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This is awesome: The Spirit News Network takes you inside Zack’s Zombie Daycare.
Alice in Wonderland will inspire many costumes this year for Hallloween. The story of Alice, the little girl who falls through the looking glass and into a fantasy world filled with strange creatures who lead her on all sorts of crazy 
adventures, is one of the most popular tales in history. Author Lewis Carroll , whose real name was Reverend Charles Dodgson, didn’t publish the story until years after it was told. He originally created the story for Alice Liddell, the 10 year old daughter of a friend of his, Henry Liddell, who was the Vice Chancellor of Oxford and the Dean of Christ Church. Carroll originally made up the story in one sitting, on a boat trip where Alice Liddell and her two sisters were bored and restless. He made up the story to amuse them, and eventually wrote it down because Alice kept begging him to write it out for her. The story featured people and places familiar to the two girls but twisted into fantasy representations where both the locations and the people were caricatures of the originals.
Alice’s adventures continue to captivate generation after generation of children because they appeal to children on a very visceral level. Children love adventure, they love to be surprised, and they love to use their 
imaginations. Dodgson’s tale of the magical places that Alice visits, and her interactions with such remarkable characters as the Mad Hatter, the Queen of Hearts, and the White Rabbit are all very plausible in a child’s imagination. Giving animals human qualities is also something that comes very naturally to children so they can accept without question the very human personalities of animals like the Cheshire Cat, the Caterpillar, and the Dormouse.
Many different interpretations of the story of Alice in Wonderland have come to life on film and through television through the years. Each different interpretation adds another layer of personality and imagination to the Alice story. But the 2010 film version of Alice in Wonderland by director Tim Burton is one of the most anticipated versions of the Alice story that has ever existed. Fans of Tim Burton’s work on cult classics like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Nightmare Before Christmas, James and the Giant Peach, and Sleepy Hollow have been waiting for a long time to see what type of Wonderland Tim Burton would create.
Tim Burton’s Alice story is actually a sequel to the original. A grown up Alice in Victorian England is about to be proposed to by someone she doesn’t want to marry. When she finds out about the impending proposal she runs off, and follows a white rabbit down a rabbit hole, which plunges her back into Wonderland. She has no memory of her adventures in Wonderland at first, but comes to remember her friends as she battles to save Wonderland from the evil Red Queen, played by Helena Bonham Carter.
The casting of Tim Burton’s Alice tale is what sets it apart from other interpretations of this beloved fairy tale. Audiences everywhere were thrilled with Burton’s casting of Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, Alan Rickman as the Caterpillar, and Sir Christopher Lee as the Jabberwock. The landscape of Wonderland created by Tim Burton is also something that fans can’t get enough of. Tim Burton has brought to life a Wonderland as crazy, beautiful and fierce as most people always imagined it to be.
Witches are a permanent part of pop culture. They pop up in everything from fairy tales to horror movies. Witches can be good or bad, but usually they are bad. And the uglier they are the more we love them. Witches come in many different types of ugly but usually they need to have at least one mole, several warts, ratty black hair, and green skin. The image of the witch with green skin and a mole comes from the 1939 movie the Wizard of Oz, from the Wicked Witch of the West who torments Dorothy for killing her sister. The iconic image of a good witch also comes from the Wizard of Oz. Glinda, the Good Witch is the quintessential good witch with a poofy pink dress, pretty curls, and a sweet lilting voice.
Most people prefer bad witches though. Evil witches are the personification of all the dark desires that people have but would never act on. They have magical powers that they can use to get even with people who have hurt them. They get to wear black all the time. They are feared but have no fear, and are not ashamed to give in to their desires. Witches can be found in every culture, and have been a part of culture ever since record keeping began.
Some historians say that the stories of witches as modern people know them originated with powerful men who wanted to get rid of the Goddess worshipping religions throughout Europe. In order to scare people away from believing in these Goddess religions Christian church leaders and government officials spread stories about powerful witches who would hurt or kill people that they didn’t like and said that the Christian faith could save people from witches. In these stories the powerful goddesses of legend were turned into powerful witches who were out to destroy humanity and collect souls for the devil. Religious scholars trace the origin of the myth of witches back through the Bible to Lilith. Lilith was Adam’s first wife who fled the Garden of Eden rather than be subservient to Adam and spent her time trying to lure him into sin.
No matter where the origin of the witch myth came from it’s clear that witches are here to stay. Witch costumes are one of the most popular Halloween costumes because witches can be anything you want them to be. There are ugly witch costumes complete with fake moles and scars, sexy witch costumes with vinyl dresses, high heels, and black wigs, and there are pretty, feminine good witches in pink dresses and lots of glitter. You can make your own witch costume out of accessories that you put together yourself or you can buy a witch costume that will help you look like one of the witches that everyone knows like the Wicked Witch of the West or one of the many different witches in Disney movies Maleficent, the witch who curses Sleeping Beauty.
We wanted to note the continued popularity of Star Trek costumes thanks to the number of Trekkies around the world.
While some people buy costumes only around Halloween time. Fans of Star Trek not only dress the part for Halloween, but also need the best costumes for conventions and other events.
The jack-o-lantern’s mischievous grin has haunted our porches for years, but the Halloween tradition originated from an Irish myth. The Irish carried over the tradition of the Jack-O-Lantern to the U.S., not as a pumpkin, but as a turnip.
The orange glow that we have learned to love started with a drunk by the name of Stingy Jack, and his pint with the Devil. Stingy Jack was a trickster who was infamous for annoying family and friends with mischief. He took his chances with the Devil one night in the local pub. 
Stingy Jack didn’t want to pay for his drink, so he convinced the Devil to turn himself into a coin. Instead of paying the tab, Stingy Jack slipped the “evil” coin into his pocket which conveniently held a silver cross, and prevented the Devil from turning back into his original form.
Stingy Jack bought himself a year of freedom from the Devil, and a promise that when he died, the Devil wouldn’t claim his soul. Although the Devil gave Jack a hassle, he finally agreed and Stingy Jack freed the Devil from his pocket.
A year passed, and the Devil gave Stingy Jack a visit. Keeping with his ways, Stingy Jack tricked the Devil into climbing a tree to pick some fruit. During the Devil’s ascension, Jack carved the sign of the cross into the bark of the tree. He held the Devil captive until he agreed to leave Jack alone for another ten years.
Soon after that, our friend Stingy Jack died. He was a clever lad during his life, but faced closed gates to Heaven when he died. God wouldn’t allow the trickster to rest in his realm, and the Devil promised not to take his soul. Despite his deal with the Devil, Jack still gave him a visit. He was turned away from the fiery gates of hell. The Devil sent Stingy Jack into the darkness with only a burning coal. Jack placed the coal in a carved-out turnip, and has been roaming the earth ever since.
The Irish called the haunted figure “Jack of the Lantern”, and then eventually “of the” became “O”, coining the term we know today, “Jack-O-Lantern”.
Used as a fear tactic, like a gargoyle, the people of Ireland and Scotland carved out turnips and potatoes with ghoulish faces with the hopes of scaring away wandering evil spirits and of course, Stingy Jack. The English used large beets to create scary faces and placed them in windows or on door steps.
Immigrants from these countries to America brought the tradition. They soon discovered a native fruit to America known as the pumpkin, and found that it facilitated the purpose much better with a round surface and smooth carving.
A Jack-O-Lantern is one of the most recognized decorations of Halloween today. With elaborate designs and glowing lights, it is truly a part of history, and a strong defense in keeping wayward spirits away; especially, the clever Stingy Jack.
Music and sound effects are crucial to creating the perfect Halloween atmosphere. Whether you’re trying to create a scary haunted house or a rocking Halloween party using music and sound effects can make or break the mood. One of the best parts about Halloween is that you can’t go too far when it comes to decorating or setting a mood. The more over the top you go the more fun you and your friends and family will have. Here are some tips to help you effectively use music and sound effects 
to set the right Halloween mood:
Stick with the classics – When you’re trying to scare the costume pants off little Trick or Treaters by turning your house into a Haunted House the classic scary sounds are the best. Screams, chains rattling, boards creaking, diabolical laughter, witches cackling, and ghosts moaning are traditional Halloween sounds that are super scary, especially combined with light effects and props. Make sure you have a couple of Halloween noise CDs on hand so that you can change the noises randomly throughout the night.
Don’t forget the ambient music – Scary noises are, well, scary. But ambient music that has no words and is played in the background can really scare people because it sets their sense on edge. Dark ethereal music, 
especially organ music or very esoteric electronic music can transform an ordinary room into a creepy crypt, a haunted mansion, or a witches cottage. Ambient music should be always playing in the background. Combine ambient music with a few witches cackling sounds or evil laughter sounds for a truly scary effect.
Go for the gore – If you want to induce Halloween nightmares don’t shy away from the extreme noises. One of the reasons why horror movies are so horrifying is because of the sound effects. Use those sound effects to really turn up the fear factor at your Halloween party or for Trick or Treaters. Sound effects like saws, heavy machinery, roaring fires, bubbling beakers, electric shocks, and the sound of breaking bones can be terrifying in the right context. Make sure that you have several different type of scream effects so that it sounds like several people are being murdered in the background and not just one.
Pick up Halloween Party Classics – If you’re having a Halloween party there are just some songs that your guests will expect to hear. Since you can only play these songs on Halloween night put these songs on repeat and party the night away! Classic Halloween party songs that you should buy on CD are Time Warp from the Rocky Horror Picture Show, Monster Mash, Witch Doctor, I want Candy, Thriller, the Buffy the Vampire Theme Song, the Great Pumpkin waltz from It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, Funeral March of the Marionette from the Alfred Hitchcock Presents TV show, the Addams Family theme song and the Munsters theme song.