Halloween is upon us again. For some people, it is all about dressing up and attending some parties. For others, it signals the beginning of “Holiday Season” and is kind of like the majorette of the band that is otherwise known as “spend-a-lot”. Obviously, the funnest part of Halloween is dressing up. Unfortunately, it may end up in a lot of personal drama.
The thing is, for most people, inspiration is easy—the creativity to pull off an inspired look is not. For some, it is quite embarrassing to dress up because, well, it hasn’t been imbedded in our culture as Halloween and dressing up for it is still considered “new territory” for the non-partyphile. Add to that the fact that everybody in every single Halloween-inspired event WILL check your costume out; and the pressure is on.
So here is the deal: if you truly want to live it up, Halloween-style this year, I suggest that you throw a Halloween House Party. All you have to do is invite some friends over, ask them to come in costumes and bring some food. Of course, if you plan to play host, you will have to get creative ad decorate your place. And since I know that creativity is not everybody’s strong point, I have gathered up some tips and suggestions from the internet and from the Google of my own noggin’ to give you what I think are the most practical, convenient, and easy-to-pull-off tips for a Halloween party.
First off, you have to decide on a costume. You can search the web for different costume ideas, or simply visit your friendly neighbourhood department store and get inspired from the selection available this year. You will be shocked how different Halloween costumes and masks are each year. In fact, I found it quite surprising that none of the department stores sell fake fangs anymore. I guess Edward Cullen made the fanged vampire look passé. So if you plan to purchase a costume from some store, do not go there with an idea in mind. I tell you, you will be disappointed and end up buying other stuff.
However, if you plan to scour your closet to look for things that are costume-worthy, here are some of my tips:
Costume: You can come as a hunchback. Obviously, it isn’t very politically correct, but this has never been a column that considered that before. If you want to dress up as a hunchback, all you have to do is grab a backpack, fill it with clothes, wear it on your back, and then wear a large jacket over it. Zip the jacket up and voila, your look is done.
Costume: If you want to dress up as something kitschy, you could go as a Cereal Killer (Serial Killer, get it?). Simply wear a white shirt, splatter fake blood or red paint all over it, put a cereal box in the middle of the shirt and stab it with a plastic knife. Done. Easy. Cute.
Costume: You could also dress up as the Octo-mom. You know, the woman who gave birth to eight babies at the same time? She became a US Tabloid favorite last year, so she actually counts as a pseudo-celeb costume inspiration. All you have to do is look very pregnant by stuffing clothes or a huge ball under loose clothes or a maternity dress, wear a black wavy wig or set your black hair to give it soft curls and wear some wax lips. If you can’t find wax lips you could simply wear very read lipstick and over-draw it around your lips (the woman has lips larger than Angelina’s).
Food is one of the things that can definitely set the mood when it comes to Halloween parties. Although people expect some sort of creep-fest on your table, it still has to be edible. If you are going potluck, here are some suggestions for you:
Food: Bloody Fingers: All you need to do is buy some lady fingers (although local Camachile cookies work better) and smear some strawberry jam on one end of each cookie. Carefully place white pumpkin seeds on each cookie tip, using the jam as your glue, and you will end up with cookies that look like bloody fingers.
Bat Wings: Buy or make some fried chicken wings and then download a recipe for Buffalo Wings glaze. If you can’t find one you like, you can use some pre-made Barbeque Sauce or a mixture of Ketchup and Liquid Seasoning. Then, add a generous amount of Green and Blue Food Coloring or Dye to the glaze and mix it well until the glaze looks Black. Then, put your fried chicken in a large plastic container, add the glaze and shake the container until all fried chicken pieces are coated evenly. These wings will taste like fried chicken with sauce but will look blackish-green if you make it right.
Food: Paella Negra is something that you can make yourself or purchase from a store. It has nothing scary in it except for the fact that it uses Squid Ink for its sauce. If you don’t feel like eating rice for Halloween, you could also use make some Squid Ink Pasta, or if you are going Pinoy, some Adobong Pusit.
Food: You can not go wrong with grilled Pinoy favorites like Isaw (intestines), Betamax (grilled pig’s blood), Adidas (grilled chicken feet), and Helmet (grilled chicken heads). You could also serve the trusty Dinuguan (stew made with pork blood and pork innards) and Puto (rice cakes) or some Bijod and Bagaybay (Tuna eggs. I don’t know which one is the tuna testicle and which one is the tuna caviar; and honestly, I don’t really want to know).
If you make them the right way, your drink will get you drunk and will put your friends in a party-mood. This is why it is really important that you serve good alcohol with your food. Of course, you can’t skip this element of the party. You must make your drinks Halloween-worthy as well.
Drinks: Jello shots are always fun and festive. Make some black and orange jelly as per the instruction on the box, but leave out some amount of water from the recipe. Before you place your jelly in olds, add some vodka. You must add as much as the water you left out and remember not to cook or boil the vodka with the jelly as it will cause it to lose its alcohol. Then, transfer your gelatine into condiment cups or any Halloween inspired mold.
Drinks: Okay, so this isn’t really a drink suggestion; but it is definitely a fun way to make your drink extra festive! If you want to add a little creep factor to your drink, you can make ice with little bugs in it. Simply purchase plastic bugs and then place them in ice cube trays. Fill the tray with water and freeze. Use these ice cubes for your Halloween party.
Drinks: If you want to make some “Slime Punch” all you need to do is prepare a drink with two parts lemonade (instant or fresh) with green food coloring, one part soda water or lemon-lime soda, and one part vodka. Then, crush some green jelly and drop it in your punch.
Drinks: If you want something creepy floating in your punch, you can make some floating hands. Simply purchase surgical gloves, wash them completely, and then fill them with water and tie the end. Freeze them until you are ready to use them. Before serving the punch, peel the surgical glove off and dip your icy floating hand in the punch.
To finish your party off, you must put extra effort in decorating. It sets the mood of the party and must therefore look really cool and kitschy.
Decors: You can go simple. Attach pieces of orange and black crepe paper on your ceiling, and you are done. If you want to dress it up a bit, you can also go ahead and attach some black bat-shaped pieces of cartolina.
Decors: Most people just decorate their tables and ceilings for Halloween, I suggest you also consider your floor. Spread orange and black balloons across the floor or fill it with water based splatters of red paint.
Decors: You can also put some black lights in your venue and draw some creepy stuff on a black cartolina or the black side of an illustration board using highlighters. These creepy messages will glow once you turn your black light on.
Catch Confessions of a Partyphile on the radio every Wednesday evenings from 6 to 9 in the PM on 105.9 Mix FM or www.mixfm1059.com. For comments, suggestions, and more confessions from this partyphile you can log on to http://party.i.ph or tweet the columnist at twitter.com/zhaun.
