Tips for Hosting a Howlin' Halloween Party

When hosting a Halloween party, try and master the fright factor through fun and creative Halloween decorations. Garnish your home inside and outside with spooky Halloween accessories. Use spotlights to give ghosts and goblins an eerie air. For an added effect, make a trip to your local party store and search for plastic light inserts (they look like overhead transparencies). These inserts come in all different colors, and when you place them over or inside a light (don't worry they won't melt!), they turn the room that color. Try adding dry ice or fog machines to each room as well!

Set up a graveyard in your own front yard. Use cardboard or foam to create headstones, paint them gray and put the names of each guest on a headstone. Take it a step further by writing a funny or spooky epitaph for everyone. They'll love it!

Don't forget to decorate all the windows and furniture with cobwebs, spiders and bats. Hang some tattered sheets over your windows to create spooky curtains and soon enough your home will be transformed into the scariest place on the block!

Need a tasty Halloween treat for your guests? Try a great pumpkin cake recipe from AllRecipes.com.

Pumpkin Cake

Ingredients:

	1 cup vegetable oil
	3 eggs
	1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
	1 teaspoon vanilla extract
	2½ cups white sugar
	2½ cups all-purpose flour
	1 teaspoon baking soda
	1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
	1 teaspoon ground allspice
	1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
	1 teaspoon ground cloves
	¼ teaspoon salt
	¼ cup chopped nuts

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease one 10 inch bundt or tube pan.

2. Cream oil, beaten eggs, pumpkin and vanilla together.

3. Sift the flour, sugar, baking soda, ground nutmeg, ground allspice, ground cinnamon, ground cloves and salt together. Add the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture and mix until just combined. If desired, stir in some chopped nuts. Pour batter into the prepared pan.

4. Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cake cool in pan for 5 minutes then turn out onto a plate and sprinkle with confectioners' sugar.

For more great recipes like the one above, check out AllRecipes.com. If you're interested in more tips on creating a festive Halloween party, contact your local agent today!