Happy Halloween!

I hope everyone has a Happy Halloween! We spent the morning carving pumpkins. I made a howling werewolf, Bean made a silhouette of Tiana kissing the frog Naveen from Disney's Princess and the Frog, and my sister carved a spooky face. Unfortunately, I had to run out and buy a carving kit this morning because we couldn't find last year's, and I had to try two stores, and only lucked into picking up the last one to be had at Target. This evening, we went to a church Halloween party and "Trunk or Treat" and then went trick or treating door to door in a nice neighborhood with full size candy bars. Bean had a wonderful time. I love this time of year!

From ghoulies and ghosties
And long-legged beasties
And things that go bump in the night
Good Lord, deliver us!
- Traditional Scottish Prayer

Spooky Fun Treats

I love crazy theme food, especially at Halloween. I usually end up buying the Halloween flavors of Jones Soda. (My favorites are the Buried Pomegranate and Creepy Cranberry!) However, most fun Halloween treats are loaded with sugar. This year, I found a fun themed, good-for-you Halloween treat... Scarrots! Scarrots are snack size packages of baby carrots in cute Halloween packaging. They even come with tattoos featuring baby carrots dressed as a ghost, witch, Frankenstein's monster and Bride of Frankenstein, vampire, red devil, mummy, and skeleton. They are adorable and hilarious! And they are 100% products of the USA, both the carrots and the tattoos, which can be very difficult to find these days.

Each small pack has funny trivia on the back. For example, on the Frankenstein's monster package it says:
"What do Frankenstein and baby carrots have in common?
They're both misunderstood. They both lack human emotion. They're both sweet at their cores. But unlike Frankenstein, baby carrots are not made by scientists. They're aliiiive!"
The witch package says:
"Is it true that when you shut off all the lights...
And say "baby carrots" in the mirror six times while eating baby carrots, witches will fly out from under your bed on broomsticks and cast a spell on your Halloween candy? Only one way to find out."

These Scarrots have the cutest images on the bags and would be a fun surprise to stick in a kids lunch box. After all, how often do you get a Halloween treat that's fun AND healthy?

The Good Witch

Two of my favorite fall movies are The Good Witch and The Good Witch's Garden. Catherine Bell is fantastic as Cassie Nightingale and I love Chris Potter as Police Chief Jake Russell. When a mysterious woman moves into the local haunted house in a small town, residents wonder whether she is a witch. When she opens a shop called Bell, Book, and Candle, the mayor's wife starts a campaign to get her out of town. Will Cassie be able to work her magic on the town and be welcomed into the community?

In The Good Witch's Garden, the entire town is preparing to celebrate their 200th anniversary. Cassie offers to host the party at her home, the oldest in town. To help make ends meet, she opens her home to guests as a bed and breakfast. However, there's something suspicious about her guest. Will she be able to keep her home and help the community? Perhaps with a little magic.

I love these stories. They are romantic and magical stories that can be watched by the whole family. Not only do my sister and I enjoy watching them, but so does Bean and even her grandpa. Hallmark usually plays them in October because the end of the Good Witch takes place on Halloween. They are well worth watching.

The Secret of Kells

I recently discovered a fabulous movie called The Secret of Kells. It is the story of a young boy called Brendan, who live within the walls of Kells. He meets an amazing illuminator from Iona, who has fled to Kells when his abbey was destroyed by the Norsemen. To help brother Aiden finish illuminating the book, Brendan, along with Aiden's white cat Pangur Ban, ventures outside the walls of Kells for the first time. He meets a fairy called Aisling who aids him in his search for berries to use for ink. As the Norsemen move ever closer, Brendan, with the help of Aiden, Aisling, and Pangur Ban, must decide what is more important: following the rules of his uncle and staying inside the walls, or finishing the book, which will enlighten the world in a time of darkness.

The story is great, and the animation, inspired by images within the Book of Kells are beautiful. The movie is a good one for families, although young children may be frightened by the images of the Norsemen and Crom Cruach. If you love Celtic art and stories that blend myth and imagination, then this movie is for you.

Halloween Movies: The Classics

When considering movies to watch for Halloween, don't overlook the classics. I grew up watching classic monster movies, such as Dracula, Frankenstein, and the Wolfman. They are black and white with sometimes odd music tracks. They aren't generally scary, but they are a lot of fun to watch. Here's a list of some of my favorite classic monster movies. Personally, I always felt sorry for the classic movie monsters, especially the Mummy... he just wanted somebody to love.

Dracula - Bela Lugosi as Dracula, probably the least scary and most dapper of movie vampires.

Frankenstein - Boris Karloff is fantastic as the monster. The laboratory set in this film was also used in Young Frankenstein. "Look! It's moving. It's alive. It's alive... It's alive, it's moving, it's alive, it's alive, it's alive, it's alive, IT'S ALIVE!"

Bride of Frankenstein - A worthy sequel to Frankenstein. The bride's brief appearance is very humorous. "Alone: bad. Friend: good!"

The Wolfman - Lon Chaney, Jr. as the Wolfman and a cameo by Bela Lugosi as the gypsy werewolf who infects him. "Even a man who is pure at heart and says his prayers by night, may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright."

The Fly & Return of the Fly - Andre, a poor, unfortunate scientist, accidentally merges himself with a fly. In the sequel, his son makes the same mistake. Vincent Price does a fabulous turn as Andre's brother in both films. "Help me! Help meeee!"

The Creature from the Black Lagoon - A scientific expedition searching for fossils on the Amazon River captures a mysterious creature. The creature escapes, but returns to capture the beautiful Kay, his unfortunate new love. The sequel, Revenge of the Creature, features a first appearance cameo by Clint Eastwood. "We didn't come here to fight monsters, we're not equipped for it."

The Invisible Man - A scientist is determined to find a way to become invisible. He succeeds, but the formula makes him insane. He goes about terrorizing the countryside. "Don't worry, the whole world's my hiding place. I can stand there amongst them in the day and night and laugh at them."

The Mummy - The mummy of an ancient Egyptian prince, Im-ho-tep, played by Boris Karloff, is brought back to life. Ten years later, under the guise of Ardath Bey, Im-ho-tep returns to claim his lost love, Ankh-es-en-amon, who has been reincarnated into a beautiful young lady. "Death... eternal punishment... for... anyone... who... opens... this... casket. In the name... of Amon-Ra... the king of the gods." Good heavens, what a terrible curse!"
"Well, let's see what's inside!"

Mommy Holly and Wild Olive giveaway

Check out Wild Olive's blog for a fun giveaway: a $15 gift card to Mommy Holly's shop!

Halloween Movies for Kids, Part 3

Now we've made it to the movies that would be appropriate for teens. Some of these movies may be a little young, but most would be great for a party with teenagers. I've separated them based on rating, with PG at the top and a few select R rated films at the bottom.

Rated PG:
Twitches & Twitches Too - Two stories following twin witches Alex and Camryn, who learn that they were separated at birth and possess magical powers. Will they learn to use their powers in time to save Coventry and their father?

Nightmare Before Christmas - I can never decide if this is a Halloween movie or a Christmas movie, but it is certainly a classic. Follow Jack Skellington and his pals from Halloween Town as they try to make this the best Christmas ever! This would probably also be good for some younger children, but does have some scary monsters.

Corpse Bride - While not strictly a Halloween movie, the story of Victor and his accidental marriage to a Corpse Bride is full of spooky humor and misadventures.

The Good Witch - This film would be acceptable for the entire family (Bean loves it) but, the romantic relationships and town problems would probably bore most kids.

Young Frankenstein - This ridiculously campy film pokes fun at most every Frankenstein movie ever made. It's fun and silly with a fantastic cast. Who doesn't love Mel Brooks films?

Ghostbusters & Ghostbusters 2 - Another pair of campy horror films. The Ghostbusters must uses their skills to prevent ancient evils from raising hell in Manhattan.

Beetlejuice - When a young couple discovers that they are ghosts, they must learn how to haunt their house to get rid of intruding New Yorkers. Can they do it without the aid of the unpredictable Beetlejuice?

Rated PG-13:
Blood and Chocolate - The story of a young werewolf, on the threshold of adulthood, who is torn between her loyalty to the pack and the graphic novelist she's attracted to.

Covenant - This is kind of the boy version of the Craft. A good story with some great action scenes.

Cursed - Although this movie is available in PG-13 and an unrated version, it's a good werewolf film. I haven't seen the special unrated version, but the regular film would be appropriate for most teens.

Practical Magic - Follow the Owens family of witches and their cursed love lives. Can Sally save her sister Gillian and escape the curse?

Rated R:
The Craft - Sarah's always been different. When she arrives at St. Benedict's, she falls in with a group of outsiders, and together they can make real magic.

Sleepy Hollow - By far the bloodiest retelling of Washington Irving's classic story, Johnny Depp is fantastic in the role of Ichabod Crane, no longer a simple schoolmaster, but an eccentric investigator sent to solve the mysterious murders in Sleepy Hollow.

**These last two are a fabulous retelling of classic stories, however, both contain nudity, sex and extreme violence and should only be watched by older teens. I would recommend watching them before allowing teens to view them.**

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein - The best of the Frankenstein movies, this is a fairly faithful retelling of the classic story of obsession.

Bram Stoker's Dracula - The closest to the book of the Dracula movies, this story also incorporates the myths and history surrounding Vlad the Impaler, the main inspiration for the book.