8 Tricks (And Treats) For The Home-bound

SO YOU don’t feel like going out because you can’t find the right costume. Fret not, there are plenty of things you can do to celebrate Halloween at home.

1. Make your own Ouija board. If you want, you can also buy the original Parker Brothers board at the local bookstore, but experts swear the spirits prefer to patronise something more personalised. So make one with your friends. By the way, a ouija (pronounced "wee-jah"), as defined by Wikipedia, “is any flat surface printed with letters, numbers, and other symbols, to which a planchette or movable indicator points, supposedly in answer to questions from people at a séance. The fingers of the participants are placed on the planchette that then moves about the board to spell out messages.”
   
2. Get a tarot card reading. The eve of Halloween is said to be an auspicious day to communicate with the spirits, because that’s the time when they freely roam the streets and the skies. Book early and gather round a group of friends so you can all pitch in for the cost of asking the psychic for home service.
   
3. Hold a Halloween B movie Marathon. I know what you did last Halloween — and if you don’t want to embarrass yourself again this year, we suggest you stay home and go on a movie marathon. Classic titles you can borrow from the library of friendly neighborhood movie rental store: Rosemary’s Baby, Friday the 13^th, Amityville Horror and Damon.
   
4. Cook scary food. Pick a theme, like axes, and pick out 4 ultra B-movies that involve axes. Or a couple of titles that show a lot of blood in them, then you can plan your snacks around blood-coloured food. Like gazpacho, tomato juice, laksa.
   
5. Go online and play a game. We’re sure there’s something interesting there, somewhere. Or go to a chat room and use a scary handle like Frankenstein, Gollum or Lucifer. If someone asks for your intro, say Go To Hell.
   
6. Change your desktop. Bring out the Paint software and sketch something scary (like your favorite gym teacher) and post it in your computer. Keep restarting your personal computer.
   
7. Host a murder. This is a popular game where you invite friends for dinner three weeks ahead of time so they can learn their roles and look for costumes. At dinner, they come as different personalities (and they’re not allowed to revert to who they really are) and you, the host, narrates the evening’s plot: one of the guests at the dinner table is about to die – and the killer is among the guests. Guess who he/she is! The game set is available in local bookstores. If you want a simpler whodunit game, you can also try Cluedo.
   
8. Read scary poetry. “Bushes quiver where shadows lean/And not a sliver of moon is seen…” If you’re a total nerd, go in front of the mirror, hold a candle under your chin, and recite a horror poem. Let’s see if by the end of your soliloquy you see someone else listening to your performance.