Everything you ever wanted to know about Halloween!

2006-09-15T02:40:00.000-07:00

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Did you know?
From Robert Longley,

Along their way, the merry or mischievous trick-or-treaters, many dressed in scary garb rented from one of America's 2,581 costume rental stores, encounter much of the 998 million pounds of pumpkins produced annually in the United States. Illinois, with a production of 457 million pounds, leads the country. Pumpkin patches in California, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania and New York also produce a lot of pumpkins: each state produces at least 70 million pounds worth.

The history of Halloween
How and where did it all start?

Ideas for Halloween parties
Learn how to carve a pumpkin and what games to play

Halloween Costumes
Have you got your costume yet? You bettter be quick!
As the 31October isn't far away.. great savings!!!

The best Horror movies to watch!
My special selection of scary movies to cuddle up on the couch with!

Japanese & Asian Horror movies are great!
Did you know ,"the grudge" & "the ring" where all asian made movies?

Cheap Horror DVD's on-line!
Staying in? You can still watch the best movies on a budget!

Halloween websites
Still looking for more?...!

FREE fun stuff for halloween!
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2006-09-15T02:33:00.000-07:00

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Halloween ideas......

Carving a Jack-o-lantern

Free pumpkin face templates!(click here!)

A jack-o'-lantern is a turnip or pumpkin whose top and stem have been cut out and interior removed, leaving a hollow shell that is then decoratively carved. Jack-o'-lanterns are associated with the holiday Halloween.

Pumpkin craft

Jack-o'-lanterns are often carved with an emotive face.
Sections of the pumpkin are cut out to make a design, often depicting a face. A variety of tools may be used to carve and hollow out the gourd, ranging from simple knives and spoons to specialized instruments. It is possible to create surprisingly artistic designs, be they simple or intricate in nature. After carving, a light source (traditionally a candle) is placed inside the pumpkin and the top is put back into place. The light illuminates the design from the inside. Sometimes a chimney is carved in the lid to allow heat to escape.
Traditionally the carved pumpkin would be a face, often with a simple crooked toothed grin. But toward the end of the 20th century, artists began expressing every kind of idea they could imagine on pumpkins. Today, it is common to see portraits of political candidates, celebrities and cartoon characters, just to name a few. Some artists do full three-dimensional sculptures and others work with the idea that the lighted pumpkin will project in what amounts to three shades. Cut out holes will appear white; unpeeled portions will appear black, and any area that is peeled or carved to different depths will appear as various shades of yellow/orange. Examples
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Tradition rooted in folklore
An Irish legend tells of Jack, a lazy but shrewd farmer who used a cross to trick the Devil, then refused to free him unless he agreed to never let Jack into Hell. The Devil agreed. When Jack died, he was too sinful to be allowed into Heaven, but the Devil wouldn't let him into Hell. So, Jack carved out one of his turnips, put a candle inside it, and began endlessly wandering the Earth for a resting place. He was known as "Jack of the Lantern", or Jack-o'-Lantern.
There are variations on the legend. Some of which include:
The Devil mockingly tossing a coal from the fires of Hell at Jack, which Jack then places in the turnip.
Jack tricking/trapping the Devil a variety of ways, including placing a key or other item in the Devil's pocket when the Devil is suspended in the air or plucking an apple from a tree. Some versions include a "wise and good man" or even God helping Jack to prevail over the Devil.
Jack's bargain with the Devil being different. In some variations, the deal is only a temporary bargain, but the Devil, embarrassed and vengeful, refuses Jack entry after Jack dies.
Jack is considered a greedy man and is not allowed into either Heaven or Hell, without anything having to do with the Devil.
Despite the colorful legends, the term jack-o'-lantern originally meant a night watchman, or man with a lantern, with the earliest known use in the mid-17th century; and later, meaning an ignis fatuus or will-o'-the-wisp.[1]
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A North American tradition

In northern England, Scotland, and Ireland, there is a long tradition of carving lanterns from vegetables, particularly the turnip, mangelwurzel, or rutabaga. But not until 1837 does jack-o'-lantern appear as a term for a carved vegetable lantern,[2] and the carved lantern does not become associated specifically with Halloween until 1866.[3] Significantly, both occurred not in the British Isles, but in North America.
Historian David J. Skal writes,
Although every modern chronicle of the holiday repeats the claim that vegetable lanterns were a time-honored component of Halloween celebrations in the British Isles, none gives any primary documentation. In fact, none of the major nineteenth-century chronicles of British holidays and folk customs make any mention whatsoever of carved lanterns in connection with Halloween. Neither do any of the standard works of the early twentieth century.[4]
In America, the carved pumpkin was associated with the harvest season in general, long before it became an emblem of Halloween. The poet John Greenleaf Whittier, who was born in 1807, wrote in "The Pumpkin" (1850):

Oh!—fruit loved of boyhood!—the old days recalling,
When wood-grapes were purpling and brown nuts were falling!When wild, ugly faces we carved in its skin,Glaring out through the dark with a candle within!

Halloween decorations ideas

Decoration ideas & party themes

There's no better time for creative merrymaking than Halloween. Get started on your party by picking a theme ('60s? Star Wars?), then plan decorations - from terra-cotta or wax jack-o'-lanterns to homemade scary spiders and ghosts. Set the table with a party pack - set the mood with scary music.

Trick-or-treating

Trick-or-treating, also known as Guising, is an activity for children on Halloween in which they proceed from house to house, asking for treats such as candy with the question, "Trick or treat?" Trick-or-treating is done in costume and is one of the main traditions of Halloween. It has become socially required if one lives in a neighborhood with children to purchase candy in preparation for trick-or-treaters. The National Confectioners Association reported in 2005 that 80 percent of adults in America planned to give out candy to trick-or-treaters,[1] and that 93 percent of children planned to go trick-or-treating.[2]
The activity is popular in the United States, Ireland and Canada, and due to culture importation in recent years has started to occur in Australia and New Zealand (although it has been observed in these country for many years) including in many parts of Europe, most significantly in the United Kingdom where the police have threatened to prosecute parents of children who allow their kids to do it, and in the Saudi Aramco camps of Dhahran and Ras Tanura in Saudi Arabia.

Bobbing for apples

Learn how to bob for apples!(click here)

Bobbing for apples (also known as 'ducking for apples' or, in Australia and New Zealand, 'bobbing for plops' or 'bobbing for ploppers') is a game customarily played on Halloween, but many people have looked upon this game as unsanitary. The game is played by filling a tub or a large basin with water and putting apples in the water. Because apples are less dense than water, they will float at the surface. Players (usually children) then "bob" or "duck" for the apples, by trying to catch one with their teeth. Use of hands is not allowed.

Costume parties

Halloween food/party recipes!(click here!)
Halloween Sale!

United States
Costume Parties are especially popular in the United States around Halloween, when teenagers and adults who may be considered too old for trick-or-treating attend a costume party instead. Halloween costume parties are occasionally featured in popular movies, such as Mean Girls.
Costume parties are also popular during the Carnival season, such as at Mardi Gras. Costume parties are also held for popular science fiction and fantasy events, movie openings and book releases. Website theonering.net held a Lord of the Rings dress oscar party that was attended by Peter Jackson. Star Wars parties were held to celebrate the opening of Episode I. Many bookstores have held Harry Potter themed parties to celebrate the releases of the series' later novels.
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England
Fancy dress parties are popular year round in England. Bridget Jones features the popular and classic theme "Tarts and Vicars". Fancy dress parties are also a favorite of the British Royal Family. Prince William celebrated his 21st birthday with an "Out of Africa" theme, Princess Beatrice chose an 1888 themed party for her 18th birthday, and Freddie and Gabriella Windsor celebrated a joint birthday party with a pre-French Revolution courtly theme.[1] Prince Harry infamously wore an Afrika Corps uniform with a Nazi armband to a "Colonials and Natives" themed party in January 2004. There was a large international outcry after the Sunday tabloid News of the World published a photo of him in the costume.[2]

2006-09-15T02:06:00.000-07:00

The History of Halloween.........

Halloween is an observance celebrated on the night of October 31, most notably by children dressing in costumes and going door-to-door collecting candy. It is celebrated in much of the Western world, though most common in the United States, Puerto Rico, Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom, Canada, and with increasing popularity in Australia and New Zealand. Halloween originated in Ireland as the pagan Celtic harvest festival, Samhain. Irish, Scots and other immigrants brought older versions of the tradition to North America in the 19th century. Most other Western countries have embraced Halloween as a part of American pop culture in the late 20th century.
The term Halloween, and its older spelling Hallowe'en, is shortened from All-hallow-even, as it is the evening before "All Hallows Day"[1] (also known as "All Saints' Day"). In Ireland, the name was All Hallows Eve and this name is still used by some older people. Halloween was also sometimes called All Saints' Eve. The holiday was a day of religious festivities in various northern European pagan traditions, until it was appropriated by Christian missionaries and given a Christian interpretation. In Mexico November 1st and 2nd are celebrated as the "Dia de Los Muertos" Day of the Dead. Halloween is also called Pooky Night in some parts of Ireland, presumably named after the púca, a mischievous spirit. In Australia it is sometimes referred to as "mischief night", by locals.
Halloween is sometimes associated with the occult. Many European cultural traditions hold that Halloween is one of the liminal times of the year when the spiritual world can make contact with the physical world and when magic is most potent (e.g. Catalan mythology about witches).

Halloween in various countries

Ireland
Halloween is most popular in Ireland, where it originated, also known in Irish Gaelic as "Oíche Samhain" or "Samhain Night". The Celts celebrated Halloween as Samhain, "End of Summer," a pastoral and agricultural festival of fire, when the dead revisited the mortal world, and large communal bonfires would be lit to ward off evil spirits. (See Origin: Celtic observation of Samhain below.) In Ireland they continued to practice their deep-rooted, ancient pagan rites well after the arrival of Christianity in the middle of the sixth century.
Pope Gregory IV extended the celebration of All Saints' Day, or All Hallows' Day, on November 1 to the entire Church in 835.[2] Because Samhain had traditionally fallen the night before All Hallows', it eventually became known as All Hallows' Even' or Hallowe'en. While Celts were happy to add All Saints' Day to their calendar, they were unwilling to give up their existing festival of the dead and continued to celebrate Samhain.
Historian Nicholas Rogers has written,

It is not always easy to track the development of Halloween in Ireland and Scotland from the mid-seventeenth century, largely because one has to trace ritual practices from [modern] folkloric evidence that do not necessarily reflect how the holiday might have changed; these rituals may not be "authentic" or "timeless" examples of preindustrial times.[3]

On Halloween night in present-day Ireland, adults and children dress up as creatures from the underworld (ghosts, ghouls, zombies, witches, goblins), light bonfires, and (especially in Derry and Dublin) enjoy spectacular fireworks displays. The children walk around knocking on the doors of neighbours, in order to gather fruit, nuts, and sweets for the Halloween festival. Salt was once sprinkled in the hair of the children to protect against evil spirits.
The houses are decorated by carving pumpkins or turnips into scary faces and other decorations. The traditional Halloween cake in Ireland is the barnbrack which is a fruit bread. Each member of the family gets a slice. Great interest is taken in the outcome as there is a piece of rag, a coin and a ring in each cake. If you get the rag then your financial future is doubtful. If you get the coin then you can look forward to a prosperous year. Getting the ring is a sure sign of impending romance or continued happiness.

United Kingdom
Guy Fawkes Night on the 5th of November, five days after Halloween, is the traditional bonfire night in most of the United Kingdom. The popularity of Halloween itself in the UK differs according to the traditions of the constituent nation.
Halloween in Scotland consists chiefly of children going door to door "guising" (or "Galoshin" on the south bank of the lower Clyde) dressing up and offering entertainment of various sorts in return for gifts.
In some parts of Yorkshire, there is a similar festival called Mischief Night which falls on the 4th of November. Children do tricks on adults which range from the minor to more serious such as taking doors off their hinges on this night. The doors were also often thrown into ponds, or taken a long way away. In recent years these tricks have, in some cases, turned into severe acts of vandalism and criminal damage including streetfires and destruction of private property.[4]
In England it is said that elves rode on the backs of the villagers' cats. The cats had fun but the villagers did not and would lock their cats up so that the elves could not catch them.
Children were told not to sit in the circles of yellow and white flowers where fairies have danced as they may be stolen by the fairies. It was also bad to sit under the hawthorn tree since fairies loved to dance on these and if they saw children their tempers would be prickled.
In England, the black cat was considered to be bad luck, whereas a white cat was considered to be good luck.
Throughout England and the United Kingdom children carve faces into pumpkins (or turnips in Scotland). They cut out designs into the pumpkin. Then they place them on display in their windows to go along with the scary theme of Halloween. (See article Jack-o'-lantern.) Although carved vegetable lanterns are an old tradition, as a Halloween custom it is fairly recent to Britain, appearing only in the latter half of the twentieth century.
Witchballs are also hung up in English homes, usually by the windows or front/back door and are said to glow if a witch passes by.
Bobbing for apples is also another English custom on halloween. Apples were put into a barrel that had been filled to the brim with water and an individual would have to catch an apple by catching them in their mouth with out using their hands. Once an apple had been caught, it was traditional to peel the apple and drop the peelings into the barrel to see if the peel would spell out a letter. Whatever letter the peeling formed itself into would be the first initial of the participant's true love.
In Northern Ireland the event is celebrated with Halloween Rhyming. Children walk around from door to door in their neighbourhood, bedecked in scarey costumes, carrying Jack-o'-lanterns carved from turnips (which tend to be sold larger than in the United States). When the door is answered, the children perform a song or ryhme and in return are usually presented with sweets.
Other traditions include apple ducking, fireworks, recounting of ghost stories and playing games such as Hide 'n' Seek. Apple tarts are usually baked with a coin hidden inside, and large quantities of various types of nuts are eaten. Some of the more bold kids would also play a game called Thunder and Lightning, which involves knocking "like thunder" on a neighbours door, then running away "like lightning".
Tradition is slowly changing however. Many kids will arrive at a door and merely exclaim, "Trick or treat", and money would be given out as well as, or in place of, sweets. Bonfires are less commonly lit for Halloween in Northern Ireland these days.
Adults in Northern Ireland often dress up and go to fancy dress parties or pubs and clubs on Halloween night.

United States
Halloween did not become a holiday in America until the 19th century, where lingering Puritan tradition meant even Christmas was scarcely observed before the 1800s. North American almanacs of the late 18th and early 19th centuries make no mention of Halloween in their lists of holidays.[5] The transatlantic migration of nearly two million Irish following the Irish Potato Famine (1845–1849) brought the holiday and its customs to America. Scottish emigration from the British Isles, primarily to Canada before 1870 and to the United States thereafter, brought that country's own version of the holiday to North America.

Preschoolers in Halloween costumes
When the holiday was observed in 19th-century America, it was generally in three ways. Scottish-American and Irish-American societies held dinners and balls that celebrated their heritages, with perhaps a recitation of Robert Burns' poem "Hallowe'en" or a telling of Irish legends, much as Columbus Day celebrations were more about Italian-American heritage than Columbus. Home parties would center around children's activities, such as bobbing for apples and various divination games, particularly about future romance. And finally, pranks and mischief were common on Halloween.

Commercial exploitation of Halloween in America did not begin until the 20th century. The earliest were perhaps Halloween postcards, which were most popular between 1905 and 1915, and featured hundreds of different designs.[6] Dennison Manufacturing Company, which published its first Halloween catalog in 1909, and the Beistle Company were pioneers in commercially made Halloween decorations, particularly die-cut paper items.[7][8] German manufacturers specialized in Halloween figurines that were exported to America in the period between the two world wars.
There is little primary documentation of masking or costuming on Halloween in America, or elsewhere, before 1900.[9] Mass-produced Halloween costumes did not appear in stores until the 1950s, when trick-or-treating became a fixture of the holiday, although commercially made masks were available earlier.

In the United States, Halloween has become one of the most profitable holidays, next to Christmas, for retailers[10]. In the 1990s many manufactures began producing a larger variety of Halloween yard decorations; prior to this a majority of decorations were homemade. Some of the most popular yard decorations are jack-o'-lanterns, scarecrows, witches, orange and purple string lights, inflatable decorations such as spiders, pumpkins, mummies, Draculas and Frankensteins, and animatronic window and door decorations. Other popular decoration are foam tombstones and gargoyles.

The National Confectioners Association reported in 2005 that 80 percent of adults planned to give out candy to trick-or-treaters,[11] and that 93 percent of children planned to go trick-or-treating.[12]
Anoka, Minnesota, USA, the self-proclaimed "Halloween Capital of the World," celebrates with a large civic parade. Salem, Massachusetts, also has laid claim to the title, though Salem has tried to separate itself from its history of prosecuting witchcraft. Despite that, the city does see a great deal of tourism surrounding the Salem witch trials, especially around Halloween.

New York City hosts the United States' largest Halloween celebration, The Village Halloween Parade. Started by a Greenwich Village mask maker in 1973, the parade now attracts over two million spectators and participants as well as roughly four million television viewers each year. It is the largest participatory parade in the country if not the world, encouraging spectators to march in the parade as well. It is also the largest annual parade held at night.
In many towns and cities, trick-or-treaters are welcomed by lighted porch lights. In some large or crime-ridden cities, however, trick-or-treeting is discouraged, forbidden, or restricted to staged trick-or-treating events within one or more of the cities' shopping malls, in order to prevent potential acts of violence against trick-or-treaters.
Those living in the country may hold Halloween parties. These parties usually involve games (often traditional games like bobbing for apples, searching for candy in a similar manner to Easter egg hunting, or a snipe hunt), a hayrack ride (often accompanied by a scary story and one or more masked and costumed people hiding in the dark to jump out and scare the riders), and treats (usually a bag of candy and/or homemade treats). Scary movies may also be watched. Normally, the childeren are picked up by their parents at pre-determined times. However, it is not uncommon for these parties to include sleepovers.
In Detroit, Michigan. October 30 is known as Devil's Night and in the past has been plagued by vandalism and arson.
The War of the Worlds, a radio adaptation by Orson Welles based upon H. G. Wells' classic novel of the same name, was performed by Mercury Theatre on the Air as a Halloween special on October 30, 1938 and the live broadcast reportedly frightened many listeners into believing that an actual Martian invasion was in progress.

Australia
Because Halloween was not celebrated in Britain it did not travel there with British colonization, but has some recognition due to American cultural media influences. Compared to the USA, Halloween is reasonably uncelebrated in Australia.

Symbols

Jack-o'-lanterns may be carved with funny faces.
Halloween's theme is spooky or scary things particularly involving death, magic, or mythical monsters. Commonly-associated Halloween characters include ghosts, aliens, ghouls, witches, bats, owls, crows, vultures, haunted houses, pumpkinmen, black cats, spiders, goblins, zombies, mummies, skeletons, werewolves, and demons, as well as certain fictional figures like Dracula and Frankenstein's monster. 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.
Elements of the autumn season, such as pumpkins and scarecrows, are also reflected in symbols of Halloween.
The carved jack-o'-lantern, lit by a candle inside, is one of Halloween's most prominent symbols. Although there is a tradition in the British Isles of carving a lantern from a rutabaga, mangelwurzel, or turnip, the practice was first named and associated with Halloween in North America, where the pumpkin was available, and much larger and easier to carve. Many families that celebrate Halloween carve a pumpkin into a frightening or comical face and place it on their home's doorstep after dark.
Neopagans of North America honor their ancestors on October 31. It was once believed that on this night any souls who had not yet passed into the paradise of the summer lands might return to wander the streets and visit their old homes once more.

Trick-or-treating and guising
Main article: Trick-or-treating
The main event of modern US-style Halloween is trick-or-treating, in which children dress up in costume disguises and go door-to-door in their neighborhood, ringing each doorbell and yelling "trick or treat!" Although this resembles the older tradition of guising in Ireland and Scotland, ritual begging on Halloween does not appear in English-speaking America until the 20th century, and may have developed independently. The occupants of the house (who might themselves dress in a scary costume) will then hand out small candies, miniature chocolate bars or other treats. Some American homes will use sound effects and fog machines to help set a spooky mood. Other house decoration themes (that are less scary) are used to entertain younger visitors. Children can often accumulate many treats on Halloween night, filling up entire pillow cases or shopping bags.
In Ireland, great bonfires were lit throughout the breadth of the land. Young children in their guises were gladly received by the neighbors with some "fruit, apples and nuts" for the "Halloween Party", whilst older male siblings played innocent pranks on bewildered victims.
In Scotland, children or guisers are more likely to recite "The sky is blue, the grass is green, may we have our Halloween" instead of "trick or treat!". They visit neighbours in groups and must impress the members of the houses they visit with a song, poem, trick, joke or dance in order to earn their treats. Traditionally, nuts, oranges, apples and dried fruit were offered, though sometimes children would also earn a small amount of cash, usually a sixpence. Very small children often take part, for whom the experience of performing can be more terrifying than the ghosts outside.
Tricks play less of a role in modern Halloween, though Halloween night is often marked by vandalism such as soaping windows, egging houses or stringing toilet paper through trees. Before indoor plumbing was so widespread, tipping over or displacing outhouses was a popular form of intimidation. Casting flour into the faces of feared neighbors was also done once upon a time.

Typical Halloween costumes have traditionally been monsters such as vampires, ghosts, witches, and devils. In recent years, it has become common for costumes to be based on themes other than traditional horror, such as dressing up as a character from a TV show or movie, or choosing a recognizable face from the public sphere, such as a politician (in 2004, for example, George W. Bush and John F. Kerry were both popular costumes in America). In 2001, after the September 11 attacks, for example, costumes of Islamic terrorists, firefighters, police officers, and United States military personnel became popular among children and adults. In 2004, an estimated 2.15 million children in the United States were expected to dress up as Spider-Man, the year's most popular costume.[13]
"'Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF" has become a common sight during Halloween in North America. Started as a local event in a Philadelphia suburb in 1950, and expanded nationally in 1952, the program involves the distribution of small boxes by schools to trick-or-treaters, in which they can solicit small change donations from the houses they visit. It is estimated that children have collected more than $119 million for UNICEF since its inception.
BIGresearch conducted a survey for the National Retail Federation in the US and found that 53.3% of consumers planned to buy a costume for Halloween 2005, spending $38.11 on average (up 10 dollars from last year). An estimate of $3.3 billion was made for the holiday spending.
A child usually "grows out of" trick-or-treating by his or her teenage years. Trick-or-treating by teenagers is accepted, but generally discouraged with genial ribbing by those handing out candy. Teenagers and adults instead often celebrate Halloween with costume parties, staying home to give out candy, listening to Halloween music, or scaring people.
Visiting a haunted house or a dark attraction are other Halloween traditions. Notwithstanding the name, such events are not necessarily held in houses, nor are the edifices themselves necessarily regarded to possess actual ghosts. A variant of this is the haunted trail, where the public encounters supernatural-themed characters or presentations of scenes from horror films while following a trail through a heavily wooded area or field. Also, film studios often release horror films on or around the holiday in hopes of attracting people in search of scary entertainment. Recent examples include Saw (and its sequels) and a director's cut of Ridley Scott's Alien.

Games and other activities
There are several games traditionally associated with Halloween parties. The most common is dooking or bobbing for apples, in which apples float in a tub or a large basin of water; the participants must use their teeth to remove an apple from the basin. A variant involves kneeling on a chair, holding a fork between the teeth and trying to drop the fork into an apple. Another common game involves hanging up treacle or syrup-coated scones by strings; these must be eaten without using hands while they remain attached to the string, an activity which inevitably leads to a very sticky face.
Some games traditionally played at Halloween are forms of divination. In Puicíní (pronounced "pooch-eeny"), a game played in Ireland, a blindfolded person is seated in front of a table on which several saucers are placed. The saucers are shuffled and the seated person then chooses one by touch. The contents of the saucer determine the person's life for the following year. A saucer containing earth means someone known to the player will die during the next year, a saucer containing water foretells travel, a coin means new wealth, a bean means poverty, etc. In 19th-century Ireland, young women placed slugs in saucers sprinkled with flour. The wriggling of the slugs and the patterns subsequently left behind on the saucers were believed to portray the faces of the women's future spouses.
In North America, unmarried women were frequently told that if they sat in a darkened room and gazed into a mirror on Halloween night, the face of their future husband would appear in the mirror. However, if they were destined to die before they married, a skull would appear. The custom was widespread enough to be commemorated on greeting cards from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
The telling of ghost stories and viewing of horror films are common fixtures of Halloween parties. Television specials with a Halloween theme, usually aimed at children, are commonly aired on or before the holiday while new horror films are often released theatrically before the holiday to take advantage of the atmosphere.

Foods
Main article: Poisoned candy scare

Candy apples
Because the holiday comes in the wake of the annual apple harvest, Candy Apples (also known as toffee, taffy or caramel apples) are a common treat at Halloween. They are made by rolling whole apples in a sticky sugar syrup, and sometimes then rolling them in nuts. At one time candy apples were a common treat given to children, but this practice rapidly waned after widespread rumors that some individuals were embedding items like pins and razor blades in the apples that they would pass out to children. While there is evidence of such incidents occurring they are very rare and have never resulted in any serious injuries. Nonetheless, many parents were under the assumption that the practice was common. At the peak of this hysteria, some hospitals were offering to x-ray children's Halloween haul at no cost in order to look for such items. Almost all of the very few Halloween candy poisoning incidents on record involved parents who poisoned their own children's candy, while there are occasional reports of children sticking needles in their own candy (and that of other children) more in an effort to get attention than cause any harm.
A Halloween custom which has survived unchanged to this day in Ireland is the baking (or more often nowadays the purchase) of a barmbrack (Irish "báirín breac"). This is a light fruit cake into which a plain ring is placed before baking. It is said that whoever finds this ring will find his or her true love during the following year. See also King cake
Other foods associated with the holiday:
candy corn
bonfire toffee (in the UK)
Toffee Apple (in Australia, instead of "Candy Apples")
hot apple cider
roasted pumpkin seeds
"fun-sized" or individually wrapped pieces of small candy, typically in Halloween colors of orange, and brown/black.

Cultural history
Main article: History and folklore of Halloween

Christian festival
Pope Boniface IV established an anniversary dedicated to the Virgin Mary and the martyrs when he consecrated the Pantheon on May 13, 609 (or 610). This Christian feast day was moved to November 1st from May 13th by Pope Gregory III in the eighth century in order to mark the dedication of the All Saints Chapel in Rome — establishing November 1st as All Saints Day and October 31st as All Hallows' Eve. Initially this change of date only applied to the diocese of Rome, but was extended to the rest of Christendom a century later by Pope Gregory IV in an effort to standardize liturgical worship.
The feast day of All Souls Day, celebrated to commemorate those souls condemned temporarily to Purgatory, was inaugurated by St Odilo, at the time the abbott of the influential monastery at Cluny, on November 2, 998.
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Origin: Celtic observation of Samhain
According to what can be reconstructed of the beliefs of the ancient Celts, the bright half of the year ended around November 1 or on a Moon-phase near that date, a day referred to in modern Gaelic as Samhain ("Sow-in" or alternatively "Sa-ven", meaning: End of the Summer). After the adoption of the Roman calendar with its fixed months, the date began to be celebrated independently of the Moon's phases.
As October 31st is the last day of the bright half of the year, the next day also meant the beginning of Winter, which the Celts often associated with human death. The Celts also believed that on October 31, the boundary separating the dead from the living became blurred. (There is a rich and unusual myth system at work here; the spirit world, the residence of the "Sidhe," as well as of the dead, was accessible through burial mounds. These mounds opened at two times during the year, making the beginning and end of Summer highly spiritually resonant.)
The Celts' survival during the cold harsh winters, depended on the prophecies of their priests or Druids. They believed that the presence of spirits would aid in the priests' abilities to make future predictions.
The exact customs observed in each Celtic region differ, but they generally involved the lighting of bonfires and the reinforcement of boundaries, across which malicious spirits might cross and threaten the community.
Like most observances around this season, warmth and comfort were emphasized, indulgence was not. Stores of preserved food were needed to last through the winter, not for parties.
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Samhain mistaken as New Year
Popular literature over the last century has given birth to the near universal assumption that Samhain, now associated with the Roman Catholic theme and folkways of Hallowe'en, was the "Celtic New Year". Both the work of scholarly historians and Neopagan writers have begun to scrutinize this assertion. The historian Ronald Hutton, in his exhaustive study of the folk calendar of the British Isles[14] points out that there are no references which attest to this usage earlier than the 18th century, neither in church nor civic records. Although it may be generally correct to refer to Samhain as "Summer's End", this point of descent into the year's darkness may require better proof for us to cite this "end" as also being a "beginning". On the other hand, there is a huge volume of proof of the western world, including late Celtia, as having begun their calendars either at the end of December or around March 25th at various periods back through and before Medieval times.
[edit]

Norse Elven Blót
In the old Norse religion an event believed to occur around the same time of the year as Halloween was the álfablót (elven blót), which involved sacrifices to the elves and the blessing of food. The elves were powers connected to the ancestors, and it can be assumed that the blót related to a cult of the ancestors. The álfablót is also celebrated in the modern revival of Norse religion, Ásatrú.
[edit]

Halloween traditions
Halloween traditions survive most accurately on the island of Ireland, where the last Monday of October is a public holiday. All schools close for the following week for mid-term, commonly called the Halloween Break. As a result Ireland and Northern Ireland are the only countries where children never have school on Halloween and are therefore free to celebrate it in the ancient and time-honored fashion.
The custom of trick-or-treating resembles the European custom called souling, similar to the wassailing customs associated with Yule. On November 2, All Souls' Day, beggars would walk from village to village begging for "soul cakes" — square pieces of bread with currants. Christians would promise to say prayers on behalf of dead relatives helping the soul's passage to heaven. The distribution of soul cakes was encouraged by the church as a way to replace the ancient practice of leaving food and wine for roaming spirits at the Samhain.
Further information: Puck (mythology)
Souling died out in most areas of England by the mid-17th century, during the Protestant Reformation. There is no evidence that souling was ever practiced in North America, and trick-or-treating seems to have evolved there independently: the earliest report of ritual begging on Halloween is from 1915, and it did not become a widespread practice until the 1930s. Ritual begging on Halloween did not appear in the British Isles until the late 20th century, and imitates the American custom.
In Celtic parts of western Brittany, Samhain is still heralded by the baking of kornigou. Kornigou are cakes baked in the shape of antlers to commemorate the god of winter shedding his "cuckold" horns as he returns to his kingdom in the Otherworld.
In the Isle of Man where Halloween is known as Hop-tu-Naa children carry turnips instead of pumpkins, and sing a song called Jinnie the Witch.
[edit]

Punkie Night
"Punkie Night" is observed on the last Thursday in October in the village of Hinton St. George in the county of Somerset in England. On this night, children carry lanterns made from hollowed-out mangel-wurzels (a kind of beet; in modern days, pumpkins are used) with faces carved into them. They bring these around the village, collecting money and singing the punkie song. Punkie is derived from pumpkin or punk, meaning tinder.
Though the custom is only attested over the last century, and the mangel-wurzel itself was introduced into English agriculture in the late 18th century, "Punkie Night" appears to be much older even than the fable that now accounts for it. The story goes that the wives of Hinton St. George went looking for their wayward husbands at the fair held nearby at Chiselborough, the last Thursday in October, but first hollowed out mangel wurzels in order to make lanterns to light their way. The drunken husbands saw the eerie lights, thought they were "goolies" (the restless spirits of children who had died before they were baptized), and fled in terror. Children carry the punkies now. The event has spread since about 1960 to the neighboring village of Chiselborough.
Sources: on-line report from the Western Gazette and a National Geographic radio segment. Chiselborough Fair is memorialized by Fair Place in the village. The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868) reported that there was "a fair for horses and cattle on the last Thursday in October."
[edit]

Mischief Night
The night before Halloween, known alternately as "Devil's Night", "Mizzie Night", "Gate Night", "Cabbage Night", "Mat Night", or "Goosie Night" is often associated with pranks or destructive activities performed by adolescents. Some of the acts range from minor vandalism to theft (e.g. of door mats — thus the name "Mat Night" in some areas), or even arson. Many youths involved in Mischief Night would be considered too old for traditional trick-or-treating. One of the most common wrong-doings is "egging", the act of throwing eggs (sometimes left out for several days to rot) at neighbors' houses, the eggs' yolk causing damage to the paint. Another common Mischief Night act is "T.P.ing", in which people's houses, lawns, and trees are covered in toilet paper streamers.
In parts of northern England, "Mischievous Night" occurs on the 4th of November, the night before Bonfire Night (associated to Bonfire night because the last phases of the plot were coming together). It is celebrated in the same way, although minor vandalism often includes fireworks, which appear in shops in the United Kingdom around this time for legitimate reasons — to set off alongside bonfires on the following night.
[edit]

Religious viewpoints
The majority of Christians ascribe no doctrinal significance to Halloween, treating it as a purely secular entity devoted to celebrating imaginary spooks and handing out candy. The secular celebration of Halloween may loom larger in contemporary imagination than does All Saints Day.
The mingling of Christian and Pagan traditions in the development of Halloween, and its real or assumed preoccupation with evil and the supernatural, have left some modern Christians uncertain of how they should react towards the holiday. Certain fundamentalist and evangelical Protestants, along with some Eastern Orthodox Christians as well as conservative Jews and Muslims, strongly object to the holiday and refuse to allow their children to participate, citing its pagan origins (and, in some cases, its Roman Catholic connections) as well as what they regard as its Satanic imagery. In some areas, complaints from fundamentalist Christians that the schools were endorsing a pagan religion have led the schools to stop distributing UNICEF boxes at Halloween. Another response among conservative evangelicals in recent years has been the use of Hell houses or themed pamphlets (such as those of Jack T. Chick) which attempt to make use of Halloween as an opportunity for evangelism.
Other Christians, particularly Roman Catholics, continue to connect the holiday with All Saints Day.[15] Some modern Christian churches commonly offer a fall festival or harvest-themed alternative to Halloween celebrations. Still other Christians hold the view that the holiday is not Satanic in origin or practice and that it holds no threat to the spiritual lives of children: being taught about death and mortality actually being a valuable life lesson. Fr. Gabriele Amorth, the senior exorcist of Vatican City, said in an interview with The Sunday Telegraph, "…if English and American children like to dress up as witches and devils on one night of the year that is not a problem. If it is just a game, there is no harm in that."[16]
Likewise, to many Protestant churches, October 31 is also the date of Reformation Day, a minor religious festival. Some families, churches, and religious schools combine the holidays.
Objections to celebrating Halloween are not limited to those of the Abrahamic religions. Some members of the Wiccan religion feel that the holiday is offensive to "real" witches for promoting a stereotypical caricature of a witch.[17] Additionally, many Wiccans and other neo-Pagan adherents object to Halloween as a vulgarized, commercialized mockery of the original Samhain observances. LaVeyan Satanists regard it as a holiday of sorts, as noted in 'Religious Holidays', a chapter of The Satanic Bible. It is usually celebrated as a night of increased spiritual activity, similar to Pagan traditions, and many Satanists have gatherings or rituals.
[edit]

Further reading
Diane C. Arkins, Halloween: Romantic Art and Customs of Yesteryear, Pelican Publishing Company (2000). 96 pages. ISBN 1-56554-712-8
Diane C. Arkins, Halloween Merrymaking: An Illustrated Celebration Of Fun, Food, And Frolics From Halloweens Past, Pelican Publishing Company (2004). 112 pages. ISBN 1-58980-113-X
Phyllis Galembo, Dressed for Thrills: 100 Years of Halloween Costumes and Masquerade, Harry N. Abrams, Inc. (2002). 128 pages. ISBN 0-8109-3291-1
Ronald Hutton, Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain, Oxford Paperbacks (2001). 560 pages. ISBN 0-19-285448-8
Jean Markale, The Pagan Mysteries of Halloween: Celebrating the Dark Half of the Year (translation of Halloween, histoire et traditions), Inner Traditions (2001). 160 pages. ISBN 0-89281-900-6
Lisa Morton, The Halloween Encyclopedia, McFarland & Company (2003). 240 pages. ISBN 0-7864-1524-X
Nicholas Rogers, Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night, Oxford University Press (2002). 198 pages. ISBN 0-19-514691-3
Jack Santino (ed.), Halloween and Other Festivals of Death and Life, University of Tennessee Press (1994). 280 pages. ISBN 0-87049-813-4
David J. Skal, Death Makes A Holiday: A Cultural History of Halloween, Bloomsbury USA (2003). 224 pages. ISBN 1-58234-305-5
Ben Truwe, The Halloween Catalog Collection. Portland, Oregon: Talky Tina Press (2003). ISBN 0-9703448-5-6.

2006-09-13T03:58:00.000-07:00

Top horror movies to watch!..........

Halloween -John Carpenter/Debra Hill (1978)

A psychotic murderer institutionalized since childhood escapes on a mindless rampage while his doctor chases him through the streets

Dr. Sam Loomis:" I- I- I watched him for fifteen years, sitting in a room, staring at a wall, not seeing the wall, looking past the wall - looking at this night, inhumanly patient, waiting for some secret, silent alarm to trigger him off. Death has come to your little town, Sheriff. Now you can either ignore it, or you can help me to stop it."

What can i say ,this is a fantastic film! and the only movie that i couldn't watch alone as it made me close my eye's everytime i heard that creepy music! It still does today!

It's the best stalker/slasher movie ever made and Micheal Myers character is an emotionless, inhuman & a relentless killer.
Mix this with the excellent performances from "Donald Pleasance" as Dr.Loomis and Jamie-Lee-Curtis as the target of Micheals obsession and you have a real chiller/thriller of a movie that will make you shout "he's behind you !"
"Halloween 2" continues straight after the original and is very good. "Halloween 3:season of the witch" doesn't feature Micheal Myers but is a good spin on the origins of Halloween! As for the rest it's a mix bag of slasher mayhem!

Rob Zombie is to remake a new original version!

The Grudge- (US) Takashi Shimizu/Sam Raimi (2004)

"It never forgives. It never forgets"

I think the US remake with the original director is far more scary and Sam Raimi really makes it that more intense!
Who would have a thought a little kid could be so scary!!!
The plot revolves around a house that is cursed by a family tragedy which effects anyone who dares to venture inside, leaving no place safe for you to hide!.
Watch this with you partner and your bound to get some hugs!

The Thing-John Carpenter (1982)

Scientists in the Antarctic are confronted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of the people that it kills

A remake of the classic "the thing from another world", John Carpenter creates a classic mix of sci-fi and horror which will keep you entertained and the characterisation is great as you work out who is good and who will turn bad!

Final destination- James Wong (2000)

After having a vision of his friends crashing in a plane, he tells them not to get on only later his friends start getting killed one by one

Inspired by J-horror theme's this is a fantastic movie and will keep you gasping at the eleborate death scene's and wondering "who will go next" !

Final destination 2- James Wong (2003)

When Kimberly has a violent premonition of a highway pileup she blocks the freeway, keeping a few others meant to die, safe...Or are they? The survivors mysteriously start dying and it's up to Kimberly to stop it before she's next

One of the best opening sequences i have ever scene involving a multi car pile up and the death scenes get more and more creative! Who said sequels aren't better!!

Final destination 3- James Wong (2006)

In this third installment of the Final Destination series, a student's premonition of a deadly rollercoaster ride saves her life and a lucky few, but not from death itself which seeks out those who escaped their fate

Running along the same lines as "FD2", you would think that the franchise has run out of steam , but oh-know , this starts off as a real roller-coaster of a ride (really!!) and get's better and better!

The Fog-John Carpenter/Debra hill (1980/2005)

A Northern California fishing town, built 100 years ago over an old leper colony, is the target for revenge by a killer fog containing zombie-like ghosts seeking revenge for their deaths

A classic creepy movie with a great conspiracy plot centred around an island community!
I am still split between both versions, the original is definatley more scary however the plot is better in the remake by John Carpenter though the original ending is better!

HellRaiser-Clive Barker (1987)

"You opened the box ,we came!"

An unfaithful wife encounters the zombie of her dead lover, who's being chased by demons after he escaped from their sado-masochistic Hell

What can i say , Clive Barker story from his "Books of blood" certainly makes him the master of romantic-gothic horror films! I was blown away when this was released as it was the first truelly gorey yet captivating movie i had seen and very dark indeed!

A Nightmare on Elm street -Wes Craven (1984)

You'll never want to fall asleep again!

In the dreams of his victims, a specteral child murderer stalks the children of the members of the lynch mob that killed him

From the man who gave us "The last house on the left" , Wes Craven shock's us awake with his knife fingered child murder "Freddy krueger"! (based on a bully from his school days). exploring dream psychology and scaring us when we close our eyes and hear....
"1-2 freddies coming for you.....3-4 better lock your door!"

Candyman-Clive Barker (1992)

I dare you to say his name 5 times in the mirror!

Helen Lyle is a student who decides to write a thesis about local legends and myths. She visits a part of the town

Tony Todd is fantastic and grand as "Candyman" with lines like "be my victim..." he makes an alternative and almost romantic Dracula type baddy who is based on an old urban legend.

the hills have eyes -Wes Craven (1977/2006)

"The lucky ones die first."

A suburban American family is being stalked by a group of psychotic people who live in the desert, far away from civilization

Wes improves and shocks more with this remake and the characterisation between the family members really draws you in! The intro is quite scary too! A great film and it's worth watching both!

Christine-John Carpenter/Stephen King (1983)

"She'll possess you. Then destroy you. She's death on wheels"

A nerdish boy buys a strange car with a evil mind of its own and his nature starts to change to reflect it

With an intro featuring the music "Born to be bad", Christine is a surprising and refreshing horror story about a car that has a mind of it's own and a boy that buys it and falls in love!

The Village-M. Night Shyamalan

The population of a small, isolated countryside village believe that their alliance with the mythical creatures that inhabit the forest around them is coming to an end.

A great film with an interesting and twisted plot to say the least and has some really creepy moments!

Signs-M. Night Shyamalan

A family living on a farm finds mysterious crop circles in their fields which suggests something more frightening to come

A film with great dramatic tension and is more scary/creepy than gory.Theres some really nice moments between all the characters and it explores the dynamic of a broken family experiencing strange going's on that could change the world!!

SEVEN-David Fincher

Police drama about two cops, one new and one about to retire, after a serial killer using the seven deadly sins as his MO

Good actors and a gripping/tense plot make a fantastic and watchable movie as Danny Glover and Brad Pitt chase on of a murderer who picks each victim according to the 7 deadly sins!

sAW-James Wan (2004)

With a dead body laying between them, two men (Whannell and Elwes) wake up in the secure lair of a serial killer who's been nicknamed "Jigsaw" by the police because of his unusual calling card

This is a fantastic movie and keeps you guessing and wanting more all through the movie with it's clever and elaborate twists and death scene's.What would you do to save yourself?

sAW2- Darren Lynn Bousman (2005)

Jigsaw locks a few unlucky people in a booby trapped shelter and they must find a way out before they inhale too much of a lethal nerve gas and die. But they must watch out, for the traps Jigsaw has set in the shelter lead to death also

How do you top the first one? Easy! make the 2nd one even better! The set's and plot's are veen more elaborate this time!

The Fly-David Cronenberg (1986)

A brilliant but eccentric scientist begins to transform into a giant man/fly hybrid after one of his experiments goes horribly wrong

A remake of the 50's movie,this is certainly a shocker of a love story and is about to have it's 3rd remake! Hold your stomach!

Scanners-David Cronenberg (1981)

A scientist sends a man with extraordinary psychic powers to hunt others like him

A great film , great story and great cover design see a few selected people with psychic powers blow each other heads off! Classic!

Event Horizon-Paul w.s Anderson (1997)

A rescue crew investigates a spaceship that disappeared into a black hole and has now returned...with someone or something new on-board

Think "the Amytiville horror" meets "Alien/Hellraiser" in this cool space horror film which explores all parts of the bounderies of belief!

Misery-Stephen King (1990)

A famous novelist is "rescued" from a car crash by an obsessed fan

I was never a big fan of Kathy Bates, however after watching this film again recently it's an excellent story and really gripping! Some squimish bits too!

The Amityville Horror-Andrew Douglas (1979/2005)

A family is terrorized by demonic forces after moving into a home that was the site of a grisly mass-murder

Based on a true story about a family who moved into a house with a murderous past.The house then tries to inflict the same upon the new owners!A good film and has touches of the "Omen" & "exorcist"

The Exorcist-William Friedkin (1973)

Landmark of horror films, based on an enormously popular novel: A troubled cleric sees a means of redemption in helping a psychologically damaged teen

No one can forget the haunting sound of Mike Oldfields "tubular-bells" playign as the preist stands in the lamp light outside the old house. A great film and definately a classic!

The Exorcism of Emily Rose-Scott Derrickson (2005)

A lawyer (Linney) takes on a negligent homicide case involving a priest (Wilkinson) who performed an exorcism on a young girl.

Based on a true story from Germany about a young girl who becomes possed and has to make the ultimate choice!

The Omen- (1976/2006)

An American ambassador learns to his horror that his son is actually the literal Antichrist

The granddaddy of supernatural horrors, the kid in the Omen must be the scarriest kid ever!Lets' just say they dont like him down the Zoo!Oh and watch out for his rottweiler and the scary latin music!

An American Werewolf in London-John Landis (1981)

Two American tourists in England are attacked by a werewolf that none of the locals will admit exists

John Landis uses a very witty script and amazing special effects (for the time!) to inspire and scare the bejesus out of us and keep us entertained all the way!My advise is "stay off the moors!"

Children of the corn-Stephen King (1984)

A boy preacher named Isaac goes to a town in Nebraska called Gatlin and gets all the children to murder every adult in town

Yep those pesky little brat's are at it again in this creepy and distrubing idea about a town slaughter and run by the children who worship a corn god!

The Birds-Alfred Hitchcock (1963)

A wealthy San Francisco playgirl pursues a potential boyfriend to a small Northern California town which slowly takes a turn when birds of all kinds suddenly begin to attack people there, in increasing numbers and with increasing viciousness

It's a nightmare anyone has at trafalgar square! And it's classic Hitchcock and pretty scary ion some places especially for it's time!

The silence of the lambs-Jonathan Demme (1991)

Dr. Hannibal Lecter. Brilliant. Cunning. Psychotic. In his mind lies the clue to a ruthless killer. - Clarice Starling, FBI. Brilliant. Vulnerable. Alone. She must trust him to stop the killer

A legend in it's own right ,who can forget Anthony hopkins excellent performance as the creepy Dr.Lectur and the cat and mouse game that ensues! This film was also inspired by the true story of ED Gein.

Jeepers Creepers-Victor Savla (2002)

Two college students unleash a terrifying force of evil

A movie in 2 parts, the first is typical Francis ford Coppala stuff that matches "Dual" in intensity and terror! This is a real creature feature and will spook you loads! Who is it? what is it?

Poltergeist-Steven Spielberg/tobe Hooper (1982)

They're here!

A real turn for the books as the films characters and the family bond are brilliantly played out and all the scares are there too!!

The Evil Dead-Sam Raimi (1981)

An influential horror movie with some humour, loads of gore and some shocking moments

Jaws-Steven Spielberg (1975)

Were going to need a bigger boat!!

As the lead character quotes above,he is right it's one hell of a movie and one hell of a shark!The cats are fantastic and the seen between them on the boat talking fishing tails is brilliant!

Childs Play-Tom Holland (1988)

Young Andy Barclay gets the doll he wanted. However, he did not know it was alive!

Scream-Wes Craven (1996)

A psychopathic serial killer is stalking a group of teens just like in the movies!

Being one of the creators of this genre, Wes Craven pay's tribute to the horror movies with this slick and witty slasher flick!

Tremors-Ron Underwood (1990)

Natives of a small isolated town, defend themselves against strange underground creatures which are killing them one by one

A brilliant film with great chemistry between all the cast as the local towns folk fight of giant man eating worms!

Leviathan-George Cosmatos (1989)

Underwater deep-sea miners encounter a Soviet wreck and bring back a dangerous cargo to their base on the ocean floor with horrifying results

A forgotten and almost b-movie style sci-fi horror.Think "Aliens" meets "the Abyss" meets "the thing"!! Classic mayhem!

Creepshow-George a Romero (1982)

Inspired by the E.C. comics of the 1950s, George A.Romero and Stephen King bring five tales of terror to the screen

There is some great storytelling from many of the masters of horror and some legendary "cameo" appearances (Leslie neilson) to spook you !

Creep-Christopher Smith (2004)

Trapped in a London subway station, a woman who's being pursued by a potential attacker heads into the unknown labyrinth of tunnels beneath the city's streets

An original and brilliant brit-horror-flick from 1st time director writer Christopher Smith. A great plot and truelly horrible monster keep this on track!

Dog Soldiers-Neil Marshall (2002)

Six soldiers. Full moon. No chance

Another brit flick which is both gory,funny and brilliant in places! There's plenty of werewolf action in this pic!

28Days later-Danny Boyle (2002)

Four weeks after a mysterious, incurable virus spreads throughout the UK, a handful of survivors try to find sanctuary

Cillian Murphy debutes in this excellent film which has a stunning opening sequence of London being completley abandoned!!And then the zombies come!!

Psycho!-Alfred Hitchcock (1960)

A young woman steals $40,000 from her employer's client, and subsequently encounters a young motel proprietor too long under the domination of his mother.

Inspired by the story of ED Gein and excellent acted and filmed,hitchock surpasses him self as the master of horror and suspense and this is truely ahead of it's time!

Alien-Ridley Scott (1979)

A mining ship, investigating a suspected SOS, lands on a distant planet. The crew discovers some strange creatures and investigates

The film that launches a 1000 copies, Alien still stands as the ultimate sci-fi horror! The directors cut is very good!

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre-Tobe Hooper (1974/2003)

A group of friends passing through are stalked and hunted down by a deformed killer with a chainsaw in order to sustain his poor family who can only afford to eat what they kill

Also based on the story of ED Gein, the originaly banned movie has had an update and is much improved yet still shocking and gory!

Wrong Turn-Rob Schmidt (2003)

Six people find themselves trapped in the woods of West Virginia, hunted down by "cannibalistic mountain men grossly disfigured through generations of in-breeding.

One of the TCM copies,this follows in the same light and delivery soem hill billy shocks!

Dawn of the Dead-George-a-Romero (1978/2004)

When the undead rise, civilization will fall

Shaun of the dead-Simon Pegg (2004)

A man decides to turn his moribund life around by winning back his ex-girlfriend, reconciling his relationship with his mother, and dealing with an entire community that has returned from the dead to eat the living

A brilliant film!Really really funny!

The Shinning-Stephen King/Stanley Kubrick (1980)

A family heads to an isolated hotel for the winter where an evil and spiritual presence influences the father into violence, while his psychic son sees horrific forebodings from the past and of the future

Cat's Eye-Stephen King (1985)

A stray cat is the linking element of three tales of suspense and horror.

IT-Stephen King/Tommy Lee Wallace (1990)

Seven youths have to defeat a demonic creature named Pennywise which dresses in a clown suit and terrorizes a 1960's town in Maine

Killer Clowns from outerspace-Stephen Chiodo (1988)

Aliens who look like clowns come from outer space and terrorize a small town

What lies beneath-Robert Zemeckis (2006)

He was the perfect husband until his one mistake followed them home

House of a 1,000 corpses-Rob Zombie (2003)

Two teenage couples traveling across the backwoods of Texas searching for urban legends of serial killers end up as prisoners of a bizarre and sadistic backwater family of serial killers

House of wax-Jaume Collet-Serra (2005)

Six friends are stranded in a ghost town where a towering wax museum looms ahead. And inside are two brothers who have a special way of making the wax figures look real...

The Entity- Sidney J. Furie (1981)

Supposedly based partially on a true story, a woman is tormented and sexually molested by an invisible demon

Silent Hill-Christophe Gans (2006)

A woman goes in search for her daughter, within the confines of a strange, desolate town called Silent Hill. Based on the video game.

2006-09-13T03:55:00.000-07:00

Japanese and Asian horror movies

The Eye2

Pregnant Joey (Shu Qi) teeters on the brink of madness after several fruitless suicide attempts. She's

A brilliant and the most chilling horror i have ever seen!!!

The Eye

A blind girl gets a cornea transplant so that she would be able to see again. However, she got more.

A great film and it's really creepy and scary with a great story behind it!

The Grudge (Ju-on)

A mysterious and vengeful spirit marks and pursues anybody who dares enter the house in which it resides.

If you have watched the US remake you will see an alternate version here!

Into the Mirror

An ex-cop now working as a security guard in a shopping mall tries to uncover the secret behind a series of mysterious deaths linked to mirrors.

Absolutley brilliant film!! With great plot ,story and killer!!! Dont look in the mirror!!

Ringu (the ring)

A mysterious video kills whomever views it, unless that viewer can solve its mystery.

The whole trilogy is great is yet somewhat confusing about the timelines....but woeth it in your collection!

Phone

Soon after Ji-won gets a new cell phone, her friend's young daughter, Yeong-ju, puts it to her ear and immediately begins screaming in terror.

A brilliant and really scary movie and the performance by the little girl is amazing!!!

Audition

Widower takes an offer to screen girls at a special audition, arranged for him by a friend to find him a new wife. The one he fancies is not who she appears to be after all.

A sexy and shocking movie that explores taboo's and has a really great story and has some real eye squinting moments in!

Ab-normal beauty

Despite a final misstep, an abnormally effective thriller.

Another sex/shocker which get's up close an personal between 2 girls relationships and ones obssession with death!

A tale of two sisters

Two sisters who, after spending time in a mental institution, return to the home of their father and cruel stepmother.

A beautiful film and very sad in places as well a truelly scary!!

Wishing stairs (part3)

A staircase leading to the dormitory of a remote boarding school usually has 28 stairs, but every so often there appears to be 29. When someone steps on the mysterious extra stair, the horror begins.

I really liked this one and there are some great characters and funny as well as scary and gory bits!

Memento-Mori (Remember the dead) (part2)

A student committed suicide, leaving behind a mysterious diary. Those who dare to read it are bound to die.

A very Romeo & juliet based story between 2 school girls in love which ahs a tragic turn!

whispering corridors- (part1)

Whispering Corridors is good and effective, and well made, but not terribly original. After a teacher seemingly commits suicide, other strange things begin to happen at a school, which is supposedly haunted by a girl that committed suicide years ago. This is fairly odd and creepy and some of the movements within the film make you think for a moment there's something wrong with the disk but no, it's just the movie. It's an adequate and effective ghost story, but nothing to get too excited about

Dumplings

No woman can resist the temptation of potential rejuvenation - for some it's a dreamy blissful chase.

ASll i can say is i hope you have a strong stomach! This is a great and stylish movie about womans obsession with appearance!

PulSe

Japanese teens investigate a series of suicides linked to an internet webcam that promises visitors the chance to interact with the dead

DarkWater

A mother and her 6 year old daughter move into a creepy apartment whose every surface is permeated by water

The Isle

Mute Hee-Jin is working as a clerk in a fishing resort in the korean wilderness; selling baits, food and sex

2006-09-13T03:54:00.000-07:00

the

Cheap horror DVD's on-line!

Wes Craven films

John Carpenter films

Stephen King

Alfred Hitchcock

2006-09-13T03:53:00.000-07:00

Halloween & Horror websites

I have started to compile a list of the best sites on the web!

Halloween costumes-Spirit of Halloween

2006-09-13T02:28:00.000-07:00

Special saving via this site only!!!!!
15% discount! on Freddy, Jason, & Michael Myers costumes and accessories at www.SpiritHalloween.com - Use Code "horror15" at checkout!

Halloween costumes & hire...................

Halloween costumes-Spirit of Halloween

Halloween Costumes from Costume Craze

ExtremeHalloween.com: 1000's of Costumes to Choose From.

Frank Bee Costume Center...Your number one costume speciality store.