GHOSTMAP

For many of us Halloween is associated with costumes, trick-or-treating and of course candy but the reality is there is a lot more to the story.

Halloween began as a Celtic festival commonly known as Samhain which was a day to celebrate the conclusion of harvest season. October 31st was a day in which people got ready for winter to begin and to greet spirits of people who have passed away over the years. It was believed that on this day the bond between the realm of the living and the dead was broken and the dead were able to walk the earth until sunrise November 1st.

Over the years many different customs have been interwoven into today’s version of Halloween. For example costumes were worn to prevent the dead from recognizing the living and perhaps taking actions against the living for misdeeds that happened when the spirit was alive. Another tradition is out of trick-or-treating that one came from All Souls Day where food and drink were placed outside the home of people who have lost a loved one for beggars who would partake in the food in exchange for promising to pray for the departed ones soul.

There are so many different customs inside of today’s Halloween and that’s what makes it an awesome day and night. My favorite thing about Halloween is on this day the children and adults are able to temporarily suspend their disbelief’s about the “paranormal” and because of this many people’s minds eye is opened more to the world around them allowing them to view things they normally would not be able to see. Keep it spooky and have a great Halloween –The Ghostmap Staff

Right now Halloween is everywhere you look, but are the scary decorations, costumes and even spooky Halloween traditions may be scaring your children more than you as their parent realize.

Every year Halloween gets scarier as technology allows the holiday to seem more and more realistic. Fears around Halloween are development-appropriate because nearly every kid has something they are afraid of that is associated with Halloween. Just take a drive to a local store and go down the Halloween isle and see if even as an adult you don’t find something that scares you little or at the very least grosses you out.

It’s for this reason I caution parents to not allow children under the age of 12 to go to a haunted house. Now you might be thinking my kid watches scary movies on TV so even though they are under 12 they can handle a haunted house. If you believe that you’re probably wrong because after many years of watching TV your child should already know that nothing is going to jump out of the TV and grab them the same cannot be said about the dark corners of a haunted house.

I’m not saying not to let your child experience fear because the only way they will ever conquer fear is to confront whatever it is they are afraid of. What I suggest is you allow that younger child to experience the fear but from a safe distance where you as a parent are able to remove the child at a moments notice if the fear becomes too intense.

Halloween is a big holiday with holiday related sales topping the $6 billion mark so it’s not going anywhere which means your child and you can experience all things spooky when your child is ready. There’s no point in rushing it and possibly scarring your child with an irrational phobia for life. Till next time keep the spooky but not to spooky for the under 12 crowd –The GhostMap team

The 13th Floor haunted house one of the nation’s top 10 ranked haunted houses is now open in Phoenix, Arizona. This world-famous haunted house which was created by nationally recognized and award-winning haunted house designers will take you to A new level of horror. The attraction is actually to haunted houses in one location with the 13th floor being on the bottom level while the top level contains Zombieland and attraction guaranteed to freak you out.

The 60,000 square feet onto the attraction is open from now until October 31st. The 13th floor is an intense, graphic, theatrical show that will take you on a gut wrenching ride of viseral thrills and psychological horror.

$25 GENERAL ADMISSION
$35 VIP

www.13thflooraz.com
2814 W Bell Rd
Phoenix, AZ 85053

It’s that time of the year where pumpkins and Halloween decorations are everywhere. As our minds turn towards Halloween and everything that comes with it did you know it actually easier right now to contact a loved one who has passed on. You see on Halloween our minds eye is open more than any other time during the rest of the year due to the suspension of belief that began for most of us during those nights of trick-or-treating on Halloween night.

So if you have a loved one you’d like to communicate with who has passed on all you need to do is look for the signs that they are around and trust your instincts. The signs could be simply the feeling you used to get when you’re around that person or maybe even something as simple as goose bumps on the back of your neck while you’re thinking of your loved one. During this magical time of year nearly anyone is capable of communicating with the dead assuming they at least have an open mind.

What I would suggest if you would like to talk to someone is to go into the quiet room and meditate and think about who it is you want to talk to. If you have one a picture of the person or an object they used to own it could make communication easier. Once you have the feeling that the person you wish to speak to is nearby simply close your eyes and you will be able to hold a conversation with them inside of your own head. If you don’t believe me go ahead and test the Spirit by asking it a question you do not know the answer to but someone you know does know about them.

Just remember Halloween is a magical time that can be fun however it is interwoven with some not so nice things. So please be careful and have a wonderfully spooky time.

I know this blog is supposed to basically be about ghosts and such but come on guys Halloween is like a month away and I like to have fun. In fact it’s my favorite holiday of the year unless April Fools day count’s lol. Anyway here are some very cool ideas on how to decorate your pumpkins this year…

Man Eater Pumpkin

I know as a kid this would have scared the crap out of me because as you know kids have a suspension of beliefs on Halloween. Imagine how many children will scream at the sight of this pumpkin.

Hamburger Pumpkin

Believe it or not that really is a pumpkin. This pumpkin is awesome and if you have skills it will amaze your adult friends and maybe keep those pesky teenagers from egging your home.

BLINGED OUT PUMPKIN

Ladies whip out those bedazlers. This is a great pumpkin for a teenage girl or for a lady looking to add something girlish to a normally spooky decor.

That’s all for now but I will be posting more ghost tales and a lot more Halloween stuff in the coming weeks.

Folks in the northeastern United States are facing a jack-o’-lantern shortage this Halloween after Hurricane Irene destroyed hundreds of pumpkin patches across the region, farmers say.

Wholesale prices have doubled in many places as farmers nurse their surviving pumpkin plants towards a late harvest. A few farmers are attempting to purchase pumpkins from other regions just to cover orders.

Hurricane Irene rolled over the Northeast in late August, bringing a large downpouring of rain that overflowed rivers and flooded fields along the East Coast and into southern Canada. Pumpkin farmers had been having a difficult year even prior to the storm. Heavy rainfalls this spring meant a lot of farms had to postpone planting for 2 or 3 weeks, postponing the fall harvest,. A late harvest can be disastrous to business because pumpkin sales plummet after Halloween on October  31st. Wholesalers must get their pumpkins on their way to stores by mid-September.

Another batch of rain about 2 weeks prior to Irene caused outbreaks of the phytophthora fungus —a type of water mold.

The wholesale price for a bin of 32 to 45 pumpkins ranged from $150 to $200 in upstate New York, about double the normal cost. The problems for Northeast farmers have been a boon for growers in other parts of the country, especially in big pumpkin-producing states like Illinois, Indiana, California, Ohio and Michigan.

With good pumpkins hard to find, buyers can make them last longer by washing them with water mixed with a little bleach. That kills any fungus left over from the fields and staves off mold and rotting.The pumpkin crunch could also affect tourism because pick-your-own pumpkin farms have become important attractions in many rural areas.

So don’t wait to long to get your pumpkin or maybe make this the year you opt for a reusable decrative one.

Gram Rabbit Video from the feature film THE LEGEND OF GOD’S GUN. This video appears with the credit roll. I thought it fitting for Halloween.

Happy Halloween! If you or one of your little one are going trick or treating we put together a list to help you stay safe this Halloween.

Watch out for cars!
Wear light colored costumes and carry a flashlight during dusk and after dark.
Painted faces are better than masks. Masks can block a child’s vision.
Costumes should be sized right to avoid tripping over hems or “too big” shoes.
Stick to a pre-planned route – especially important if your goblins are out on their own.
Bring all goodies home for inspection before sampling!!

Keep it spooky and have fun!

Spirit® Halloween, the country’s largest seasonal Halloween retailer and the leading authority on Halloween trends, has predicted the best sellers of the 2010 season. With a combination of the latest movies and TV characters in addition to retro comebacks, this year’s picks are sure to be a hit:

The cast of the Jersey Shore
Toy Story 3
Vampires
Nintendo characters Super Mario and Luigi (25th Anniversary)
Lady Gaga
Flappers and gangsters
Gumby and Pokey throwback styles
Star Wars
Iron Man 2
Pirates

SOURCE Spirit Halloween
RELATED LINKS
SpiritHalloween.com

I know Halloween is still a little ways away but I decided because we deal with ghosts and other scary paranormal issues on this site each and every day that maybe it was time to do some thing fun. I was searching the internet for a few ideas of what to be this Halloween when I came across this list of popular Halloween costumes for 2010.

Top 3 Costumes for 2010 in no particular order

1) Lady Gaga Halloween Costume.  Yeah I really can see myself wearing this one. LOL. For those who don’t have any idea what I look like I’m a big hairy guy so trust me I could almost forgo the costume and claim I’m wearing a werewolf costume and people may actually believe me. So a lady Gaga costume might me a popular costume just not for me. But if you want to know more it’s a red satin asymmetrical catsuit with lace torso and oversized bow accent, single lace thigh high, single fingerless glove, and eye mask. If you like this then you may like this…

2) Mad Hatter Costume. Now this is more like it. I loved the movie Alica and I thought Johny Depp was amazing as The Mad Hatter. I think if were to dress up in a Mad Hatter costume for Halloween I could really creep out all of my friends and my family. Plus it’s not scary like my usual Halloween costume preferences. I tend to be a movie monster or living dead type costume guy. If you like this then your probably going to love the rest of this type.

3)  I actually kind of like these costumes.  I loved the Mario video games as a kid and I actually liked the cartoon TV show. The hard decision is actually choosing whether to wear a Mario or Luigi costume for Halloween. So I guess if I do go this route I better Just go ahead and dress up as Toad.

Overall I see a lot of cool new costumes this year. You know all the kids are going to go as things like Buzz Light Year or a Shrek. But if your like me and like to get an early start on trying to choose a Halloween costume you can get some ideas here.

Keep it spooky!!