DECK THE HOLIDAY'S

    Known variously as  Samhain, Summer’s End, All Hallow’s Eve, Witches Night, Lamswool , and  Snap-Apple night , Halloween is among the world’s oldest holidays. Rooted in ancient pagan and Christian festivals that celebrated the inextricable link between seasonal and life cycles, Halloween has transcended its cultural roots and is currently celebrated in various forms all over the modern world. Halloween as it exists today is an exciting array of dichotomies as it delights both children and adults, prompts private religious observance as well as public exhibitionism, and blends personal imagination with mass marketing. A day full of magic and mystery, Halloween has not only survived, but it has thrived during epic cultural, religious, economic, and industrial changes throughout its long history. Roots in Ancient Celtic Festivals     The essential elements of Halloween, such as costuming, trick-or-treating, lighting bonfires,...

Masked Halloween Mystery    Decked out for Halloween, a masked woman on roller skates—most likely a random addition to her costume—poses in 1910.    Masquerade parties in the United States were much more common a hundred years ago, when people dressed up not just for Halloween but also for several other holidays, including Valentine's Day and New Year's Eve, according to Lesley Bannatyne, author of the forthcoming book Halloween Nation: Behind the Scenes of America's Fright Night.    Private social clubs often threw Halloween parties for their members, as it was the first major holiday after most people had returned from their summer homes.    That said, it's "not like Halloween [in the early 1900s] was an East Coast phenomenon or a high-society phenomenon"—people of all classes donned costumes across the country, even in small Western mining towns, she said.    The "early 20th century also was the beginning of a real democ...

Let’s take a look at a few of the freakiest, loveliest cakes we’ve spied around the web. 10. Black Spider Wedding Cake ( Pag asa ) 9. Zombie Fingers Cake ( Dessert by Candy — includes full recipe ) 8. Jack-o-Lantern Cake ( Williams-Sonoma, where you can actually buy a $99 pan specifically for making this cake ) 7. Vampire Bat Cake ( My Own Sweet Thyme — includes step-by-step instructions .) 6. Bloody Eyeballs Cake ( megpi ) 5. Mad Scientist Cake ( Don Buciak ) 4. Cockroach Cake ( Make ) 3. Zombie Cake ( Crafster ) 2. Kitty Litter Cake ( Cleverswine ) (plus  recipe here ) 1. Bleeding Heart (and all the other organs, too) Cake