Oprah and reality TV producer Mark Burnett are joining forces in search of the next big TV star. They’ve put out the call to any would-be host to submit their pitch for a new show.

These days we have reality/competition shows about everything. You can watch people sing, dance, design dresses, cook meals, bake cakes, groom dogs, and date washed up celebs. But you know what we don’t have? A show about building haunted attractions.

Well that’s exactly what James Thompson’s has in mind. And I’m sure any Halloween/haunt fan would love to watch a group of home haunt enthusiasts compete against each other, testing their creativity, their guts, and their ability to scare.

So go view his audition and cast your vote! Network execs might think this concept is too seasonal-specific, but if we can have a TV show about little people that make chocolate, why not something like “The Haunt”?

I recently ran across this “Body Outline Kit” product, and three thoughts instantly came to mind:

1) Creating a mock crime scene is a quick and easy way to give your home a foreboding appearance on Halloween. Body outlines on the ground can be unsettling, and glowing chalk makes it even cooler.

2) This product illustrates the fact that Pumpkin Masters and I have different business models. They seem to be branching out into a little of everything, as if forgetting that the word “pumpkin” is in their name. Whereas I aim to focus on one thing and do it very well: pumpkin patterns!

3) Notice that it says “Ages 3+” on the packaging. Think about that for a moment. Can you imagine the scenario?

“Mommy, can I go outside and play homicide detective?!”

“Sure Bobby, just remember to draw the outline of where the murdered corpse was found, prior to being taken to the coroner for dissection. Then come in and wash your hands before dinner.”

Among all the other projects bouncing around in my brain during the Halloween season, putting together a new costume is always one of the priorities.

In my 31 years, I haven’t missed an opportunity for costuming yet. As a kid, my mom helped put together my outfits, often sewing some or all of it. Once I hit the adolescent years and trick-or-treating was a bit frowned on for my age, my costume efforts waned. Admittedly, a few of them were rather weak. But as an adult, my interest in creative costumes was reborn, the more unique the better.

Coming up with a concept is never difficult. At any given time, I probably have 3 or 4 ideas for things I’d like to be in the future. I don’t do word-play concept costumes. I don’t dress as inanimate objects. I prefer to inhabit a character for the night. To be someone (or something) else. And not an everyday cop, prisoner, or doctor. My costumes usually involve morphing into some type of creepy human(oid).

Continued……… Read More »

Every winter you’ll hear Christmas carols played on every radio station, in all the department stores, and as backing tracks of so many television advertisements. Unfortunately Halloween doesn’t get the same aural exposure. Songs like Thriller, Monster Mash and the Addams Family theme are all classics, but I crave more. So over the years I’ve been amassing quite a collection of terror tunes.

Every Halloween season (which for me is September – October, at least) I put all these bone shaking tracks into heavy rotation. Do I get weird looks when people overhear me jamming to a punk cover of the Ghostbusters theme in early September? Maybe, but I don’t care. After all, this is my job!

While there are many horror themed artists, it’s always nice to come across a song that is specifically about the holiday, and destined to become an annual Halloween anthem for the ages. Enter shock rocker Alice Cooper, with his new single “Keepin’ Halloween Alive.”

“At home my family all gathers around an old spooky tree decorated with skulls and bones in the living room, and we exchange gifts,” says Cooper. “It’s our holiday. We even all have matching black-and-orange Halloween sweaters! I wanted a theme song for people like me, and for us Halloween never ends. In the chorus I say, ‘I’m keepin’ Halloween alive, baby, 3-6-5′… and I mean it!”

Available exclusively on iTunes, if you head over to Alice’s Halloween site you can listen to the track and follow the links to purchase.

You just know I just have to love a song that starts and ends with the lyrics, “I’ll keep my jack-o-lantern light on for everyone tonight!”