We’ve been waiting all year for October to roll around for one exciting reason: Fair Trade month! OK, you probably didn’t mark your calendar for that but it’s a cool idea to celebrate anyway. With chocolate candies flowing like wine this season, why not take a moment to learn a little about their creation? You’ve probably watched one of the mouth-watering videos that take you on a factory tour. There are Willy Wonka like rivers of melted chocolate, and endless conveyors of chocolate candies. But what happens before the ingredients get to the factory? Unfortunately, it’s a pretty messed up story that includes child slave labor and third world farmers who get paid pennies for their delicious cocoa. Talk about a Halloween horror story. Here’s a short video that gives some info on why standard …

I’m seeing a lot of DIY Halloween action this year, and it’s still relatively “early” in the season. I predict we’re in for a great year. Keep creating, Halloweenies!

One industrious sweet tooth decided to revamp the holy grail of Halloween treats and make homemade candy corn. Melisser wanted to enjoy its simple sweetness sans the sucky ingredients, so she tweaked a recipe from the Epicurious Editor’s Blog- with perfect results- and shared her success story online. Visit her blog for a step by step recipe with pictures. If you make your own homemade candy corn, let us know how it turned out!

Halloween is a time for creativity; letting your imagination wander into the unexplored corners of your mind, the birth of new monsters, unleashing of ideas long since bottled… Sometimes the end result is reward enough, but you know what makes it even sweeter? Recognition. When you finally get to wear the costume that took you 8 weeks to make, the cries of “What an amazing costume!” make it so worth it. And when your neighbors do a double take and have to peer closer at your handmade yard prop: that’s one satisfying moment.

So if you haven’t already started, now’s the time to get cracking on your Halloween creations. When you’ve finally finished, enter them into the MAKE/CRAFT DIY Halloween Contest. Just upload your pictures to their DIY HALLOWEEN photo pool at Flickr by November 4th and your …

There are many milestones that usher in the Halloween season, and depending on your interests, some will be decidedly more exciting than others. The changing colors of the leaves and new flavors of candy corn are nice, but one sure sign that October 31st is nigh is the X-Entertainment Halloween Countdown. Its kickoff means a near daily dose of the unadulterated celebration of our beloved holiday. Every weekday Matt, the Man Behind the Curtain at X-E, writes about “new-for-2007 Halloween stuff and tons of ghoulish goodies from yesteryear.” Some highlights from last year include a review of the new Jones Soda Halloween flavors, The 3D effects of Friday the 13th: Part 3, the tale of his best Halloween costume ever, and a 3 part series on the best new candy of the season. Matt is …

Faux Stuffed Intestines: Learn to make a spooky Halloween recipe everyone will love. Think of it as a healthy pot-pie type dish for hungry zombies.

Zombie Cookies Recipe: With a little slicing and icing, simple gingerbread cookies morph into creepy yet delicious corpses for you to feast upon.