MAKE IT CUTE

Having trouble getting scared out of your wits this Halloween season? Invite your buds over for this shiver-inducing sleepover. It’s one part serious, two parts slapstick. Yuk (and yell) it up this Saturday night.

Invites

On parchment paper, sketch out an antique-looking ouija board. Where the letters would be, write out your party’s need-to-know details. Bonus points for calligraphy! Draw the arrowhead-shaped indicator to point at your chosen date. Include creepy signs: skulls, bats, moons, stars and scary faces.

Set the Mood

A successful séance is all about atmosphere. Have the lights dimmed when your guests arrive and lead them to your dining room or kitchen table. Lit votive and pillar candles should be liberally sprinkled around the room. To add some color, throw nonflammable cloths in shades of blue and purple over the lamps, but be careful not to allow the fabric to touch the bulb.

You want your guests to be hyperaware of all of their senses, so before the games begin, start making them responsive to everything around them. Sprinkle silver and gold confetti over the table, light a few scented candles to mimic incense and play some ominous-sounding instrumental music just loud enough to catch the ear.

A Seriously Spooky Seance

The night is all about speaking to the dearly departed, so have the ouija board on the table and ready to go when your guests come through the door. As the hostess, open the ceremony with the first question. Perhaps you’ve been feelin’ that Fido has been dogging your every move. Maybe you wanna chat with a cartoon character that’s off the air. Whether your question is serious or silly, keep the atmosphere grave. No giggling allowed!

Instruct your girls to put a finger on the plachette, or moving indicator. You are supposed to be channeling the spirit your talking to, and the plachette will supply the answers to your questions. Tell your buds not to move it themselves…or at least not to be caught red-handed.

No matter how much or how little you and your BFFs believe in the ouija phenomenon, some cool stuff will happen right under your fingertips, and you’ll soon be freaked beyond belief.

When you need a breather, try making a paper fortune-teller, which you might recognize as a “cootie catcher”. Write in funny tidbits for your friends and take turns telling each other’s fortunes.

Good Eats

Choose comfort food to frighten away the haunts you’ve been entertaining. Ooey gooey mac ‘n’ cheese, fried (chicken) fingers, goblin grilled cheese sandwiches and monster meatloaf are all delish picks.

For dessert, make our creepy cupcakes with a graveyard flair. Break ladyfingers or Milano cookies in half and write “RIP” on them with icing. Then push them into the top of your cupcake for a terror-ific dessert.

Need somethin’ to snack on? Attract the spirits of the other realm with yummy brain food. Make a trail mix of walnuts, dried blueberries and semisweet chocolate chips.

Game time!

Ever played M.A.S.H. during lunch period? Grab a sheet of notebook paper and whip out this classic game when you’re snuggled down into your sleeping bags. At the top of the paper, write the letters “M”, “A”, “S”, “H”. Then come up with your categories—who you’re gonna marry, how many kids you’ll have, where you’ll live, what car you’ll drive, what you’ll be for Halloween, etc.—and list a few good choices and a few bad choices for each. Then, pick a number. Start at the top of the piece of paper and count out the chosen number, following the options as they are listed across the page. Cross off each choice you land on. Repeat until you’re left with one option in each category.

Still awake? Pop some popcorn and watch a Back to the Future marathon. In a gaming frame of mind? Pull out the classic Game of Life and see where you’ll end up.

When it’s time to hit snooze, don’t hesitate to leave on a nightlight! You never know what spirits are still lurkin’ around the corner…

by Brittany Taylor | 2/1/2016