Spooky Season
Halloween is my family's favorite holiday. All four of us get very, very into it starting on October 1st all the way through the end of the month. In pre-COVID times we would have a trip to Disney World for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party on the books as well as many festive events here in New York. Needless to say Halloween is going to look a bit different this year. Determined to still have fun and make it memorable for the girls here are a few things I am doing to make Spooky Season special even in 2020.
Decorating
Over the years we have collected quite a supply of Halloween decorations that the girls look forward to putting up each year. Some of our favorites include these cute pumpkins we spread all over the apartment, these lanterns we put outside our door, and these wreathes for all of our doors. I have to admit not all of our decorations are subtle and chic! We also hang this giant dementor from the ceiling and keep "Bonsey" seated in the chair next to our TV all month.
Not So Scary Movies
We love to watch movies together and spooky ones are out favorites. Most nights in October you can find us watching all, or at least part of a family friendly spooky movie. Some of our all time favorites are.
Hocus Pocus (all time favorite Halloween movie ever!) - on Disney+
Corpse Bride (we love all things Tim Burton) - rent on iTunes
The Nightmare Before Christmas ( Jack Skellington is our Halloween mascot) - on Disney+
Beetlejuice ( Hermione is very, very Lydia Deets) - rent on iTunes
Franekenweenie - on Disney+
Zombies and Zombies 2 ( the girls just discovered these High School Musical meets Descendants movies on Disney + and love them!) - on Disney+
Sleepy Hollow ( a little spooky for Portia but again... Tim Burton) - on Netflix
We also cannot wait for the remake of The Witches to be released this week on HBO Max. If you are anywhere around my age you might still have nightmares of Angelica Huston in the original!!!
Costumes and Trick or Treating
Every family has a different comfort level this year as far as Trick or Treating. And that is totally ok. We are all in different places with what we do and don't do during COVID. Doug and I have decided that we are comfortable Trick or Treating in our neighborhood and hope that the shops near us hand out candy as they normally do each year. Halloween is very special near us with all of the families out and about in the streets, it's like a big block party and you always run into tons of friends. So we will mask up and head out this year. Hermione and Portia have decided to be Victoria and Emily from Corpse Bride and I am still furiously working on their costumes. Hermione's Emily makeup makes me particularly nervous to execute. I may have to call in a professional!
