Extreme Halloween: The Ultimate Guide to Making Halloween SCARY Again
By Tom Nardone
More Info: Tom Nardone
I remember when Halloween started to be REALLY scary. And when it whip-lashed into boringly-not-scary-at-all. I’m a broadcast journalist, and at some point — I don’t quite remember when — our stories changed. They turned from the cute Halloween costume stories — to the warning stories to take your kids’ bags of candy to the ER to have them Xrayed for razors that might have been slipped into apples.
Everyone freaked out, of course, and there went the homemade cookies and the wrapped candies, in favor of the M&M’s and Snicker bars.
But now we’re back. At least Tom Nardone is. With his Extreme Halloween book. Love. It.
Tom’s got everything in there starting with the tool list — from Angle Grinders to Wilton Bake Easy! Spray. The first is to strip off the pumpkin skin, and the last is so that nothing sticks to the pan when you bake.
The book is fun to read. It was probably fun for Tom to write. It was probably not fun for his neighbor who called the police.
For outdoors, there are directions for backyard beasts such as millipedes and alligators — made of pumpkins!
There are also the hilariously scary tricks he has ready — mostly for the kids who think their normal school clothes and a pillowcase are Halloween attire. He dresses a life-size scarecrow, leaving it draped on a bench near the front door for a few weeks prior to Halloween. On Halloween night, someone else gives out candy at his house, and he slips into that scarecrow’s costume, draping himself the very same way. And when those kids come close enough, he lurches at them, yelling “Rah!” — and they go running, screaming.
Don’t forget to booby-trap your medicine cabinet if you’re having a party. Put marbles in there, holding them in place using a piece of cardboard. Close the door, and slip the cardboard out. Someone comes snooping, and guess what, major embarrassment as the marbles come pouring out, crashing noisily.
Tom also has recipes. Here’s one for Bloody Brain Shots:
You need:
1 ounce peach schnapps
1 teaspoon Bailey’s Irish Cream (your brains)
Grenadine (Blood)
Clear shot glass
Here you go:
Pour the peach schnapps into the shot glass. Float the Bailey’s on top of the schnapps. Dribble a few drops of grenadine on top of the Bailey’s. Then serve.
And bottoms up!
