Halloween themes

I like the idea of going with a different theme every year like a lot of people do, so I'm trying to decide what kind of theme to go with this year. I actually don't normally have a real theme, technically, and I think I'd kind of like to. I usually just put up all the various decorations that I have, which is just the typical stuff you see at most home haunts. Mostly these are cobwebs, spiders, bats hanging from tree limbs, ghosts, and orange lights that I drape around the deck railing. I also got some really cute skeleton and ghost lights a few years ago, and I like to line the doorway with them. I also hang a long Halloween greeting down the outside of the door, and then the Halloween mat with the ghoul that looks like it's crawling out of the ground. I got a couple of new ghoulish props last year that I hung from some trees that line the walkway. They're bride and groom ghouls, and they looked pretty cool when they would blow gently in the wind. But I'd really like to do something totally new this year. I always wanted to do a 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' theme, and turn our deck into my own little version of Halloweentown. It's one of my favorite movies, and I just adore the Pumpkin King, Jack Skellington. (Ever wonder why I call myself The Pumpkin Queen??) Not to mention I could totally make myself right at home in Halloweentown. I just dig that place. I have a 3' tall Jack doll that I found at a comic store downtown many years ago. (I still don't have Sally, but I have every intention of finding her eventually.) He was made in Japan, and was a limited edition, so I was quite proud to have found him. I'm thinking that it probably wouldn't be too difficult to turn one of my 'Sleepy Hollow' scarecrows into a huge Jack Skellington prop, which I think would be very cool. I love the scene at the beginning of TNBC when the scarecrow is being pulled on a wooden horse into town, and it turns out to be Jack. The only thing I'm uncertain of is finding the black and white striped fabric for Jack's pants and tailcoat. I'm not sure that would be too easy. How cool would that be, though, to have the characters from TNBC on my front deck?! I would love it. I really must start learning how to be more creative with life-size prop making.

If all else fails, I figure, you can never go wrong with a good graveyard scene. I used to make a pretty good one every year. I would even paint some old square pieces of wood and write things like, "Beware! Haunted cemetery!" and "Turn back now!" LOL There are still some remnants of one of those signs nailed into the tree out back. I always loved getting into Halloween. I know now that I always will. I am thrilled that it's almost that time of year again when I can get out all of my decorations, and go shopping for new, even better ones. I just love walking into the Halloween stores for the first time each fall season. There's just almost nothin' else like it.