Well here we are!
December!
If you're still checking the site then you are a Halloween addict yourself, and your continued patronage is appreciated. The idea for this site was to have year-round coverage because a Halloween Addict doesn't stop jonesing just because it's not October anymore.
The December holidays are a great time of year to continue your Halloween geek-out.
Throughout the month you'll find articles on gift ideas, stocking stuffers, and how to make your Christmas more Halloweeny (-snicker-... I said "weenie.")
So keep tuning in ("logging in"???) and I'll keep cranking them out.
Which brings us to today's article:
HOW TO MAKE YOUR CHRISTMAS MORE HALLOWEENY!
Even if you were stubborn like me and put away your Halloween decorations a couple weeks after October 31st, Christmastime is a perfect excuse to decorate up your place with the toothless grin of a jack o' lantern predominant amongst the red and green.
So here's 10 things you can do:
1) GET A HALLOWEEN TREEI'm not one to get my Christmas tree the weekend of Thanksgiving... it just feels wrong. I need to have the calendar tick over to December before it's justified in my eyes.
But what's a Halloween
addict to do? Well trimming the tree is one of the easiest ways to infuse your Christmas with the Halloween spooky spirit.
Let's start with the tree itself. Sure you can get a green tree and trim that using the rest of the ideas in this article, but if you really want to go hardcore: get a Halloween tree.
There are all sorts of versions out there. For the office: cube farmers can use
THIS desk size version that's less typical Christmas tree, and more Charlie Brown tree-like.
Or you can go more Sleepy Hollow with
THIS 12" version.
For those with apartments there's
THIS smaller size artificial tree with orange lights. (Can't tell if the tree is green or black, though.)
Or you can go for the gusto and just get
this baby. It's an artificial black tree with orange lights built in called the
"Black Tiger Tree." How cool is that?
Huh. How 'bout that?
Tigers: the unofficial Halloween animal.
I mean they ARE black and orange.
Sure most of the above tree examples are artificial trees with lights built in. But if you like the smell of a fresh cut tree, what do you do? Well you can always use Halloween colored lights. Orange would be the obvious choice. Typically when it comes to Halloween I'm a black and orange guy, but from time to time I'll let a little creepy green seep in... especially when Amazon calls it "Neon Green"... Ooooooo
NEON.
There's also many licensed characters to choose from under the banner of "holiday lights" or "party lights." Most are from the exceptional NECA who has cornered on the market on cool things made out of Freddy's, Jason's and Leatherface's noggin.
2) A HALLOWEEN TRAIN FOR THE BASE OF THE TREE
Some people like to go all Norman Rockwell by building an electric train to run along the base of the tree. Not my thing, personally... I just don't like transportation by my presents. But I have a friend who considers the train set as mandatory as having ornaments on the tree.
Well my friends, you wouldn't BELIEVE the options you've got for a
HALLOWEEN TRAIN.
Let's start with the simple: If you're just looking for a non-descript, non-licensed character-type of train then this Lionel set ought to do ya. It's pretty straightforward: some black and orange cars... some spooky fonts. A little slimy green thrown in for good measure. Not a bad entry. Simple. Austere. Minimalist.
If you want to get into licensed characters, well then the ante certainly is upped. For instance there's the Universal Monsters Train Set.
The Universal Studios Monsters are a classic bunch that everyone can enjoy. You get a black and orange locomotive with spider-web trim AND the cars each come with a miniature Universal Studios Monster figure corresponding with their respective cars.
If you like your Frankenstein a little goofier, you can get
The Munsters Train Set.
The cars glow a jack o' lantern orange and one even comes with a miniature replica of their Doom Buggy.
Is Doom Buggy capitalized? It is now.
Both of those sets are pretty cool, but
here's MY pick for the the one to get.
Why? Because it's loaded with jack o' lanterns, of course. What other film besides Tim Burton's
The Nightmare Before Christmas blends the two holidays of Halloween and Christmas more perfectly? Answer: none.
3) HALLOWEEN THEMED ORNAMENTS
So you've got your tree, and your train, so what's the next logical step: ornaments.
Ornaments are probably the easiest thing to customize for your tree.
You can buy "official" Halloween-themed ornaments like the ones above, or you can make your own quite cheaply. Just buy a bag of wire ornament hooks and hang anything from Halloween themed action figures, to Beanie Babies, to drink coasters, to fish aquarium decorations. You're only limited by your imagination--- and the tensile strength of the wire and tree branch.
Not a crafty person? Doesn't matter. Just wrap the wire around the item and hang it. You don't even have to drill a hole.
4) CHANGE YOUR TREE TOPPER
When you're all decorated that's when you put the star on top of the tree. Growing up that was a rule: the star goes on last. Like a cherry on a sundae.
Well your Halloween tree smorgasbord should be no different. It should be something special. I'll leave it up to you. My Halloween tree would sport a Jack Puppet from the "When Puppets Attack" line. It's an awesome jack o' lantern and the space where your hand goes easily accommodates the top of the tree.
5) Yule Log? GHOUL LOG!
For those of us who have a warm and fuzzy attachment to the Yule Log broadcast, this may be right up your alley. (For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, read up on it here and then continue reading.)
With Ghoul Log or iScream: Instead of a burning Yule Log, you get a flickering jack o'lantern with various spooky sound effects. I've not yet seen it myself, but judging by the Amazon reviews this one might have to be purchased on a "so awful it's fun" basis.
Regardless, in a time of year when pumpkins are nowhere to be found and you want to bask in the candle flicker, these might be an inexpensive way to do it.
Drew's Famous Ghoul Log 
6) WATCH A NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS
As I mentioned in the train portion of the article, there is no better way to bridge the gap between Halloween and Christmas than by viewing A Nightmare Before Christmas. The film is practically a love note to both holidays and the stop-motion animation hearkens back to the Rankin-Bass Christmas television specials with a touch of Mad Monster Party thrown in for good measure.
7) WATCH CHRISTMAS THEMED HORROR MOVIES
Looking for something with more of an edge for your viewing pleasure? Well there are a plethora of choices for holiday-themed horror films. I've posted a bunch of links below, and you can research and review to find what suits you.
Silent Night, Deadly Night: I remember the controversy surrounding this little Santa slasher film when it came out in the '80s. Seems tame now in a world that brought us Hostel and the Saw films but thanks to DVD you can see it Uncut and Uncensored as the box trumpets "The way it was meant to be seen!"
Black Christmas: The film that is said to be the grandaddy of slasher films and influenced John Carpenter's Halloween, Black Christmas is readily available as a Special Edition DVD. Be sure to check out the original before the re-make. As always: it's better.
Tales from the Crypt episode "And All Through the House":
Written by Fred Dekker (Night of the Creeps) featuring Larry Drake (Dr. Giggles) and directed by Robert Zemeckis (c'mon, like you don't know HIS films???) this is a lovely little creepy tale of an escaped mental patient wearing a Santa Claus outfit. The tale is typical Tales in tone and structure: black comedy, gore, and a twist ending.
Don't Open Till Christmas:
Another holiday slasher, but instead of the killer being dressed as Santa, the mysterious killer is OFFING Santas. An interesting twist, and though I haven't seen it yet myself, it's new to DVD and I'll be sure to check it out.
"Halloween is Grinch Night": A little known Seuss television special. Sure we all know "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" but who knew that the Grinch broadened his horizons and took on Halloween? Might be worth checking out just to tie the ol' Grinch in to Halloween. Available on DVD buried in this collection...
8) MCFARLANE'S TWISTED CHRISTMAS
McFarlane Action Figures have always done an exceptional job at providing highly detailes monsters and mayhem for your shelf or desk. This year is no exception as they've released their Twisted Christmas line.
Featuring Santa Claus with iron claws, scary elves and the most bad-ass reindeer you've ever seen, it's a must have for some twisted decorations this holiday season.
9) BUILD A SCARY SNOWMAN
If you happen to live in a climate that actually gets snow around the holidays, you can scarify your corn-cob pipe smoking guy in white very easily. If you think about it, a snowman face is very close to a jack o' lantern. Check it out:
You can do any number of things. An easy customization: Swap out the snowman head for one of your plastic jack o' lantern candy buckets or one of your carved Funkin pumpkins like this dad did (see left).
Or you can go for a more Calvin & Hobbes inspired snowgoon.
10) HALLOWEEN-IZE YOUR HOLIDAY CANDY
There have been major leaps and strides made in the flavors and variety of candy on the market today. Though the holiday season usually brings various shades of mint flavoring to most candies, if you're a fan of Halloween candy you'd be surprised to find that there are Halloween inspired flavors aplenty in holiday guise.
Reindeer Corn: If you're a Halloween addict, chances are you're a candy corn addict too. Who can't be? Those little yellow, orange and white morsels are delectable. Well just because it's the holidays doesn't mean you can't get your fix now. It's called Reindeer Corn and its festive green, red and white kernels taste exactly like its October brother. Get a pound --or ten!
Candy Canes: Though I respect the look and device that is the red and white holiday candy cane, I'm not one for eating them. Every year I get between one and fifty, take a couple licks and realize it's just not my thing.
Well thanks to the candy flavor gods, we no longer need to settle for peppermint flavored candy canes any longer. Now I can get a variety of flavors from SweeTarts to Jolly Rancher to Spree flavors, and still in ye olde hooked form.
Plain ol' Halloween Candy: If you're tired of hiding your Halloween fanaticism behind the mask of holiday-looking candy, just load up those holiday candy dishes with plain ol' Halloween candy instead.
In the old days, Halloween candy was only available in October, and then it would vanish not to be seen again for an entire year.
Those days are over.
Now, through the wonders of this magical thing called "the internet" you can get whatever you want, year 'round. Any Google search will get you what your heart desires but here's a few places to get started:
CandyWarehouse.com
TheWorldofCandy.com
GroovyCandies.com
Well there you have it.
Ten ways to make your Christmas more Halloweeny (-snicker again-).
I apologize for the delay in the article (it was supposed to go up December 1st), but it got a lot bigger than I thought.
If you enjoyed the article and are planning to purchase any of the items listed, do me a favor and use the Amazon links I've posted so I get a few cents for the time invested.
Thanks and see you next article!
AllHallowSteve
P.S.
Got some better ideas on how to add some black and orange to your red and green?
Post a comment about it!
