Haunted Castle

Muskogee, Oklahoma is home to one of the best Halloween festivals around – the Haunted Castle.

If you’re in the area, you should really check it out for some Halloween fun for all ages!

Activities, shops, and food around every corner!

For the youngest kids, there’s Halloweenland, where kids eight and under can play games and trick-or-treat.  For kids a little bit older, there’s the haunted maze which leads you through many twists and turns – and who knows what will pop out around the next corner!  My nine-year-old daughter’s favorite part was the Torture Chamber, which is a sort of medieval museum of torture devices.  There’s also a haunted hayride and even more activities for adults.

Their activities are on a 1-5 skull rating system, where one skull is the most tame and pretty much OK for all ages, and a five skull rating is the scariest and not for people under the age of 17.  So whatever your age and/or scare-level, there’s something for everyone.

And aside from the haunted houses and hayrides, there were a number of other activities and shows going on – we enjoyed story-telling around a campfire and made our own candles and sand-art bottles among other things.

Here are a few examples of fun and activities to do at The Castle of Muskogee!

Come one, come all and get your tickets to a variety of Halloween fun!

Guests can choose from a variety of activities and different packages at the ticket booth located near the center of the festival.

Candle Making

My daughter loved making her own sand art and candles at this little shop.

Rock Climbing

Kids flocked around the rock climbing wall between visiting Halloweentown and haunted hayrides.

I have a feeling that going to The Castle is going to be an annual Halloween tradition for this family because we had such a great time!

Check out their site for details, and read more on the food and wine tasting at The Haunted Castle at Tasty Tulsa.

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Ghost Ship at HallowZOOeen

Looking for some safe Halloween fun on Halloween?  Well if you happen to be in the Tulsa, Oklahoma area, you should check out the Tulsa Zoo’s annual HallowZOOeen!

The folks at Zoo Review have posted all the spooky details and photos of this Halloween wonderland – check it out!

Related posts:

1. Visit Your Local Pumpkin Patch!
2. The Haunted Castle of Muskogee, OK

Top Pick! All Kids Network’s Halloween Worksheets – colorful, printable Halloween worksheets for kids of all ages.

Halloween Worksheets – a variety of worksheets from crosswords to vocabulary sheets to games to flash cards.

Halloween Worksheets & Downloads – Lots of fun, printable worksheets, crafts, and flash cards.

Halloween Anagrams

Halloween Bingo

Halloween Crossword Puzzles

Halloween Cryptograms

Halloween Logic Game

Halloween Match Up Sheet

Halloween Math Worksheets

Halloween Maze Worksheet

Halloween Mazes

Halloween Word Mine Worksheets

Halloween Word Searches

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Set of Halloween Bats - click on image to enlarge

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Halloween Day

Halloween is an annual holiday celebrated on October 31st.

Origins of Halloween

Today’s Halloween, like many holidays, has both pagan and Christian roots being formed from both the Christian All Saints’ Day and the Celtic celebration Samhain.  The former root, All Saints’ Day, is also referred to as “Solemnity of All Saints,” “All Hallows,” and “Hallowmas.”  In the Catholic tradition, All Saints’ Day is the day before All Souls’ Day which commemorates the faithful dead who have not yet reached heaven.  Samhain literally means “Summer’s End” and is a pagan holiday marking the end of the harvest season; this holiday has many of the aspects of a day of the dead which explains where modern-day Halloween traditions originated.

The Name

The term “Halloween” came from the phrase “All Hallow Evening” which was shortened to “Hallowe’en.”

The History of the Jack-O’-Lantern

Ancient Celts carved turnips and rutabagas to resemble a head in order to frighten off evil spirits.  The name “Jack-O’-Lantern” is believed to come from of folktale of a drunken farmer named Stingy Jack.  According to the tale, Stingy Jack tricked the devil into climbing a tree, and then Stingy Jack trapped the devil by carving a cross into the tree trunk so the devil could not get down.  In return, the devil cursed Stingy Jack to roam the Earth at night using the only light he had – a lit, carved turnip.  Americans adopted the tradition of carving and lighting a vegetable, but opted for the pumpkin since it was more plentiful in the Americas and easier to carve.

More Halloween Facts & History

Learn more about the origins of Halloween by checking out The Real Story of Halloween at History.com.

The American Folklore Center offers a fantastically frightening article The Fantasy and Folklore of All Hallows.

The Washington Post published a great article that also covers Halloween’s origins in What’s Behind Halloween.

Learn more about the Christian roots of Halloween, All Saints’ Day, at the Catholic Encyclopedia.

Visit Chalice Centre for more information on one of Halloween’s pagan roots, Samhain.

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Ghostie

If you’re looking for some great Halloween decorating ideas, then check out these cool ideas for decorating your home for Halloween – from ghoulish to autumnal, from cute to creepy, you’ll find it all here!

Halloween Decorating Ideas

At our house we like to make Ghosties to hang in various places.  To make one like the one shown in the picture to the right, simply ball up a tissue, then place another tissue over the ball.  Wrap a pipe cleaner around to make the neck and fold the ends to make the fingers.  Then take a black pen and draw on the eyes and mouth.  Finally, sew a piece of thread through the top and loop at the top of the string so you can hang it up.  

If you’ll be entertaining this Halloween, then consider making these Creepy Halloween Centerpieces or these cute Pumpkin Candy Faces for your next Halloween hoopla.  For more great party ideas, check out 9 Decorating Tips for a Frightful Halloween Party.

Great Halloween parties start with great Halloween invitations, and these Owl Invitations could be the perfect thing to set the mood for your party.  If you want to go for a cute & creepy invitation, check out these Lollipop Ghost Halloween Invitations!

For decorating around the house, consider making these tres creepy Paper Shadows – so spooky!!  In the same vein, try making some of these Spooky Halloween Wall Decals.  You could also decorate the windows with Spidery Sills and Window Webs.

A cute Snowman Pumpkin makes a great fall decorations for indoors or outdoors!  Check out this Silver Swirl Pumpkin and this Sequin Striped Pumpkin for more interesting pumpkin decorating ideas.

For more outdoor decorating, try out some Faux Tombstones or a Spooky Sign for a creepy yard.

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1. Halloween Tree
2. Halloween Decorating
3. Halloween Projects

Pumpkin Town in Broken Arrow, OK

What better way to celebrate Halloween than to go and pick out a perfect pumpkin to carve, decorate, or use in some yummy autumn recipe? Going to a local pumpkin patch is not only a great way to find fresh pumpkins, but it can be a lot of fun for the whole family.

I live in a suburb of Tulsa, Oklahoma and my family’s favorite fall spot is Pumpkin Town – they have a huge variety of pumpkins to choose from as well as tractor & pony rides and a giant slide for the kids.

We recently posted pictures from our latest visit along with our favorite pumpkin recipes over at Tasty Tulsa in “It’s the Great Pumpkin Post” if you want to check it all out!

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Our Top 3 Spooky Halloween Decorating Ideas in Pictures

1. Illumination is key! Whether it’s Halloween, Christmas, or another holiday or event, nothing screams of festivity as much as lights do. The great thing about Halloween lights is that they’re readily available and typically very affordable – you can usually get a nice string of pumpkins or ghost lights for a few bucks at craft and home stores.

photo credit: bigwibble6

2. Halloween Trees. The latest trend in Halloween decorating is dressing up your very own Halloween tree.  Some people like to decorate the trees in their yards, while others like to get a small tree to bring inside.  Stores like Home Depot often sell Halloween trees for indoors.  

photo credit: Andrew Stawarz

photo credit: kevindooley

photo credit: r3v || cls

3. Homemade Halloween Crafts. Our family loves making Halloween crafts in anticipation of Halloween, and they can really add a unique touch to your home. Check out these awesome Halloween crafts we found on Flickr for ideas:

Decorating Halloween gourds is a fun and easy activity.

photo credit: justgrimes

Paper Halloween crafts are fun for all ages.

photo credit: Franklin Park Library

Knitted or crocheted Halloween plushes are the best!

photo credit: knittingturnip

If you’ve got some Halloween decorating ideas of your own, let us know!

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1. Halloween Tree
2. Halloween Pictures of the Week – Halloween Decorations
3. The Best in Halloween Decorating Ideas

Party Favors & Halloween Bags:

• Halloween Grab Bags
• Spider Favor Boxes
• Halloween Candy Box
• Pumpkin Party Favor Bag

Crochet & Quilts

• Happy Halloween Candy Corn Mini Quilt
• Crocheted Ghost and Candy Corn Figurines
• Crocheted Ghost Halloween Bag

Jack o’ Lanterns, Candles & Lights:

• Secrets to a Perfect Jack-o-Lantern
• Easy-to-Make Gourd Candles
• Spooky and Glitzy Candles
• Soda Bottle Luminaries
• Halloween Lanterns

Halloween Birdhouses:

• Haunted Birdhouse
• Pumpkin Harvest Birdhouse

Halloween Treats & Party Ideas:

• Warm & Creamy Halloween Drinks
• Nutella Spiced Sugar Cookies
• Haunted Gingerbread House
• Candy-Speckled Popcorn Cakes
• Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Halloween Decor:

• Halloween Tombstone Yard Decorations
• Ghastly Halloween Garland
• Pumpkin Placemat
• Make a Friendly Ghost
• Soft Sculpture Pumpkin
• Ghoulish Gourds
• Spooky Spider
• Bat & Pumpkin Mobile
• Haunted Halloween Tombstones
• Witches Brew Wall Hanging
• Haunted House Centerpiece

More Halloween Craft Projects:

Halloween Crafts – find loads of crafts to do including making a pumpkin tree, a scarecrow, a glass pumpkin candle, hanging ghosts, costumes, games, and more.

Halloween Crafts for Kids – lots of fun and easy crafts for kids of all ages, perfect for school projects or for doing with the family.

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2. Best Halloween Stuff
3. The Best in Halloween Decorating Ideas

Top 10 Halloween Stuff on the Web for 2009

Haunted Gingerbread House at Savvy Halloween

1. Make your own Halloween gingerbread house! Savvy Halloween shows you how to make a Halloween Haunted Gingerbread House, gives a recipe for the gingerbread and icing, and even provides a pattern for users to print off and use.

2. Halloween recipes galore!  Disney’s Family Fun has enough recipes to keep you and your family busy for all of autumn!  Most are easy, fun, and best of all, they come with pictures so you can get a good visual of the treats.

3. Who doesn’t love checking out pets in costumes?  Well the Baltimore Sun has a ton of user-submitted dressed up pets all for the looking.

4. Sometimes commercials can be just as entertaining if not more than the shows themselves, and Smashing Apps has highlighted 19 great Halloween ads for your viewing pleasure in their post, 19 Creative Halloween Advertisements.

5. Play one of our favorite Halloween games, Halloween Pumpkins, right here!

6. Pumpkin carving at Martha Stewart – MarthaStewart.com offers pumpkin templates, pumpkin projects for kids, pumpkin creatures, and more of Martha’s tips and tricks for creating gorgeous jack o’ lanterns of your own.

And the last four are our favorite Halloween videos with instructions on making some fun & spooky Halloween crafts and treats!

7. Halloween Cat Origami for kids and adults:

8. Halloween Marshmallow Ghosts and Ghouls Recipe:

9. Spirited Halloween Cupcakes from Food Network:

10. And finally, catch up on your Halloween history with this video from National Geographic:

Related posts:

1. Visit Your Local Pumpkin Patch!
2. Halloween Projects