Trick-or-Treat!
This time of year, when you're out for an evening walk, it's not unusual to see a few cobwebs on your neighbours' verandas. Or in their yew hedges. You might see a black cat, or hear haunted house sounds. You're bound to see many pumpkins on front steps and along walkways.
Do you have a pre-Halloween tradition? Maybe you read an eerie classic each year: Frankenstein, The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe, Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, or The Woman in White. Maybe you prefer something more spooky or modern, like Stephen King, Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book or The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle. Or maybe this time of year represents a return to the mysteries: Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Ruth Rendell, and Sherlock Holmes.
Perhaps you enjoy watching some of these stories depicted on screen. There're also the Halloween tv specials and movies: The Addams Family, Beetlejuice, Ghostbusters, Sabrina, Hocus Pocus, Harry Potter, Lemony Snickett or the cult classic, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, to name a few.
Of course, when it comes to dressing up, you're only limited by your imagination.
For the evening, you can be whomever or whatever you like. Did you try any of the paper crafts mentioned in Tuesday's Tonic a couple of weeks ago? If you made a paper crown, wand or hat, you might want to further add to your look with a wig, makeup and costume. Costumes based on historical dramas have been very popular the past few years. For impressive period piece looks, check out The American Duchess Guide to 18th Century Beauty and/or Dressmaking, written for beginners.
Once you've got your costume sorted, you can set the mood with dim lighting and some baroque music. Et voilà!
Wishing you many treats this Halloween!
