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The Official Get Ready for Halloween Thread

You Boils and Ghouls must be getting antsy by now for Halloween

Here is a little history of Halloween the holiday

Halloween is right around the corner...Here

are some fun facts...long read but very cool...enjoy and get pumped for Halloween

Post a recipe, a haunt, a ghost story or more history of the celebration...Pictures of the holiday are welcome as well

Fun Fact Jack-O’-Lanterns and Pumpkin Pies 1 billion pounds Total production of major pumpkin-producing states in 2006. Illinois led the country by producing 492 million pounds of the vined orange gourd. Pumpkin patches in California, Ohio and Pennsylvania also provided lots of pumpkins: Each state produced at least 100 million pounds. The value of all pumpkins produced by major pumpkin-producing states was $101 million.

Halloween Symbol The most prominent Halloween symbol is the carved pumpkin with a lit candle inde. This is an Irish tradition of carving a lantern which goes back centuries. These lanterns are usually carved from a turnips or potatoes. The pumkin carving was first associated with Halloween in North America, where the pumpkin was available, and much larger and eaer to carve. The jack-o'-lantern can be traced back to the Irish legend of Stingy Jack.

The imagery surrounding Halloween is largely an amalgamation of the Halloween season itself, nearly a century of work from American filmmakers and graphic artists, and a rather commercialized take on the dark and mysterious. Halloween imagery tends to involve death, magic, or mythical monsters. Common Halloween characters include, skeletons, ghost stories, ghosts, ghouls, witches, vampires, bats, owls, crows, vultures, haunted houses, pumpkinmen, black cats, aliens, spiders, goblins, zombies, mummies, skeletons, werewolves and demons.

Particularly in America, symbolism is inspired by clasc horror films, which contain fictional figures like Dracula, Frankenstein's monster, The Wolf Man, and The Mummy. More modern horror antagonists like Freddy Krueger, Michael Myers, Leatherface, Jason Voorhees, and the Jigsaw Killer have also become associated with the holiday. Homes are often decorated with these symbols around Halloween.

Black and orange are the traditional colors of Halloween. In modern Halloween images and products, purple, green and red are also prominent. The use of these colors is largely a result of holiday adverting dating back over a century, and tends to be associated with various aspects of Halloween tradition.

The Great Pumpkin

Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Pumpkins But Were Afraid To Ask...

- Pumpkins are fruits. A pumpkin is a type of squash and is a member of the gourd family (Cucurbitacae), which also includes squash, cucumbers, gherkins, and melons.

- The largest pumpkin pie ever baked was in 2005 and weighed 2,020 pounds.

- Pumpkins have been grown in North America for five thousand years. They are indigenous to the western hemisphere.

- In 1584, after French explorer Jacques Cartier explored the St. Lawrence region of North America, he reported finding "gros melons." The name was translated into English as "pompions," which has nce evolved into the modern "pumpkin."

- Pumpkins are low in calories, fat, and sodium and high in fiber. They are good sources of Vitamin A, Vitamin B, potasum, protein, and iron.

- The largest pumpkin ever grown was 1,689 pounds. It was grown by Joe Jutras of North Scituate, Rhode Island.

- Pumpkin seeds should be planted between the last week of May and the middle of June. They take between 90 and 120 days to grow and are picked in October when they are bright orange in color. Their seeds can be saved to grow new pumpkins the next year.

History Of The Jack-O'Lantern

Pumpkin carving is a popular part of modern America's Halloween celebration. Come October, pumpkins can be found everywhere in the country from doorsteps to dinner tables. Despite the widespread carving that goes on in this country every autumn, few Americans really know why or when the jack o'lantern tradition began. Or, for that matter, whether the pumpkin is a fruit or a vegetable. Read on to find out!

People have been making jack o'lanterns at Halloween for centuries. The practice originated from an Irish myth about a man nicknamed "Stingy Jack." According to the story, Stingy Jack invited the Devil to have a drink with him. True to his name, Stingy Jack didn't want to pay for his drink, so he convinced the Devil to turn himself into a coin that Jack could use to buy their drinks. Once the Devil did so, Jack decided to keep the money and put it into his pocket next to a lver cross, which prevented the Devil from changing back into his original form. Jack eventually freed the Devil, under the condition that he would not bother Jack for one year and that, should Jack die, he would not claim his soul. The next year, Jack again tricked the Devil into climbing into a tree to pick a piece of fruit. While he was up in the tree, Jack carved a gn of the cross into the tree's bark so that the Devil could not come down until the Devil promised Jack not to bother him for ten more years.

Soon after, Jack died. As the legend goes, God would not allow such an unsavory figure into heaven. The Devil, upset by the trick Jack had played on him and keeping his word not to claim his soul, would not allow Jack into hell. He sent Jack off into the dark night with only a burning coal to light his way. Jack put the coal into a carved-out turnip and has been roaming the Earth with ever nce. The Irish began to refer to this ghostly figure as "Jack of the Lantern," and then, mply "Jack O'Lantern."

In Ireland and Scotland, people began to make their own verons of Jack's lanterns by carving scary faces into turnips or potatoes and placing them into windows or near doors to frighten away Stingy Jack and other wandering evil spirits. In England, large beets are used. Immigrants from these countries brought the jack o'lantern tradition with them when they came to the United States. They soon found that pumpkins, a fruit native to America, make perfect jack o'lanterns.

Thanks for posting this!

Before we know it Halloween will be here.

What are some Halloween traditions you guys like doing?

For me it would be carving pumpkins and getting the house decorated.

Thanks for posting this!

Before we know it Halloween will be here.

What are some Halloween traditions you guys like doing?

For me it would be carving pumpkins and getting the house decorated.

Carving pumpkins, baking the seeds with a little salt.

I love the smell of pumpkin flesh burning from the lit candle

Burning leaves

Man Im surprised that we are the only ones who like Halloween

Halloween is by far my favorite time of the year. I love the when the leaves start to turn and there is just that feeling in the air during fall. When I was a youngster I loved Halloween but wasn't a huge trick or treater. I liked to stay around the house and try to scare people. Also haunted houses played a huge role in my youth. I just love the whole package that is Halloween. I mean what other time of year can you dress up, watch scary movies, go to haunted houses and just enjoy being outde during the fall. Last year for Halloween we went over to Fenner's house and put on a decent show. This year we plan on ramping things up a bit and add smoke machines and sound. Bring on the fall dangit!

Halloween is a huge deal for us. Partly because it's our wedding anniversary as well.

We bought our house in 2002 and every year nce then we've done our zombie-themed yard haunt "Lawn of the Dead".

Just to get into the spirit I thought I'd share my pumpkin cheesecake recipe:

Ingredients:

2 x 8 oz pkgs cream cheese 1 1/2 cup sugar 2 eggs 3/4 cup cooked pumpkin 1/4 cup flour 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 1/2 tsp ground cloves 1/2 tsp ground allspice 9" pie shell (graham or chocolate)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees 2. Beat cream cheese, sugar, eggs until smooth 3. Add pumpkin and stir in 4. Add dry ingredients and stir in 5. Pour into pie shell and bake for approx 60 mins

Halloween is my favorite holiday bar none.

Even today I still dress up and scare the kiddies.

I use to have a ton of props and decorations and would go all out.

We had smoke machines, strobe lights, black lights, costumes, cob webs, grave yard LOL.

My favorite thing is we would take an old garden hose, cut lots of holes in it then pump smoke via smoke machine through it.

Then we'd cover it and the entire front yard with leaves.

So periodically smoke would rise from the grave yard (pretty cool effect). We also use do those TV 3-D floating monster head DVDs that were REALLY incredible and easy to pull off.

Lucky for me I've always lived in neighborhoods with tons of kids to scare.

We also would order a couple hundred glow necklaces to hand out to children for safety (the parents really like that) then when you'd see the little monsters running around we always knew who had already been to our house!

Even way back in College I was always Myers LOL

And here are some of my favorite pumpkin carvings from past Halloweens

Awesome pic's Joel. Looks like everyone that posted so far on this thread has the same kind of pason for Halloween.

Can't wait for this Halloween if what we have been talking about works out!

Honestly, I can't think of one aspect of the Halloween holiday that I don't like. There's just something about it, and the Fall season in general. Just something in the air. Pop culture has totally changed the way it's celebrated, and that's neither good or bad. I'm just not a fan of the joke costumes ("hey look... I'm a giant condom"). I'm all about the black cats, ghouls, and goblins. The leaves, kids in costumes, pumpkin carving, candy... what's not to like???

Honestly, I can't think of one aspect of the Halloween holiday that I don't like. There's just something about it, and the Fall season in general. Just something in the air. Pop culture has totally changed the way it's celebrated, and that's neither good or bad. I'm just not a fan of the joke costumes ("hey look... I'm a giant condom"). I'm all about the black cats, ghouls, and goblins. The leaves, kids in costumes, pumpkin carving, candy... what's not to like???



Well said Patrick, I am with you on the joke costumes. They are great for certain parties but come Halloween night it is all about fear!

...but come Halloween night it is all about fear!Where's the fear in trick or treating at the mall where, instead of candy, kids get coupons for $5 off a futon because some kid may be allergic to the nuts in a Snickers bar and they don't want to get sued.

...but come Halloween night it is all about fear!Where's the fear in trick or treating at the mall where, instead of candy, kids get coupons for $5 off a futon because some kid may be allergic to the nuts in a Snickers bar and they don't want to get sued.

that is so sad but true............................................................

the whole mall thing is because everyone is scared of getting drugged candy and razor blades even though there has never been one documented incidence of that ever happening

that is so sad but true............................................................

the whole mall thing is because everyone is scared of getting drugged candy and razor blades even though there has never been one documented incidence of that ever happening

What makes that worst, in the U.S. there are only 1-2 cases of drugged candy/razor blades on Halloween and guess who were the culprits?

Family members LOL.

So no stranger has EVER given out poisoned candy in the U.S.

Aren't we a paranoid group LOL