Staff Picks: Halloween Celebrations
by lucroe
Halloween is creeping up! This is the perfect time to spotlight some books to help decorate your house or yourself for this spooky time of year. Then curl up with some ghostly Michigan folklore stories...
Best of How to Haunt Your House vols. 1 & 2 by Shawn Mitchell | Request Now
Enjoy these 2 volumes full of spooky ways to get your house or room Halloween ready. From the simple like creating potion bottles or personalized tombstones to the more complex like monster mud and animated props, there is something for every DIY Halloween maven here. Need some sound effects to go with your party? Check out the CD, Haunted House Party for some scary screams and ghoulish groans.
Oh my Gourd!: How to Carve a Pumpkin Plus 29 Other fun Halloween Activities by Jack Hallow | Request Now
Looking to for some creative ideas for use of those pumpkins, look no further than Jack Hallow’s (yes, that is a pseudonym!) book. From carving some perfect, creepy pumpkin faces to the use of pumpkin puree in facial scrubs, or enjoy pumpkin in various recipes (pumpkin latte anyone?). Or maybe you want to go further and make a pumpkin punchbowl. Whatever use you get out of your pumpkin; this is definitely the time of year to experiment with these versatile gourds. Just want to know how to carve one, try one of these books.
Epic Cosplay Costumes by Kristie Good | Request Now
Although touted as cosplay costumes, this a great book for some Halloween costumes too especially if you need simple, easy to follow sewing projects. This book also covers the very basics of how to use foam and thermoplastics to create armor. The costume ideas can be mixed with each other as well to create new characters. The patterns and tutorials are versatile enough that anyone can alter it to fit their needs, like a simple cape design. Perfect for those learning to sew their own costumes. For even more costume ideas click here.
Creepy Cross-Stitch: 25 Spooky Projects to Haunt Your Halls by Lindsay Swearingen | Request Now
Have some cross-stitch familiarity and want more spooky projects? Then look no further than this gem for beginners to advanced. She provides full color patterns, list of materials, and color charts for both large and small projects. Most are done on black fabric. Pattern names include Lovers’ Graves, which features twin headstones and a heart-shaped weeping willow and Spooky Room with requisite black cats lounging.
Spooky Michigan by S. E. Schlosser | Request Now
A perfect read for Halloween or any time of year really, if you love to read some scary Michigan folklore. Some of the 25 stories may be familiar to native Michiganders like the Nain Rouge, but others not so much like Loup Garou (a werewolf said to have roamed Grosse Pointe in the 1500s), or the Ada Witch legend that a ‘lady in white’ haunts the city’s cemetery. Curl up with this book on a cold night and enjoy these ghostly tales. Enjoy even more haunted Michigan stories here, including the recent publication, Ypsilanti Ghosts & Legends.
