Halloween Round Up
Got plans for the spooky month yet? Photo: Saso Tusar
AUTHOR: ARTSY CHOW ROAMER
Halloween ROUND UP
FUN STUFF TO DO
I love the colors of fall as September turns into October, and we get ready for all things spooky, pumpkin spice and trick or treat. I don’t have kids or grandkids, but I know a lot of my readers do, so I try to find things that will interest both the little guys and the big kids that are still in all off us. This means everything from scary movies and events to tasty recipes for treats and drinks that all can enjoy with family and friends.
BRADLEY’S FARMS
Located on the way to Dawsonville on the back roads at 25 Lawrence Drive is the Bradley family farm. We discovered it by accident just taking a nice drive on a pretty day in the fall one year. We stopped and what a cute little place it turned out to be. At this time of the year there are lots of pumpkins to choose in all sizes for carving and decorating. Hayrides introduce you and the young’uns to the entire farm and a nice little country store offers special goodies to take home for yourself or others.
The Weaver family is at the heart of the business with Bradley working it since he was five years old. It is a “outreach to children” showing them how things work in nature, about growing your own food and giving back to your community. They are proud to have sustainable products that they produce themselves and they also support other local growers and producers in the area.
Stop by and give them some love cause you’ll have a lot of fun and find some treasures to enjoy as well. Don’t forget about them at the holiday season as they sell christmas trees and goodies with fun events for the kids during that season too.
Photos: Courtesy of Bradley’s Farms
outdoor attraction
Located at 218 Matthews Road in Jasper, Haunted Hills Farm is North Georgia’s premier outdoor attraction with over fifteen acres of “immersive horror”. Family owned and operated, the seasonal attraction offers “actor driven, scream-worthy” thrills and chills that go way beyond the usual Halloween experience. A single ticket gets you into all on Scare Night every weekend of October for $30-35 dollars depending on the night. Two special kids nights are available for $15 and a black out date for November 1st gets you in for $28. Fast passes are available too to avoid long lines.
Best if done with a group, you can try out the Haunted Hayride, Walking Trail or Blacklight Haunt for the ultimate in triple scare fun. Take a break in between your spook time on the Midway. Music, roaming ghouls, games and photo ops run amok. Concession stands and firepits offer snacks, drinks, smores and more providing the necessary sustenance for the freaky shows.
Haunted Hills Farm is best done in a group Photos: Courtesy of Haunted Hills Farm
HAUNTED HOUSE
One of the best haunted house experiences is House of Four Scythes in Cumming. Located at 235 Castleberry Road, this non-profit brings not only top-notch scares but money to some pretty great charities like cancer research and the Boy Scouts of America. Every dollar raised goes back into the community to touch lives and support causes.
Photos: Courtesy of House of Four Scythes
Their dedicated group of volunteers create a spooky journey into the unknown wrapped around the story of the Vespers Mortuary and its director Alistair Vespers in the creepy town of Wedgewood. A decaying relic, overgrown with tangled vines near the crumbling memorials of the local cemetery, the once elegant home is now nothing but layers of dust, peeling paint and moldering damp hallways filled with sorrow and memories of yesterday. Experience the supernatural with demons, vampires, ghouls and the guards who are called up to fight them.
Step right up into the carnival theme tent where you navigate the maze and all the unexpected things that go along with it. Colorful lights and music guide you on your fantastical journey that will have you screaming and laughing throughout. New this year-Haskills Meats-family serving families since 1975 (cue the Vincent Price laugh)!
Open for fifteen days only, this adventure sells out every year so plan early for a $20-25 ticket with fast pass and VIP tickets available as well. This house is not approprate for children under 12 so stick to the fairgrounds for the carnival experience with them.
This will give you an idea what to expect
HOCUS POCUS
I did a review previously on a fun cookbook by Bridget Thoreson called Hocus Pocus: A Spellbinding Cookbook. She gives you a lot of ideas and recipes for cocktails, appetizers, main dishes and desserts both for Halloween and the fall and winter cooking seasons.
Recipes are easy and can be done with the kids. I have tried the Clever Little Witch’s White Chocolate Chunk Cookies and the Witch’s Brew Espresso Martini; perfect for movie night. I also made the Pumpkin Soup with the leftover guts from my carved pumpkin and paired it with some super Shush ke-baby Kebobs for a dinner with friends. Check out the post on the link above for more on the goodies and recipes in the book and it is available on Amazon if you want a copy.
Photos: Courtesy of Warner Brothers, HBO and Scribner Publishing
KING OF CREEP
I’m an avid long-time Stephen King fan who is the absolute owner of the horror genre. The thing about his writing is the stories are as good now as they were ten or twenty years ago because he is the master of character development. Hollywood agrees apparently as they continue to adapt and develop movies and series from his books, short stories and novellas.
Yep…don’t watch it alone
I remember the first time I read Cujo back in the early ‘80’s. I was so freaked out I stayed up all night to finish it. I still have an OCD fear of rabies-carrying bats! It’s a great pick for a scary movie night with Dee Wallace and Danny Pintauro playing the terrified mother and son duo. A new version is on the way from producer Roy Lee and director Darren Aronofsky. 😱 Pick up a copy of one of King’s latest, You Like it Darker and you’ll get a sequel to Cujo in one of the twelve horror stories with Rattlesnakes.
Welcome to Derry is the prequel to IT, one of King’s scariest ever for folks afraid of clowns. Set in the 1960’s, it tells the story of what happened to bring the horrible Pennywise out of hibernation before the events of the two movies from the 80’s. Super creepy Bill Skarsgard is set to play Pennywise again with the first episode airing on HBO and HBO Max October 26th. Don’t miss it!
MOVIES
One of the all time best Halloween movies is the 1978 cult classic Halloween starring the queen of scream, Jamie Lee Curtis. Horror director John Carpenter spins the story of Michael Myers who returns to his hometown fifteen years after escaping the institution he was placed in for killing his sister.
You can’t go wrong with Beetlejuice either in its original form from 1988 or the latest version, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice from 2024. Both are directed by scaremeister Tim Burton and the talented Mr. Keaton plays the villian in both.
Actor Tony Todd makes his final appearance as William Bludworth in Final Destination Bloodlines with the granddaughter and friends continuing the story from the first movie in 1969. Turns out escaping death ain’t so very easy. All are available on many different streaming platforms so pop up some corn with your favorite cocktail and enjoy!
If you have young kids around these are not going to be the movies you want to watch. You might pick Hocus Pocus. If you’ve never seen the movie, it follows a villainous comedic trio of witches (Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy) who are inadvertently resurrected by a teenage boy in Salem, Massachusetts, on Halloween night…”Amuck, amuck, amuck!”
STONE MOUNTAIN PUMPKIN FESTIVAL
One activity you’ll definitely want to do with your kids is the Pumpkin Festival at Stone Mountain. A $40 ticket gets you the Play by Day experience with pie eating contests, comedic shows, storytelling, character meet-and-greets and park attractions like the cable car, scenic railroad and dinosaur attraction.
Explore amazing outdoor experiences for Glow by Night with thousands of lights, massive jack-o-lanterns, pumpkin tree and mini-golf. Participate in the great pumpkin parade with special floats and high energy dance party and end the evening with the pumpkin drone light show and one of the best firework displays in the state. In all you get ten themed areas, forty storybook scenes and five different enchanted glow night adventures. That’s a lot of value for the price. Don’t forget about all the opportunities for food and drinks too.
SCARECROWS IN THE GARDEN
The Atlanta Botanical Garden gears up for it’s twenty-third year with Scarecrows in the Garden. Running from 9 AM to 6 PM from October 1st through November 1st, not only will the garden be in glorious fall bloom, the walks will be lined with local creations of colorful scarecrows for the Halloween holiday. Entries will be judged by a panel of judges with prizes like gift baskets from the shop, family memberships and tickets to future events. Back again will be the visitors chance to vote as well for a yearly membership prize. Get in early on the Great Pumpkin Carving event for real family fun and to show off your creativity and talents.
Back for the 23rd year Scarecrows in the Gardens is a fun day of Halloween activities Photo: Atlanta Botanical Gardens
CONCLUSION
You never really outgrow Halloween even if you don’t have kids around. We still enjoy making the trip on a beautiful day to a pumpkin farm to bring home a treasure, design the face and carve out something wonderful from the unique shape while saving the guts for a yummy pie! A plate of sweet chocolate chunk cookies with a witch’s martini is super tasty for movie-o-rama or rereading a much loved King novel.
Hocus Pocus 2 is perfect for the kids
Dressing up in costume to jump out for some events or trick or treating with the kids is great family fun done together. So grab a book, rent some movies and start making your Halloween memories special. BTW, Hocus Pocus 2 is just as fun as the first one and I’m looking forward to time with the Sanderson sisters. Check out the trailer above.
If you enjoyed what you read, you might also like other posts under Just Because. Until next time…
Boo! 😱
Artsy Chow Roamer
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