Oh, the many delicious facets of Halloween. While adults may spend days deciding how to spend their Halloween night (costume party? haunt? trick or treat chaperone?), most kids can immediately tell you what their plans entail: collecting and devouring as much candy as humanly possible.

We at 365 Halloween fall into a small minority when it comes to our candy policy; we don’t give any out. Yes, we’re the hippie neighbors that many kids scowl at while watching fruit strips, boxes of raisins, and stickers plop into their candy sacks. But one peek into those bulging bags of sugar and we know they won’t miss one mini Snickers bar. On average, most Americans consume 142 pounds of sugar per year, and given the scientific data on sugar consumption and the symptoms everyone can feel for themselves, we’d rather focus on other aspects of Halloween and give out healthy treats.

Since other Halloweenies out there in Interwebland have already plunged head first into this season’s newest candies, we’ll leave the reviews to them. X-Entertainment has a 2 part series, and as usual, Matt never disappoints. I-Mockery reviews over 30 varieties of candy which is a whopping 3 pages long. Your afternoon is spent if you sit down for these 2 entire articles. For a shorter read with some fun animations, Jason has written his personal thoughts on this year’s haul.

What are your thoughts on giving out candy for Halloween? Do you give out the usual treats, opt for something healthier, give out non-edibles, or give nothing at all? We’re definitely going to have an article about low-sugar alternatives to passing out candy, so check back for that in a few days.

Haunted house season is officially upon us. September 29th marks the opening of many haunted attractions nationwide, which is kind of like marking off the first day of an advent calendar. Last week some of the major retailers were still scrambling to finish their Halloween displays, but now haunted houses are everywhere and there’s only one day left in September. It’s getting so very close…

If you’re planning on visiting a local haunted attraction or event, we want to hear about your trip! Bring your digital camera and write about your experience. Were the monsters top-notch? How long was the wait in line? Did you see any innovative props or especially creepy scenes? Was it worth the drive, the time, and the money? Let others know by submitting your story to 365 Halloween. If you would like to suggest a specific haunt to be reviewed, leave your suggestions in the comment form below and we’ll try to get someone in that area to check it out.

Our tour of local haunts will begin the first week of October, and the reviews will be up the day after each trip. If you have a professional or home haunt in the southern California area that you want featured on 365 Halloween, contact us with details.

PS- Another bonus for attending Halloween events? Great photo opportunities. The above photo was taken by Sean at a local pumpkin patch in 2005.

On Halloween night, lawn decorations get the most attention simply because trick-or-treaters have to pass them to get their treats. Low lying fog, eerie colored lights, and spooky sounds are all just accents to your lawn decorations, which are the center of attention to your costumed visitors. My obsession for zombies brings us to an obvious choice for lawn decorations that should bring a scare or smile to anyones masked face.

First up is the Corpse Solar Light that cleverly combines a solar powered lantern held by an undead rising corpse. It rises 17 inches above the ground and requires no extension cord or batteries because it’s solar powered. Leave it out during the day and it will charge itself up to work at night. We own one of these and LOVE it. (Keep an eye peeled and you’ll see it show up in many of our photos.) Add a creepy tombstone to complete the look.

Next up is a ground breaking statue that looks a lot more realistic than the previous ones and doesn’t have a built in light. This personal favorite of mine is a zombie sculpture (shown at right) named “The Zombie of Montclaire Moors”. It doesn’t have much of a rotting corpse feel, but it does have some great detail. You wont find this one at any Halloween store because it’s an exclusive to Design Toscano. They have some really quality sculptures, including another one of my favorites, by the same artist Alan Dickinson, called The Creeper. This sculpture hangs on your wall and it looks like a shadowy figure is coming right through the wall. Very creepy.

Another rotting corpse rising is this Sewer Zombie that emerges from a “sewer manhole, surrounded by putrid green bile”. Yum! FrightCatalog has more than a couple ground breaking zombies, but I particularly like the look of Grimrot. With most of his rotting body out of the ground, an exposed rib cage, and a missing arm, Grimrot should startle even the most prepared trick-or-treaters.

Another undead rising prop worth mentioning is this Lighted Groundbreaker Skeleton that mysteriously only has his body underground but all appendages are sticking out, and light up. This one requires 2-AA batteries and has removable stakes so it can stick into the ground or on your floor inside the house.

Don’t forget to set the stage for these undead creatures with a tombstone, fog machine, spooky lights, and some scary sounds.

Etsy is the handmade little sister to eBay, and around fall the selection of DIY goodies takes on a decidedly darker tone. Think of the transformation that Martha Stewart undergoes during October; less kountry kitchen and more haunted house. There’s always a small availability of spooky items year-round, but right now Etsy is brimming with them. Artists like Nanny Norton stock their shops with handmade items like the art print entitled “Father and Son Pumpkin Under the Harvest Moon“. More unconventional mediums such as felt are utilized by Beesocks in creating decorative pieces like Mr and Mrs Frank N Stein Felt People. The site is really a mixed bag, and aside from the criteria of everything being handmade, you’re never sure what you’ll find when searching for Halloween themed items.

Charlie the Halloween Ghost Art Doll made by artfreak is 8.5″ tall and could make a great centerpiece for your mantle, Halloween village, or other holiday display. He joins other Halloween dolls like FrankenLobster and the creepy-cute cats and bats from blacklilypie. But Etsy artists create more Halloween decor than just dolls; Allen Kaperak bottles Disembodied Tongues, Trollflings creates mini Halloween trees and cyclops pumpkin pins, mirrorgirl makes coasters from vintage Halloween ephemera, and Sneddonia creates intricate spiderwebs and luminaries from copper.

If you’ll be attending or throwing any parties where there will be gift or candy bags, Nycole’s set of Halloween gift tags will be the memorable finishing touch. Just like your guests, each one is a little different. If you want something cute for you and your little monsters to wear during the season, check out the bat print bibs by Chenille Boutique.

October 15, 2006: This contest is over. Thank you to everyone who participated! Cub from Georgia is our lucky winner. Congrats, Cub! We've teamed up with the fine folks at Spirit Halloween to offer you a great contest. You can win any Halloween costume of your choice from Spirit's website, and all you have to do is link to 365 Halloween. It doesn't have to be an awesome site or get tons of traffic, it just has to be a website (personal or business site, blog, MySpace page, LiveJournal, etc). If you have multiple sites then you can enter the contest multiple times just by placing a link on each site. The winner will be picked at random and will be announced on October 15, 2006. Your costume of choice will then be shipped to you by October 18th, just in time for Halloween. DETAILS: All you have to do is link to 365Halloween.com with this banner: