What are you planning to do for Halloween this year? Dress up in costume and trick or treat around the neighborhood or attend a party in costume? Set up a cool front yard display to add a bit of fright to the evening chill?
Or, after all the trick-or-treaters have gone, put on your favorite scary DVD to watch?
Or, in spirit with the holiday, turn off all the lights and just chill with all the things that go bump in the night?
Halloween is Saturday, a convenient time for activities that allow for leisure time from the workweek.
Sunset is 5:59 p.m. No, there isn’t a full moon to haunt the night but the moon is only a few nights past full and there will be plenty of moonlight to suit anyone’s nocturnal needs. Moonrise is 10:08 p.m. The moon will be up all night, setting at 11:10 a.m. on Nov. 1.
A couple of community events have already got the jump on this year’s Halloween festivities.
On Oct. 17, the Bonita Vista High School music department held its annual “Scream with the Machine” haunted hall on campus.
On Wednesday, Oct. 28, Savoie restaurant at the Otay Ranch Town Center hosted the South Bay Howl-O-Ween Spooktacular to benefit the Chula Vista Animal Care Facility. The free event offered plenty of fun for the whole family, furry and non-furry alike.
The evening’s event list included pet costume contests, pet sketches, photo booth, dog tricks, complimentary treats for people and their pooches, $5 specialty cocktails and happy hour food specials and adoptable shelter puppies.
On tap Thursday, Oct. 29, is Southwestern College’s Halloween Jazz Café, which promises to serve up “spooktacular” jazz standards and contemporary songs. The event, which is directed by Tracy Burklund Becker, gets under way at the campus Mayan Hall Theatre at 7 p.m. Tickets at the door are $10 for adults and $7 for students/seniors (cash only).
On Friday, Oct. 30, Chula Vista High School’s MPulse dance team will liven up halftime with its annual zombie mash. It’s creepy cool fun.
Pumpkin carving
This family- (and ghoul-) friendly activity can be quite rewarding, both for the observer and the maker. Carvings can be funny or frightful and can be made with any size pumpkin.
Templates are available online or artists can just do it free-handed.
To prepare a pumpkin, one will need to remove the seeds from the interior. Cut a circular or hexagonal pattern around the top stem, taking care to slice at an interior angle so the cap will fit nicely once replaced. Also, do the same on the bottom of the pumpkin so it can sit over a candle or other small light fixture.
This will be the messiest part of preparing the pumpkin for display. The carver can uses plastic gloves or just grab hold of the guts and pull them out. After most is removed, a spoon can be inserted through the top or bottom to scrape the interior walls.
Once the pumpkin is cleaned to the artist’s satisfaction, it’s time to put the finished product on display. Battery-operated candles are ideal. They come in many sizes to fit the pumpkin.
Put the candle down first and place the pumpkin over it. The turn out the lights — and enjoy! Perfect places for display are on patios, doorsteps or stone-lined fences. Even indoors can be fun. Looking at the lighted final product can be mesmerizing.
LED lights can also be used to cool effect, especially colored lights, to illuminate both the pumpkin from inside and on the outside.
Don’t be bashful to decorate the area around the pumpkin to further liven up the Halloween display.
Pumpkin displays can also be made even more impressive by photographing them with special trick photographic effects. Place a camera on a tripod, take aim, and shoot an exposure for several seconds with the shutter closed down at various points to create different effects. Depending on outside light sources, the pumpkin can glow in the photos or resemble a silhouette.
Varying the camera angle can create interesting poses – shooting pumpkin from below can make the face more menacing while shooting from above can make it look more friendly.
Another interesting effect would be to incorporate dry ice fog in the photograph.
As for keeping the pumpkin fresh for reuse, carvers will need to keep the pumpkin from drying out or developing mold. In other words, carvers will need to keep their artistic creation hydrated. Suggestions range from immersing the entire pumpkin in a bucket of water overnight or keep it in the refrigerator. A pumpkin kept under these conditions will last from one to two weeks, depending on outside weather conditions. Hot, humid weather conditions during display hours can hasted decomposition.
Lastly, give the oumpkin a name. It helps give it some personality.
