Bunchland

We hope everyone has a fun and spooky night!

Photo by Gone-Walkabout via Flickr

Beth Blenz-Clucas blogs about music for kids that grownups will love too

All of my parental compunctions go out the window at Halloween. I know a lot of better parents who are offering apples and popcorn to the little trick or treaters tonight, but I’m helping to fund the Hershey and Mars corporate fortunes (all at discounted prices of course). The big steel IKEA bowl is brim full of the sugary stuff, and I’m looking around for the best songs to get us all into the spirit.

Luckily, there are a ton of great Halloween songs. I do adore watching The Rocky Horror Picture Show at least once a year, but Tim Curry’s “Sweet Tranvestite” is unfortunately not very kid friendly. Nor is Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” particularly when Michael’s sad and strange Neverland episodes come to mind. But every year, we have to play Bobby Pickett’s 1962 hit “Monster Mash,” preferably over and over again. What a campy-great Halloween tune with just the right amount of spookiness. I’ll be doing The Twist to this one again this year:  Read more...

What we’re reading today:

1. What to do if you looooove Halloween but hate the Martha Stewartization of the holiday.

2. How haunted houses provide the right type of fear.

3. What’s the spookiest haunted school in Toronto?

4. Did you know there’s a candy hierarchy? We don’t totally agree with it, as while the top tier are in fact top tier, the gummies and rockets need to be higher for the sake of balance and seasonality.

5. We wish we made this adorable and spooky short film:

Hallows’ Eve and the Pumpkin Dream from Adam C Sager on Vimeo.

Photo by Iva’s Creations via Flickr

What Incredible costumes!

Today’s Postcard from Bunchland comes from litlg in Ireland.

Creepy, crawly, fabulous

We’ll be straight with you, we kinda miss the Royal Wedding and all the fashion and accessories that go with it (dresses, dress swords, tea, scones), but mostly, we miss having a chance to talk about fascinators. Then, the geniuses at the Hairpin suggested making spider fascinators, an idea with which we were so down. Here goes.

You’ll need:  Read more...

• 2 Styrofoam balls or pom-poms, one being slightly smaller than the other. This is your spider body
• Black paint, fabric, sparkles, or some other method of making your spider body black (or whatever colour you wish). We sacrificed a black reusable shopping tote because it’s what we had on hand
• Googly eyes. For a less goofy spider, we think two red sequins would make good eyes.

Megan Pettit shares stories from a new mom

Sure, Christmas is alright. There’s tasty baked goods, family dinners, A Christmas Story and gifts, but where’s the spookiness? Yes, a large man dressed in Coca-Cola colours creeping around and eating your cookies is a tad spooky, but it’s no Halloween. October 31st has ghosts, goblins, freaks and free candy. The Pettit household loves Halloween so much, we’re planning on making a eerie advent calendar filled with ghoulish goodies to help count down the days.  Read more...

November 23 can’t come soon enough!

Was your favourite part the Paranormal Activity part? Us too.

Miss the other trailers? Here they are:

• Romantic comedy
• Green Lantern
• Heist/crime movie
• The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
• Non parody (We think? Or are we missing something?)

Tough choice, but Pig With the Froggy Tattoo might be the best, but maybe because we’re also highly anticipating that movie.