Patch's Nationwide Halloween Costume Contest Extended Due to Hurricane

Due to Hurricane Sandy, photo entries for Patch's nationwide Halloween Costume contest has been extended. Entries can be submitted through Nov.5.

Halloween Displays--All About the Kids, Family and Fun

Al Johnson spends about two weeks setting up his Halloween display and a few more days to complete the electrical components. Complete with Frankenstein, a graveyard, ghosts, witches and ghouls, it invites screams and laughter.

Standing in the front yard of his Corsair Court home, Johnson, a life-long Halloween enthusiast, takes care to cover the more fragile of his 30-plus homemade characters from Saturday's rain. The life-size Frankenstein in a coffin, a graveyard with plenty of ghosts, tombstones and a witch's brew made potent with the left over bones of a victim chosen to spice up the recipe, Johnson and wife Pat collect tidbits throughout the year to add to the variety of ghoulish splendor that draws crowds every year. "We go to flea markets and antique shops" gathering signs, hats with potential for a scary adaptation and more. During the summer, the 61-year-old kid at heart works on his creations in the garage. "I change it out. It evolves every year. Some…

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Prime Pastimes

How to Throw Together a Last-Minute Halloween Party

Halloween is only days away, but with a baby monitor, some paper bags and a little glitter, you can plan a memorable party in nothing flat.

As Halloween weekend approaches, I'd like you to take a moment to remember your fondest memories of Halloweens past. Was it when you won a costume contest at a party? When your whole group of friends burst out of a haunted house's final room? When you came home with more trick-or-treat candy than your sibling? Now I want you to think about this year's Halloween. It is a rare occasion that Halloween falls on a weekend. Better yet, Sunday evening is set aside for young trick-or-treaters, leaving Saturday night available for perfect party-throwing. So, if you have no plans yet, throw together a last-minute Halloween party for you and your adult friends. If you think you don't have time to decorate, throw together a costume and plan food and …

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Prime Pastimes

Keep Halloween Spooky by Visiting a Local Haunted House

Spend a night enjoying one of the area’s best haunted attractions.

The days leading up to Halloween can become overwhelming. You have to decorate your house in time for the Mokena Halloween House Decorating Contest (you have two days left!), you have to purchase or create costumes for you and/or your kids, you have to stock up on candy for the trick-or-treaters, you have to carve the pumpkins you picked up from the local pumpkin farms and you have to plan your Halloween weekend (more on that in next week's column). If you let it become too hectic, Halloween planning will seem more like work than fun. If you start to feel that way, put down your needle and thread for that costume you're designing, push back your trip to the grocery store to purchase candy and plan a night of ghostly, spooky fun with family…

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Costumed Kids Flocked to Halloween Hollow

With so many activities to choose from at this year's Halloween Hollow, kids of every age found something enjoyable.

Families flocked to the Mokena Community Park District's 29th annual Halloween Hollow. Saturday morning began with a costume parade and costume contests for each grade level, preschool through junior high, best group costume and best overall costume. Afterward, children participated in a variety of activities, including a petting zoo, horse riding, pumpkin decorating, face painting, carnival rides, pumpkin patch, candy eating, mini golf and more. Adults could also find activities to keep them busy, such as looking at arts and crafts, voting on the haunted woods walk's scenes, creating a scarecrow out of straw and old clothing, enjoying treats from the food vendors, listening to live music and more.

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