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Halloween How-To, A: Costumes, Parties, Decorations, and Destinations
What's the recipe for pumpkin soup? Where can you see the oldest Halloween parade in the United States? Have you ever wondered how to keep your carved pumpkin from decaying too quickly? If you're looking for information and instructions about every aspect of Halloween, you've come to the right place. A Halloween How-To is packed with ideas for October 31. There are fifty great costumes you can make yourself, recipes for everything from fake blood to pumpkin soup, and lists of great movies, CDs, and spooky books. Lesley Bannatyne has even assembled a number of games drawn from early twentieth-century Halloween celebrations, and includes sample text for party invitations. (Our Halloween: Romantic Art and Customs of Yesteryear postcards are great to use with these ) One of the nation's foremost authorities on Halloween, Lesley Pratt Bannatyne has shared her vast knowledge of the holiday in television specials for New England Cable News, Nickelodeon, and the History Channel. She was an invited speaker at the Global Halloween Convergence in 2000, and has also served as guest lecturer at the St. Louis Museum of Art. For more than twenty years, Ms. Bannatyne also has been active in the theater. She currently is co-director of Invisible Cities Group and co-artistic director of the Studebaker Theater. Ms. Bannatyne resides in Somerville, Massachusetts, and has been named one of "Boston's 100 Interesting Women" by Boston Woman magazine. Ms. Bannatyne's first book, Halloween: An American Holiday, An American History (pb original) is also available from Pelican.
272 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2001
34 people want to read
About the author
Lesley Pratt Bannatyne
9 books33 followersLesley Bannatyne is an American author who writes extensively on Halloween, especially its history, literature, and contemporary celebration. She also writes short stories, many of which are included in her debut collection _Unaccustomed to Grace_, out from Kallisto Gaia Press in March, 2022. iN 2024, her Lake Song. A Novel in Stories won the Grace Paley Prize and is published by Mad Creek Books in September 2025.
Bannatyne has shared her knowledge on television specials for the History Channel ("The Haunted History of Halloween," "The Real Story of Halloween"), with Time Magazine, Slate, National Geographic, and contributed the Halloween article to World Book Encyclopedia. Her Halloween books range from a children's book, Witches Night Before Halloween, to Halloween Nation, which examines the holiday through the eyes of its celebrants. The book was nominated for a 2011 Bram Stoker Award. Her other titles are A Halloween How-To. Costumes, Parties, Destinations, Decorations (2001); A Halloween Reader. Poems, Stories, and Plays from Halloweens Past (2004), and Halloween. An American Holiday, An American History, which celebrated 30 years in print in 2020.
Her fiction and essays have been published in the Boston Globe, Smithsonian, Christian Science Monitor, and Zone 3, Pangyrus, Shooter, Craft, Ocotillo Review, Fish, and Bosque Literary Magazines. She won the 2018 Bosque fiction prize and received the 2019 Tucson Festival of Books Literary Award for fiction, the 2020 Ghoststory.com fiction prize, and the 2024 Grace Paley Prize for short fiction. As a freelance journalist, she covered stories ranging from druids in Massachusetts to relief workers in Bolivia.
Lesley lives and works in Somerville, Massachusetts.
Bannatyne has shared her knowledge on television specials for the History Channel ("The Haunted History of Halloween," "The Real Story of Halloween"), with Time Magazine, Slate, National Geographic, and contributed the Halloween article to World Book Encyclopedia. Her Halloween books range from a children's book, Witches Night Before Halloween, to Halloween Nation, which examines the holiday through the eyes of its celebrants. The book was nominated for a 2011 Bram Stoker Award. Her other titles are A Halloween How-To. Costumes, Parties, Destinations, Decorations (2001); A Halloween Reader. Poems, Stories, and Plays from Halloweens Past (2004), and Halloween. An American Holiday, An American History, which celebrated 30 years in print in 2020.
Her fiction and essays have been published in the Boston Globe, Smithsonian, Christian Science Monitor, and Zone 3, Pangyrus, Shooter, Craft, Ocotillo Review, Fish, and Bosque Literary Magazines. She won the 2018 Bosque fiction prize and received the 2019 Tucson Festival of Books Literary Award for fiction, the 2020 Ghoststory.com fiction prize, and the 2024 Grace Paley Prize for short fiction. As a freelance journalist, she covered stories ranging from druids in Massachusetts to relief workers in Bolivia.
Lesley lives and works in Somerville, Massachusetts.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 23, 2021
In case you did not know, the author is one of the foremost experts on Halloween and the traditions behind it. This book let's her expertise shine.
As with many books, there is an acknowledgement page. I only mention this because the author is humble enough to know that her expertise comes from studying those who have come before her and those who enjoy the holiday as much as she does.
The book starts as all of her books do with the history of Halloween. Suffice it to say, this makes sense, as the book points out all traditions we have now can be pinpointed to certain things. The development of the Halloween we know now has morphed over many times.
Since this is basically a how-to book, that author covers everything you need to know for celebrating your own Halloween parties and traditions. From choosing the best pumpkins to carve, to floating in one, to how to decorate your house, feed your guest, and spook them at the same time. Yes, recipes are included and this reviewer kept a couple! *wink*
She goes on to tell the readers about real and not-so-real haunted houses across the country that includes addresses, websites, and phone numbers. Some of the best Halloween sites are discussed including, of course, Salem! (*Note: since this book was published in 2002 it is very possible that some of this information has changed due to the pandemic. I suggest looking up for updated details.)
One of the things I found intriguing was her section on myths and monsters. She breaks these things wide open and a couple, for me, was surprising. For eg. the razor in the apples myth. Yes, I grew up with that and even had my candy x-rayed. She discusses that too!
Finally, the book nears the end with trends we have today and for our future. Some people think that Halloween will fade away as other holiday have. However, the author makes a strong case for the continuation of Halloween in this book. I for one, think she is right!
If you, the reader, did not get enough from my review, of course, I highly recommend reading this book. You will find even more information in the back that includes resources and a bibliography.
This book gets 5 pumpkins from me!
Disclosure: I borrowed a copy of this book from my local library. The review here is 100% my own and may differ from yours. ~Michelle
As with many books, there is an acknowledgement page. I only mention this because the author is humble enough to know that her expertise comes from studying those who have come before her and those who enjoy the holiday as much as she does.
The book starts as all of her books do with the history of Halloween. Suffice it to say, this makes sense, as the book points out all traditions we have now can be pinpointed to certain things. The development of the Halloween we know now has morphed over many times.
Since this is basically a how-to book, that author covers everything you need to know for celebrating your own Halloween parties and traditions. From choosing the best pumpkins to carve, to floating in one, to how to decorate your house, feed your guest, and spook them at the same time. Yes, recipes are included and this reviewer kept a couple! *wink*
She goes on to tell the readers about real and not-so-real haunted houses across the country that includes addresses, websites, and phone numbers. Some of the best Halloween sites are discussed including, of course, Salem! (*Note: since this book was published in 2002 it is very possible that some of this information has changed due to the pandemic. I suggest looking up for updated details.)
One of the things I found intriguing was her section on myths and monsters. She breaks these things wide open and a couple, for me, was surprising. For eg. the razor in the apples myth. Yes, I grew up with that and even had my candy x-rayed. She discusses that too!
Finally, the book nears the end with trends we have today and for our future. Some people think that Halloween will fade away as other holiday have. However, the author makes a strong case for the continuation of Halloween in this book. I for one, think she is right!
If you, the reader, did not get enough from my review, of course, I highly recommend reading this book. You will find even more information in the back that includes resources and a bibliography.
This book gets 5 pumpkins from me!
Disclosure: I borrowed a copy of this book from my local library. The review here is 100% my own and may differ from yours. ~Michelle
June 28, 2015
Helpful little how-to book. Presents information on parties, pumpkins, vacation destinations, costumes, recipes, movies, and other small things. It is in no way an in-depth book. All sections are just barely dipping into each subject. However, there are a few things I was able to take away from it.
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October 2, 2011Call Number: 394.2646
Available.
Available.
October 25, 2013
Interesting and inventive stuff but nothing I could use on short notice for my upcoming party. Might try some apple games though. Liked all the history.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews