

If you want your teen to be distinct but not unique, you could go with not just a vampire, but a vampire from the Twilight series of books, or the TrueBlood television series. It’s a halloween costume for teens that’ll draw attention for being something relateable and distinct, but won’t draw attention for making them entirely different from the rest of their peers. Given the attitudes and social fabric of junior high and high school, that’s the best favor you can give your child.

Of course there are other concerns beyond finding the perfect outfit for your little superstar. One of the worries many parents have, especially if they have a teenage daughter, is the hyper-sexualization of young womem. That makes finding a halloween costume for teens – especially girls – a bit of a harrowing experience.

Sexy policewoman, for example, is not an appropriate halloween costume for teens, but you’ll see it sold in just about every costume shop and even some toy stores in sizes that are designed for 12-14 year olds. It’s astonishing that people would let their little girls dress up like that.

Of course it’s not just sexy policewoman, it’s sexy nurse, sexy magician’s assistant, sexy cat and sexy undead-mummy thing. I, for one, was surprised to see a mummy with a mini-skirt, but apparently that’s de rigeur these days. My naivete knows no bounds when it comes to raising children, I suppose.

So just keep the above in mind when you want to come up with a halloween costume for teens. Keep it simple but distinct, and try to take an active but not overbearing hand in the idea and design – that way you’re more likely to keep it at least a bit modest, and will be able to guide them towards ideas that are age-appropriate.

So you’ve done it. You’ve come up with the perfect halloween costume. You did all the sewing and the hemming, the coloring and the staining and the dying. Hell, you’ve even storyboarded it, sketched it and priced it out on three different websites.

But you’re not done.

The perfect halloween costume isn’t perfect, and the complete halloween costume isn’t complete, without the perfect halloween costume accessories. It’s like serving a drink without a garnish – it’s not the perfect drink if it doesn’t have that cherry or lemon slice. You need to find the right halloween costume accessories to complete your look.

Thankfully the internet has thousands upon thousands of stores, large and small, dedicated to helping you on your quest. Whether you want to go to a halloween specialty store like HalloweenStreet.com or a generic costume shop like PartyCity, or to your local store in the mall or even to a theater-specific costume shop, you have options a-plenty both in terms of walk-in stores or online shopping.

A good idea when looking for the perfect halloween costume accessories is to go online and learn a bit both about your costume and the holiday itself. Let’s say, for example, that you’ve decided to be a traditionalist and go as a witch, or even sexy witch. Of course you’re going to have your broomstick and pointy hat. But you’ll also want to have a wand, and maybe a cauldron or a black cat (live cat optional of course). But dig a little deeper and you’ll see that Halloween’s name comes from the term All Hallows’ Eve, as it comes before All Hallows’ Day. A little more research and you’ll find that the orignal celebrants used to carve skeletons – to represent the dear departed – out of turnips and rutabaga as a means of showing their appreciation.

So if you want to take it to that level, you can go turnip shopping as a means of completeing your halloween costume. Sure, you might get some strange looks, but you’ll have a costume and, just as important, the type of halloween costume accessories, that capture the spirit of the holiday in the first place.

Of course it’s worth remembering the season as well. Here in America, symbols of autumn are particularly prevalent, with straw dollies, corn husks and pumpkins playing a large role in the celebrations. Other cultures have their own specific halloween costume accessories to offer as well, so it’s worth looking abroad for ideas to complete your costume.

You wouldn’t think that the words ‘Halloween’ and ‘Christmas Tree’ would go together but beyond the fact that these are both very popular decorating holidays, you’ll soon discover that idea of having a Halloween Christmas Tree in your home is becoming the new tradition and quite fashionable.

At first folks began decorating the outside of their house for Halloween by turning their front lawns into makeshift graveyards. You can buy pre-made tombstones at any Halloween store or create your own wooden cut outs. In an effort to expand on the Halloween decorating traditions, people moved up from the ‘graveyard’ to the nearby trees and bushes. Just like during the month of December, you can spruce your October outdoors with a version of a Halloween Christmas Tree. Pick any bush or shrub hang up plastic spiders and bats. Add some pulled about cotton to simulate cobwebs and you’ve got an instant Halloween Christmas tree.

Getting in on the action, a lot of Christmas light manufacturers have developed a special line of outdoor Halloween lights. These can be as simple as the same design of Christmas lights but instead of the traditional blue, red and green Halloween lights are strictly pumpkin orange or blood red. There are also plenty of strand lights in the shape of skulls, Jack-o-lanterns, skeletons and witches. Stringing up these types of lights will also turn any outdoor tree in to a Halloween Christmas Tree.

But lighting up your outdoors with Halloween themed lights isn’t your only option. There are now a line of genuine artificial Halloween Christmas trees made for the indoors. Take the traditional shape and color of a Christmas tree and swap out all the green needles for black needles. Add a string of orange lights and you have a Halloween Christmas tree.

Decorating your Halloween Christmas tree is only limited by what creepy things you can find. More and more companies are getting into the act by creating Halloween Christmas tree ornaments but you can simply hunt through your local Halloween store to find plenty of creepy things to hang on the black branches. Naturally the kids can get involved by making their own ornaments.

If you’re planning on throwing a party, then you definitely have to have a Halloween Christmas tree. And just like at Christmas you can invite your party goers to contribute their own ornaments. Now that you know it’s out there, can you really celebrate the holiday without a Halloween Christmas tree?