I’m always looking for new ways to celebrate my favorite holiday. One idea I’ve thought about goes back to Halloween’s earliest roots, and throwing a party that celebrates Halloweens of the past.
Most people probably envision vintage halloween celebrations that probably fit with my own: bobbing for apples, corn mazes, 
hayrides and one of my personal favorites: costume parades and trick-or-treating.
But what about some lesser-known games, let’s take a look at a few of those fun and old-fashioned ideas:
- Apple seed fortune telling: this will be fun to try after eating those apples you bobbed and dunked your head around for. Place one seed on each eyelid. One is for ‘home’ the other is ‘travel’. The one that stays on longer will decide your fate.
- Chestnut lover’s test: A young lady and a young man place one chestnut a piece on a fire log, if one of the chestnuts bursts it indicates that the owner has a fretful temper, if both burst they are doomed to a lifetime of strife. However, if they sit, side by side and sizzle pleasantly, well then, it’s a match made in heaven.
- Putting together the witch’s cat: Similar to ‘pin the tail on the donkey’, simply cut out a large cardboard black cut into as many pieces as you have players (it’s ideal to try to make two teams for this game) each person is given a ‘piece’ of the cat and take turns blindfolded to pin their piece on a wall. Whichever team reassembles the cat the best–wins!
- Creepy Invitations: How would you like to find a skeleton hand on your front door? Imagine a man dressed in skeleton costume delivering your invitations to your Halloween party! Well, most of us might be a bit creeped out, but that is what people of the 1940’s did. After a dull thud at the door, the occupants would be surprised to find no one there, save for a bunch of bones. And an invitation to a ghoulish fete.
Yes, Halloween is one of those holidays that seems to carry its charm and intrigue through the ages. I’m glad we can still enjoy the traditions of yesteryear and and add some of our own personal touches as well.
Emma Rae Curtis is a costume/dressing up/makeup & accessories expert. She mainly writes about Halloween but also about all things costume and dress-up related.
