Whether you're hosting a few friends, a family get-together, or a cozy night in with themed snacks and creepy cocktails, we've got you covered with our top Amazon picks to help you host a stylish, gluten-free Halloween party. From chic décor and festive tableware to items that make your house smell amazing (and your guests say "wow!"), These finds are fun, easy, and perfect for pulling together a last-minute celebration.
Walk with Spirits: A Haunted Pub Crawl in San FranciscoThrough Oct 31Join us for a thrilling combo of bar hopping and ghost hunting through Gold Rush-era San Francisco! Starting in the historic Jackson Square-one of the few areas to survive the 1906 Earthquake and Fire-we'll journey through the notorious "Devil's Acre" and wrap up in legendary Chinatown. More info here.
Some of the embassies that participated last year are sitting out this Halloween. The Embassy of Paraguay told us they had "no plans" to offer candy, mentioning there are "a lot of things going on." When we reached out to the Indonesian Embassy and Embassy of Lesotho, both locations replied that they did not know whether they'd welcome trick-or-treating. However, four embassies did confirm they will be open during their business hours to receive trick-or-treaters on Halloween.
One evening in October 2023, I went outside to check the mailbox in our Florida suburb and found a white hearse parked in our driveway. Beneath the moonlight, it glittered like a ghostly apparition. I froze and wondered if death had finally come for us. We'd each recently battled life-threatening health challenges. I'd survived a brain tumor while Tomer had undergone open-heart surgery. We were still in our 40s, and while medical intervention had bought us more time, my anxiety continued to soar.
Here's why we love these peanut butter bars: They taste like Reese's peanut butter cups. With a fudgy peanut butter base and crisp chocolate topping, these delicious bars are like the best peanut butter cups you've ever tasted. Ollie might feel differently, but I don't need any Halloween candy when I have a stash of these bars in the fridge!
In October, we costume up for Halloween, once a sacred day, Samhain, celebrated by the ancient Celts to mark the end of summer and the harvest season. The boundary between the living and the dead was thought to grow thin at this time. Celebrants then dressed in costumes as a disguise to confuse the spirits of the dead, who were said to return to the living. Later, the Catholic Church absorbed some of the ideas of the pagan ritual, transforming it into All Saints' Day to honor its saints.
Halloween is all about fear. It's about scaring others and being scared - not just unapologetically, not just without the shame that typically accompanies or follows real-life fear, but gladly and eagerly. Halloween beckons terror just so we can laugh at it, and at each other and ourselves. Throughout the rest of the year, fear tends to strike suddenly and unannounced. That surprise factor, tripping up and felling even the most mindful and well-prepared among us, might be fear's most potent fuel.
Holiday decorations and celebrations seem to bring out the worst in many homeowners' associations. Over the years, I've heard so many HOA horror stories of banning decorations or having draconian rules about what homeowners can put up, but a Halloween notice from an HOA that's going viral now is definitely the wildest one I've ever seen.
A Dubliner has spent a six-figure sum over the years on decorations to transform the front of his home into one of Ireland's most spectacular Halloween attractions.
Halloween is the perfect opportunity to think about the dichotomies inherent in the human condition. While its origins are murky, it appears to have evolved from ancient Celtic celebrations centered on the change of seasons and superstitious beliefs about evil spirits and death. During the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church attempted to replace this pagan holiday with All Souls Day, dedicated to honoring saints and the dead.
Last year, he took it to another level, dressing as No-Face, a character from the Academy Award-winning animated film "Spirited Away." Wembanyama wore an all-black one-piece fit and covered his face with the trademark mask. The costume preceded a 25-point, 9-rebound, 7-assist performance plus 5 steals and blocks each against the Utah Jazz -- the second time in his career he put up at least five each in five stat categories.
It's a huge weekend on the London social calendar, with Halloween parties galore, Day of the Dead fiestas, a smattering of early Bonfire Night celebrations and the final few days of October half-term entertainment all happening over the next couple of days. But while that sounds really fun, it also sounds...expensive! Blown all your money on a killer Halloween costume and/or a week of entertaining the kids? No worries; it's also an excellent weekend for wallet-friendly fun around the capital.
Welcome to Slate's weekly news quiz. It's Friday, which means it's time to test your knowledge of the week's news events. Your host, Ray Hamel, has concocted questions on news topics ranging from politics to business, from culture to sports to science. At the end of the quiz, you'll be able to compare your score with that of the average contestant, as well as that of a Slatesterwho has agreed to take the quiz on the record.
That's the point of Halloween, isn't it? It's spooky season, after all. But where other kids seemed to delight in this, like passengers on a roller coaster feeling exhilarated by the terror, for me, it was distinctly unpleasant, and the weirdness of feeling out of step with everyone else was a second, ancillary unpleasantness, one that blossomed in particular in my twenties as going out on Halloween became a de rigueur social event.
A-ha, the easiest fill-in question on a Friday ever. Are you just watching Game 6, which could be the final game of the "2025 Championship Season," or is there something more topically relevant also going on? Are you perhaps combining the two, somehow? (If you're towards the East Coast and have kiddos, the candy-gathering is probably done before the game starts;
Carving pumpkins is one of those Halloween activities that never really gets old, no matter how many times you do it. You get to display your artistic talent (or lack thereof), play with sharp objects, and even roast the seeds for a crunchy treat at the end. You won't get any actual pumpkin seeds out of Ghost Town Pumpkin Festival, but it's still a great seasonal space to hang out, carve pumpkins, and partake in other timeless Halloween activities.
Welcome to the Monster Mash-Up Generator - where spooky meets snackable. It's part art project, part chaos experiment, and 100% Halloween magic. Answer some spooky questions, mix in a monstrous mood, and watch as your creation transforms into a deliciously unhinged delight. Whether it's a cupcake werewolf, a Jell-O ghost, or something no kitchen should ever allow, your masterpiece awaits. Go on - do the mash!
On Oct. 31, 1950, Earl Lloyd of the Washington Capitols became the first African-American to play in an NBA game; Lloyd would go on to play for nine seasons, winning an NBA championship in 1955 with the Syracuse Nationals. Also on this date: In 1864, President Abraham Lincoln signed a proclamation making Nevada the 36th state, eight days before the presidential election.
