I think it’s really awesome when people go all out on Halloween and really get in to character with elaborate makeup. I would love to learn to do this. Not just women’s makeup but men’s and all sorts of characters. Frankenstein makeup, Vampire makeup, Goth Makeup, 1920′s makeup, Cat makeup, Clown makeup, Zombie makeup, and pretty much any other Halloween Costume Makeup you could imagine. Luckily there are a lot of website tutorials out there and other kinds of character makeup kits. For those who feel adventurous they can also dabble in to prosthetics. Why not add some fake eyes and a larger uglier nose. Halloween these days is so much more elaborate than even 15 years ago.

While carving a pumpkin with awesome pumpkin carving kits, why don’t you bake a pumpkin cheesecake with this recipe

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups crushed gingersnap cookies
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
1/3 cup butter, melted

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup white sugar, divided
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a medium bowl, mix together the crushed gingersnap cookies, pecans, and butter. Press into the bottom, and about 1 inch up the sides of a 9 inch springform pan. Bake crust 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Set aside to cool.
In a medium bowl, mix together the cream cheese, 1/2 cup sugar, and vanilla just until smooth. Mix in eggs one at a time, blending well after each. Set aside 1 cup of the mixture. Blend 1/4 cup sugar, pumpkin, cinnamon, and nutmeg into the remaining mixture.
Spread the pumpkin flavored batter into the crust, and drop the plain batter by spoonfuls onto the top. Swirl with a knife to create a marbled effect.
Bake 55 minutes in the preheated oven, or until filling is set. Run a knife around the edge of the pan. Allow to cool before removing pan rim. Chill for at least 4 hours before serving.

I recently acquired all of Wes Craven’s “A Nightmare on Elm Street” collection of movies. These movies brought me back to a time when this kind of gore and cheesy horror scared the hell out of me. My mother let me watch the Freddy movies far too young. At the tender age of 8, I was riddled with nightmares for months and months. I have always loved horror films, to this day I find it enjoyable and relaxing to sit alone in the dark late at night and have the bajesus scared out of me. Last night I watched the very first movie in the series and it has been a few years since I saw it. It is amazing how much something can change to you with aging. To me the movie was cheesy and funny, but then eventually scared me again. The cheesiest parts of this movie to me were when Nancy is hallucinating/dreaming that the phone is still ringing and the bottom half turns in to Freddy’s tongue and it starts to lick and drool all over her face and says “I’m your boyfriend now, Nancy!” This scene made me laugh! The next hilariously cheesy scene took place at the end when Nancy has set Freddy on fire to chase him up the stairs where he is smother her mother with his flamed filled body. Nancy’s father, the local chief of police, smothers the fire out with a blanket. After the smoldering mass is unveiled it sinks into the bed which appears to be the portal to hell. Amazing. I’ve always wondered about Freddy’s wardrobe. I mean Freddy’s knife hand is pretty self explanatory, it’s for murdering children in a grizzly way. But his red and green striped sweater paired with his dirty old brown fedora, these items are interesting to me. Oh my god, I just realized.. Freddy is the original hipster! I think a Freddy Kreuger costume accompanied by a pair of hipster frames would be a hilarious Halloween costume!!