any suggestions? thanks!!

Start with describing Halloween night... the sounds, sight, smells, etc. Capture the audience and then lead in by asking a question about how that all started.

Dare you play?

http://www.shopoflittlehorrors.com/Ouija%20board%20-%20ask%20the%20spirits%20game.htm

Here are some links if you really want to know the truth about this subject.

http://www.ucg.org/booklets/HH/halloween.asp

http://www.gnmagazine.org/radio/halloween.htm

http://www.cbcg.org/special_offer.htm

Death by Cake (a morbid cake prop)

http://costumefind.com/product/CSA4095

Bloody Body Parts (to dress up the rest of the house)

http://costumefind.com/products/PropsandDecoration/HomeandYardDecor/BloodyBodyParts

And you gotta have a cool scare or two, I really like this puppet this site has, it is called baby stink, it looks like a rotten nasty baby but it is a hand puppet. Gross and scary lol.

http://costumefind.com/product/NA37

Hope that helps! Have great Halloween and a rockin scary party!

Best wishes,

Ethan T

Costumes like the ones below:
- pirate
- french maid
- angel/devil
- princess
- etc

probably, anywhere. i mean not the complete outfit but putting two and two together might make one. besides, this can make your creativity come out naturally.

The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter.

To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities.

During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other's fortunes. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter.

By A.D. 43, Romans had conquered the majority of Celtic territory. In the course of the four hundred years that they ruled the Celtic lands, two festivals of Roman origin were combined with the traditional Celtic celebration of Samhain.

The first was Feralia, a day in late October when the Romans traditionally commemorated the passing of the dead. The second was a day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. The symbol of Pomona is the apple and the incorporation of this celebration into Samhain probably explains the tradition of "bobbing" for apples that is practiced today on Halloween.

By the 800s, the influence of Christianity had spread into Celtic lands. In the seventh century, Pope Boniface IV designated November 1 All Saints' Day, a time to honor saints and martyrs. It is widely believed today that the pope was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a related, but church-sanctioned holiday. The celebration was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas (from Middle English Alholowmesse meaning All Saints' Day) and the night before it, the night of Samhain, began to be called All-hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween. Even later, in A.D. 1000, the church would make November 2 All Souls' Day, a day to honor the dead. It was celebrated similarly to Samhain, with big bonfires, parades, and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels, and devils. Together, the three celebrations, the eve of All Saints', All Saints', and All Souls', were called Hallowmas.

A haunted house in the basement seems like a lot of work. Just get some cheap decorations and put them around the house. I'm sure you can find some cute stuff anywhere. Start with the dollar store. You have a lot of people to make food for, so save your money for that.

Someone gave me the idea that everyone pitch in $1 and give that money away as a prize for best costume. You can break it up into catagories or adult costume and best kids costume.

Your best bet would be to look in the men's costume section. Either that or make your own.