You know it’s getting close to Halloween, when you see celebrities in
Halloween dress or friends invite you to a costume party. Halloween Day is
less than a month away and it falls on a Sunday. Time is of the essence
in planning for the one of the most enjoyable nights of the year and
we hope you have a scary good time.
Halloween isn’t just fun for kids nowadays, it’s also entertaining
for adults. There are more haunted houses and
Halloween attractions popping up in towns and cities
across the US, than ever before. There will also be a plethora of horror
movies arriving in theaters and on TV in the next few weeks.
If you have a Halloween event, attraction or experience that you’d
like to share, feel free to submit it here. We are always looking for Halloween
recipe and costume suggestions.
Today, pretty much everybody who genuinely loves Hallowe’en knows what a Hallowe’en Tree is—the festive and macabre equinoctial version of a Christmas tree. Hallowe’en Trees have become so popular that, from variety stores on the low end to Christopher Radko at the high end, increasingly elaborate ornaments have been created expressly for them. But it wasn’t always that way. Back in the last century—in 1971 to be precise—even those whose favorite holiday Hallowe’en was seemed not to have come up with the idea. That is, until by a happy and almost accidental set of circumstances, I did it myself.
Living in suburban St. Louis and having just received my Master’s Degree in English from Washington University, I was embarking on what was to be a thirty-year career as an English professor and a writer. I was twenty-three at the time, an age when the most ambitious folk are looking ahead to a lifetime of success. But I never forgot my childhood delight in everything about Hallowe’en, about monsters, about the supernatural, about playing and having great fun at it.
One evening (I’d like to think it was a dark and stormy one), I was leafing through a collection of the cartoons of the late and deeply-lamented Charles Addams, who had created his “Addams Family” in the pages of The New Yorker magazine. And my eyes lit on one of my favorites: a 1947 image of Morticia decorating the family’s long-dead pine Christmas tree with little skeletons, snakes, ghosts, coffins and even a vulture as a tree-topper. Thought I: What a wonderful idea for All Hallows Eve (or Samhain, pronounced Sow-en, as the ancient Celts called it). It was the work of a moment in the days before Hallowe’en that year to find a dead tree branch, plant it in a crockery pot filled with earth (native soil, of course) and decorate it with cardboard jack-o-lanterns, black cats, haunted houses and even a “Lurch” mask as a homage to the Addams Family. It was the first Hallowe’en Tree, and I may even have called it that.
But even if I didn’t, the next year Ray Bradbury settled the issue when his book for young people, The Hallowe’en Tree, was published by Knopf. Now, the Hallowe’en Tree had a real physical existence and even a name supplied by the most beloved author ever to celebrate the holiday. What Dickens is to Christmas, Bradbury is to Hallowe’en. And that was the icing on the soul-cake. I determined that no matter what I did in life or where I ended up, I’d have a Hallowe’en Tree every year. And so I have.
In the 1973 October issue of St. Louis magazine, I even wrote about the Tree. In what was nominally a history of the holiday, I pretended that the Hallowe’en Tree was an ancient tradition in an effort to convince anyone who read the article to set up his or her own Tree. I’m not sure how well it worked. But a few years later, I naively tried to interest the Hallmark people in the idea, arguing in my letter to them that they could produce Hallowe’en ornaments and tap a fresh new market with fresh new products. What I didn’t know is that one can’t copyright or patent an idea. I never heard from Hallmark, but the very next year, small cardboard Hallowe’en Trees began to appear in their stores hung with—you guessed it—Hallowe’en ornaments.
Now that the idea was out there—and some ten years or so after I’d set up my first Tree—novelty stores, gift shops and catalogues began, by slow degrees, to feature table-top sized versions of twisted wire or cast resin to simulate ghostly, leafless trees, decorated with miniature pumpkins, witches and goblins. But this slick, “crafty” merchandise missed the whole point. The Hallowe’en Tree is properly an actual dead branch, which costs nothing and embodies the spirit of season. (By the bye, never cut a live branch from a living tree; the tree won’t like it, and, of course, your Hallowe’en Tree ought to be dead!)
In the meantime, my own Hallowe’en Trees were become larger and more elaborate. In the weeks before the holiday, my wife and I went out looking for just that right dead tree branch, best obtained in some excellently spooky place. Once I even had to strap the Tree to the top of my car just as Christmas tree hunters do. Lights were eventually added, lights in appropriately autumnal colors, mostly orange which looked wonderfully seasonal against the dark, dead limb that formed the basis for the Tree. And, of course, every time I came across a perfectly grisly artifact that might hang from the Tree, I bought it. Today I have so many ornaments that most remain in storage, and we decorate the Tree just with our favorites.
In the year 2000, I retired from teaching and moved to Connecticut, where I live in a renovated 1881 factory building and sail my little boat Goblin on Long Island Sound. I’ve had a fine career in academia, I’ve edited or written half a dozen books—one about that master horror writer H. P. Lovecraft and others about Sherlock Holmes (including two adult mysteries, The War of the Worlds Mystery and The Twentieth Century Limited Mystery). But my love affair with Hallowe’en and the Hallowe’en Tree has only deepened. The fact that in 2011 my Hallowe’en Tree will reach its 40th birthday is proof that, properly nurtured, the child in all of us can live a long and healthy life.
And for whatever accomplishments I’ve achieved along the way, the development of what has now become an October icon ranks equally with the rest. I’ve long said—and only half jokingly—that if I have an epitaph, it ought to read: Philip A. Shreffler—Inventor of the Hallowe’en Tree.
“LA LLORONA”— THE BLOODTHIRSTY SPECTRE OF MEXICAN LEGEND,
TO STALK HALLOWEEN HORROR NIGHTS GUESTS ON THE UNIVERSAL BACKLOT AND WITHIN HER OWN “SCARE ZONE”
AS UNIVERSAL STUDIOS HOLLYWOOD UNVEILS AN ALL-NEW
HALLOWEEN HORROR NIGHTS EXPERIENCE FOR 2010
Universal City, California— La Llorona, whose fearful story of melancholy and murder has terrified Mexican and Latin American children for generations, will cast a grim shadow upon guests at Universal Studios HollywoodSM this fall as her dreaded presence is unleashed upon guests at the 2010 Halloween Horror Nights® event, where the legends of horror come to life.
According to the legend, a beautiful Mexican woman fell in love and married the most handsome man in the village. She bore two beautiful children, but her husband soon fell in love with another woman. Blinded by jealousy, the woman ran with her children to a river, where her faithless husband was courting his new love. Enraged, she threw her children into the river, where the current carried them away. When she realized what she had done, she threw herself into the river as well.
But the woman did not leave this Earth. Late at night, in the deep woods, or by a small creek, children can hear her weeping, searching in vain for her lost children. “La Llorona,(“the crying woman”) they call her, for she frequently wails “My children, where are my children?” Her frail, drenched body is a chilling sight; any child wandering alone is sure to be snatched as her newest victim.
At the 2010 Halloween Horror Night event, La Llorona will stalk guests as they make their way through the Universal back lot as part of the all-new “Terror Tram” experience and she’ll also terrorize her own “Scare Zone,” hiding within the shadows of a gauntlet haunted by the ghosts of her dead victims.
The 2010 “Halloween Horror Night” event at Universal Studios Hollywood will offer spine-chilling new mazes based upon the horror genre’s most compelling characters. Rob Zombie and other top artists are collaborating with Universal Studios Hollywood in the creation of new mazes, “scare zones” and backlot experiences. Additional new content for the 2010 Halloween Horror Nights mazes and attractions will be announced shortly.
Midnight Syndicate debuts new Halloween Music Video ‘Dark Legacy’
featuring clips from their upcoming ‘The Dead Matter’ movie
Cleveland, Ohio (April 30, 2010)- The Gothic Halloween music group Midnight Syndicate has released their first official music video, ‘Dark Legacy.’ The video showcases the song ‘Dark Legacy’ from their ‘Dead Matter: Cemetery Gates’ CD as well as clips from the upcoming dark fantasy vampire/zombie film, ‘The Dead Matter.’ ‘The Dead Matter’ movie which stars genre favorites Andrew Divoff, Jason Carter, and Tom Savini will be released on DVD July 30,2010.
Produced as a part of Midnight Syndicate’s 13th Anniversary celebration, the video marks the first time band mates Gavin Goszka and Edward Douglas have performed together live. Also featured in the video are fellow Cleveland music icons Jeff Hatrix and Tom ‘Schmotz’ from the heavy metal band Mushroomhead.
The video was directed by David ‘House’ Greathouse whose music videos for Mushroomhead won him MTV2’s ‘Headbangers Ball Best Music Video of 2007’ award and a spot on the new ‘Saw VI’ DVD. Robert Kurtzman (creator of ‘From Dusk Till Dawn,’ ‘Wishmaster’) and his company Precinct 13 Entertainment co-produced the video which will also be included as an extra feature on ‘The Dead Matter’ DVD.
‘Dark Legacy’ was shot at the historic and reputedly haunted Phantasy Theatre in Lakewood Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland.
About Midnight Syndicate:
Midnight Syndicate has been creating instrumental Halloween music and gothic horror fantasy soundtrack CDs for the past thirteen years. The group’s music has become a staple of the Halloween season as well as a favorite in the haunted house, amusement park, role-playing game, and gothic music industries. From Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights and Hugh Hefner’s Halloween parties to Monday Night Football, X-Box games, the classic ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ roleplaying game, and Barbara Walters specials, the music is designed to take listeners on a musical journey into their imagination.
About ‘The Dead Matter’ movie:
A guilt-ridden young woman desperate to contact her deceased brother discovers a powerful ancient relic that controls the dead. Her dark obsession drags her into the tangled world of two warring vampire lords (Andrew Divoff of ‘Lost,’ ‘Wishmaster’ and Tom Savini of ‘Friday the 13th,’ ‘Dawn of the Dead’) each with his own sinister plans for the artifact and a vampire hunter (Jason Carter of ‘Babylon 5’) who will stop at nothing to destroy it.
Inspired by ‘Tales From the Crypt,’ and classic Universal and Hammer horror films, this chilling dark fantasy co-produced by Robert Kurtzman (creator of ‘From Dusk Till Dawn,’ KNB FX) features a haunting score by gothic Halloween music composers, Midnight Syndicate. It’s a mix of classic horror themes with modern twists that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
Horay, Halloween Day 2009 is Here! The weather is drizzly on the east coast but the temperature outside is pretty fair. Halloween falls on Saturday this year, providing trick-or-treaters even more opportunity for attending Halloween parties and events during the day. Here are some precautions or safety rules for trick-or-treating!
If your children are younger, please go with them door to door.
Older children should have buddies or friends to go with.
Make sure children wearing masks can see clearly.
Children wearing dark costumes should attach reflective tape or stickers to make themselves more visible, at night.
Use a flashlight and make sure it isn’t on this recall list.
Inspect your children’s candy after they get home and before they eat it.
Adults should refrain from drinking and driving, if they are attending Halloween parties.
“90210” star Shenae Grimes, “Mean Girls” alum Daniel Franzese, actress Amanda Bynes and fellow thespian Blake Lee believed there was strength in
numbers as the foursome prepared to take on Universal Studios Hollywood’s Halloween Horror Nights. Following in the footsteps of other celebrities,
such as Elizabeth Taylor and Alec Baldwin, the group became the latest on
the list of celebrities to brave the theme park’s frightening annual event.
“Halloween Horror Nights” will continue on consecutive weekends and selected
weekday nights beginning on Friday, October 2 through Halloween, Saturday,
October 31. Event dates are: October 2-3, 9-11, 15-18, 23-25, 28-31. The
event will begin nightly at 7:00 p.m.; closing hours vary by night
throughout the event.
Do you have any Halloween Horror Night experiences or photos to share? Jot your experiences in the comments section or email us your photos at zombie@365halloween.com!
