Halloween
 

I have a great recipe for cookies that look like severed witches' fingers--PM me and I'll send it to you. Ooh, I think I'm going to make them green this year.

tm

Halloween
 

Hmm. Interesting idea - but there isn't one near our house. There is a FABULOUS old spooky one near my office, however, which I think actually has some relatives in it.... Little kids in costumes on a weekend night in the financial district, however, seems ... odd.

Good suggestions all around, though - thanks! (I'll be PM ing for that recipe shortly.)

Wonk, you are exactly 100% correct about the suburbs. (I have absolutely nothing resembling urban hipster cred, never did - I'm a lawyer for god's sake.) The reasons to move to the suburbs are manifold, but, besides Halloween, mainly consist of (i) buying your way into a passable school and (ii) buying a nice standard of living, including some closets, a separate bedroom for every kid (plus one spare for grandparents), a kitchen two people can fit in at once and some back yard to kick a soccer ball around. I can best do those things somewhere other than here (or San Fran). When I move to the suburbs I am going to go someplace where I can afford a really nice life, which means getting the fuck out of this area. It will involve a job change and convincing the Mr. (who grew up on a farm and is completely horrified by quarter-acre suburbia), so it is a little more involved than simply changing house and decamping for The Oranges (or Yonkers, more likely).

Halloween
 

Just remind him that Yonkers is named for "the Junker", Adrian van der Donck. He was the first lawyer in New Amsterdam, and when the city got to be too much he purchased a big estate so he could set up his own little patroonage. Since he loved to strut about the place acting like a big shot, they nick-named him the "Junker", essentially, the "Lord."

So lawyers have been heading out of New York to the "farm" in Yonkers for a long time.

I'm sure they have good graveyards.

But if you are in NYC, the place to head is really Green-wood cemetary in Brooklyn. It is one of the finest cemetaries anywhere.

Halloween
 

It's nice, but I'm not sure you can just waltz in there with a bunch of kids on a weekend evening, not that I've ever tried it. The gatekeepers seem fairly strict (as they should be, given the caliber of little punks that hang around there -- I'm talking to you, Bishop Ford -- and the historic graves it contains). I can vouch for the fact they have a strict "no bicycle" policy.

Halloween
 

I've not done much more than wave to them as I went by, but it's been a number of years. It makes sense, though.

And I would imagine cemetaries don't view themselves as perfect places for spooky entertainment. Though they are.

Halloween
 

In my bucolic New England town, there are many really cool and historic cemetaries. Sometimes we go there just to walk around, and on 4th of July, we watch fireworks from one of them. I never thought about the Halloween angle (not really a big Jewish holiday), but maybe that's an idea...

The cemetery in Old San Juan is totally cool. Like a mini Buenos Aires cemetery (now THAT cemetery is rocking).

Cementerio de la Recoleta (in BA) -- this picture doesn't do it justice, but it gives an idea:

http://www.shunya.net/Pictures/Argen...a-recoleta.jpg


Pretty good picture of the San Juan cemetery:

http://www.halfass.com/visual/archiv...l/san_juan.jpg


No, I'm not some cemetery-fetish freak. Why do you ask?

Halloween
 

I heartily recommend Villa Orsini in Italy:

http://www.gardenvisit.com/je/bomarzo_garden2.jpg

http://www.bomarzo.net/images/Bomarzo_Drago_04.jpg

http://www.cultuurnetwerk.org/bronne...8/h1988_17.jpg


I grew up with my bedroom window overlooking a cemetary. I have some stories to tell.

Halloween
 

dtb: look what the first sentence of your post hath wrought.

Halloween
 

I lost my virginity in a cemetery. On prom night.

That is the only story I have to tell.

Halloween
 

Unfortunately, all my stories to tell along those lines are from the perspective of a voyeur rather than participant. But yes, they are unexpectedly popular places for such activity.

Don't let your 13 year old boys take the room with the window overlooking the cemetary.

Halloween
 

The Houston Press Awards came out yesterday. This place sounds very creepy:

Halloween
 

OMG. Thank god for you, Burger; you are my guardian angel. I thought I got them all!

Halloween
 

For the younger kids, stay clear of hard candies, popcorn and gumballs, unless you are eager to try out your heimliching skills.

I had more, but #2 wants my full attention. NOW.

OK. Back. Sort of. Fusspot in Bjorn - can't see keyboard.

For preschoolers and younger, I'd skip any death-related items and stick with black cats, pumpkins and spiders etc. Blood, skeletons, and body parts are too much for little ones.

Also, stay away from anything with chocolate or vivid food coloring - you don't want that ground into the rug.

You might want to try http://familyfun.go.com/ for games and party ideas.

Halloween
 

These look useful for drawing those chalk tombstones:

http://altura.speedera.net/ccimg.cat...ts/8870814.jpg

Lots of other stuff for Holloween parties in here , like bloodsplater footprints and handprints for the entryway. All of it is a bit cheap and some of it even a bit tawdry.

Halloween
 

Where do you think I found the kosher chocolate eyeballs? I totally ordered the glow in the dark chalk.

So, pre-preschoolers find blood and body parts a bit much, eh? Does that mean deviled eggs with a rasin stuck on for a pupil is out? I was so proud of that idea. (I kind of had a whole eyeball theme going - must be because I saw Anguish recently.) Well, Martha had some swamp-drink in her last mag, so maybe I'll try going that route.

There will be brain-shaped jello regardless. And I think I'll still get the sticky-splatter-glow-in-the-dark eyeball toys. And the assorted bugs. Halloween's not just for the little kids, you know.

Thanks for all the tips -