=Decorations.= On account of the great variety of houses, decorations
for Hallowe’en and the arrangements for entertainment must be planned
according to the situation, and individual convenience. The following
are some suggestions.
The party may be ushered into a room decorated for the occasion with
autumn leaves, yellow pumpkins, and anything else that may suggest
itself to the host, and lighted with pumpkin jack-o’-lanterns and
candles. All the lights are covered, some with red and some with black
gauze, cambric, or paper shades. The openings of the doors and windows
may also be covered with red and black cambric. False faces, as ugly
as possible, are placed about the room. Skulls of papier-maché are
a great addition to the decoration, and bones of any description,
thoroughly cleansed, are effective.
If there is an open fire, the host or an initiated guest may place upon
it, from time to time and as surreptitiously as possible, chemical
powders that burn blue, green, or red. All the lights are turned low,
the room being lighted only sufficiently to permit moving about without
falling over the furniture and to show the decorations.
The room may be decorated with festoons of drab yarn cobwebs, presided
over with great spiders cut from black and yellow flannel, or imitation
insects from toy stores.
=Invitations= to the gentlemen should read, “Please wear a black mask.”
Those to the ladies, “Please come as a ghost.”
=Receiving Guests.= As the guests arrive, they may be greeted by one
or two huge ghosts nine feet high in a conspicuous place. A small
goblin may be concealed behind the flowing draperies of this ponderous
apparition, swinging the ghostly figure slowly forward to salute each
approaching guest. When the guests arrive they are met at the door
by a ghost, and when the last one has arrived, they are all ushered
into this weird place. As the guests go into this room, they should be
blindfolded, and have presented to them an old glove filled with wet
bran and chilled on ice. There may be also a piece of wet fur and a
prickly pin ball in the hands of a ghost with instructions to quietly
touch with these uncanny objects, the hands or faces of other guests.
At the sound of a muffled gong, the party is conducted to a chamber of
horrors. As each one enters this place, a huge paper bag may be burst
over his head and a far-away voice be heard sounding through a garden
hose.
Running water splashing over a cow-bell tied to a faucet will give
the sound of rushing water and also keep the bell tolling dismally.
Newspapers cut into strips and nailed to the cross-beams dangle about
the heads of the victims, and a hidden electric fan sets the papers in
motion and adds damp breezes to the charm of this pleasant region. The
bandages are now removed and alcohol and salt fires furnish a dim light
and give the party a ghastly appearance. Great care should always be
taken in doing this. Some of the sights to be seen are described in the
following sections.
=The Heads of Bluebeard’s Wives.= This effect is easily produced. A
rod is extended horizontally across the rear of the room, about six
feet from the floor; from this a sheet is hung, the bottom reaching and
tacked to the floor to keep it flat like a white wall. Young ladies
standing at intervals behind the sheet protrude their heads through
perpendicular slits cut at the proper height to suit the stature of
each lady; the upper part of the slit is fastened closely around the
throat by a pin at the back of the neck. A strip of red flannel is
fastened around the throat where the neck comes in contact with the
sheet, and a few splashes of carmine on the sheet below each head
produce the appearance of blood. The hair of each is gathered up and
fastened to the rod above by a piece of ribbon. The face of each is
powdered, and the eyes, with a dash of lead-color under them, are kept
closed. At a little distance off the effect is startlingly real.
=The Severed Head.= This always causes a sensation and should not be
suddenly exposed to the nervous, but the operation is not so terrible
as might be imagined.
A large table, covered with a cloth sufficiently long to reach to the
floor all around and completely hide all beneath, is placed in the
centre of the room. A boy or girl with soft, silky hair, being selected
to represent the head, must lie upon his back under the table, entirely
concealed, excepting that portion of his face above the bridge of his
nose. The rest is under the table-cloth.
His hair must now be carefully combed down, to represent whiskers,
and a face must be marked upon the cheeks and forehead; the false
eyebrows, nose and mouth, with moustache, must be strongly marked with
black, and the real eyebrows covered with a little powder or flour. The
face should also be powdered to a death-like pallor, and the effect is
very startling.
The horror of this illusion may be intensified by having a subdued
light in the room in which the exhibition has been arranged.
=Ghost Stories.= The party can now return to a suitable place for
games. If the parlor is a small one, each one is expected to tell a
ghost story.
=The Unearthly Look.= Take a half-pint of spirits and, having warmed
it, put a handful of salt with it into a basin; then set it on fire and
it will have the effect of making every person look hideous. This must
be performed in a room. Be careful that no sudden draught blows the
flame upon one’s clothing, or any other inflammable substance.
=Luminous Writing.= Fix a small piece of solid phosphorus in a quill,
and write with it on paper; if the paper be then placed in a dark room
the writing will appear luminous.
=The Floating Candle.= Here is an amusing and inoffensive diversion
which looks very much like one of our Hallowe’en games called “ducking
for apples.”
The young folks are ranged around a tub of water in which a piece
of candle is floating, and a prize is offered to him, who, without
touching the tub with his hands, will remove the candle from the water
by his mouth alone.
This may look very simple and very easy to most of my readers; but let
them try it. This trial they may make at home, with a bucket of water
instead of a tub, and a piece of India-rubber instead of a candle; and
they will be surprised at the result. Bring your mouth as close as
possible to the article and inhale it with your breath, while seizing
it with your lips. Apples may also be used.
=Ornamented Apples.= If you plan to hold a Hallowe’en party next fall,
you can prepare a part of the fun this summer. Cut out in stout cloth
the initials of whomsoever you intend to invite. Paste the initials
securely on the sunny side of apples. When the apples are ripe, the
initials will remain in light yellow on a red background. The fun of
eating fruit marked with one’s own initials or monogram will be an
unusual one for your guests. Should you have the detail of your party
pretty well in mind, you will readily think of a number of devices
which you may “appleize” in this fashion. Witches, for instance, can be
thus “painted” on the fruit.
=Finding the Candle.= This is an admirable penance. The victim, having
been shown the position of the candle, is securely blindfolded, and
after having been turned around once or twice, is requested to go and
blow it out.
=The Full Moon.= An original moon can be made from a cheese-box covered
with cotton cloth, on which a very jolly face is painted. This can be
drawn up by a string and pulley, and illuminated by a candle placed
behind it.
=Cabinet Manifestations.= The medium has a boy with her about seven
years of age and quite small. He comes in with her, under her skirt
or cloak, and is not noticed. She enters a cabinet, passes her hands
through openings in the sides of the cabinet and her hands are held by
a committee, or, her hands may be securely tied together before going
into the cabinet, and all the usual cabinet work goes on. The boy rings
the bells, plays musical instrument, etc., etc. The cabinet is made of
some black material and the transparent gauze is of some light color.
The boy may be dressed all in black.
=Spirit Pictures.= The performer shows a wooden frame, on which is
a piece of cloth, both sides of which are shown, and this is placed
on an easel. A lamp is then placed behind a cloth, thus rendering it
transparent and impossible for any one to touch from behind without
being seen. Lights are then lowered a trifle, a little music, and a
spirit picture is slowly precipitated upon the cloth in colors, this
being visible to every one present.
For this experiment, procure the following ingredients from some
druggist: sulphate of iron, for blue; nitrate of bismuth, for yellow;
sulphate of copper, for brown; make solutions separately of each, by
dissolving a small quantity of each ingredient in warm water. Now make
a solution of prussiate of potash, and put it in a bottle atomizer.
With a brush for each color, make a picture, landscape, portrait or,
anything you desire, on a screen of unbleached muslin. When dry, these
are invisible. Show the screen and set it on an easel in front of
cabinet. Slightly dampen the muslin and place a lamp back of it on
a chair, lower lights a trifle; your assistant or medium in cabinet
takes the atomizer, and from behind sprays all over the back of screen
with the solution of prussiate of potash, which slowly brings colors
out. The effect is weird, and, although perhaps not artistic, it is a
novelty and is apparently done by unseen agency. If a light is placed
at back of screen, the audience can see that no one approaches the
screen. A little music covers the sound of the atomizer. Always see
that the atomizer is screwed up air-tight before using it.
=Parlor Magic.= Make a hole in one side of each of six candles, cutting
through until the wick is severed. These holes must be at various
distances from the top—different in each candle. Now, if you should
light one of these candles, it would burn steadily until the flame
got down to the hole, when the cut in the wick would cause the candle
to go out. If you should light them all together they would go out at
different times, as the holes are at different places. This is where
your trick comes in.
Place your candles in a row on a table, with the holes away from your
audience, and then light all six. Now, you begin to relate a story
about a little girl who was alone in the house and was afraid of the
dark, and who lighted six candles to keep up her courage. She heard
queer noises about the house, and drew close to the light, and then
(pointing to the candle with the hole nearest the top) the first candle
went out! Of course you time your first words, so that you say “out”
just before the flame reaches the hole. As you reach the second point
in your tale the second candle goes out, and so on throughout the rest
of the six. You may have the holes vary but a fraction of an inch in
their distances from the top of the candle, and tell a very short
story, or you may have your tale a long one, with the distances of
the holes from the top of the candle, varying an inch or so. By first
lighting one candle and watching it burn for a few minutes you can tell
almost exactly how long the flame will take to reach a given point. If
you do not have the candles go out in rotation, but skip around from
the first to the fifth, then to the second, to the sixth, the fourth
and third, you can still further mystify your audience, and if your
story be well told the effect will be very pretty indeed.
=The Demon Bell.= A small bell is examined and found to have no
clapper. It is then presumed it can make no sound, save by visible
means. However, the performer sets it upon a small examined table,
which stands quite close to audience, and at command, the bell begins
to ring. It obeys every demand made upon it, yet no means of producing
sound can be found.
To produce this effect, use a small call-bell, such as used on a table.
A black thread is carried across the stage, and one end is permanently
fastened, while the other is in the hands of an assistant, who stands
out of sight. In the middle of thread is fastened a small shot. The
assistant uses this as a clapper, and when examination is desired, he
drops the thread and shot on the floor, where they will not be visible.
=The Animated Skull.= This is a model in papier-maché, and being
hollow, is very serviceable. It is caused to rise from the hat by
means of a black thread, which is carried through a staple immediately
over the performer’s table, thence through another staple out of sight
and down to the assistant.
=The Perilous Ring.= Put flour on a plate in the shape of a high
pyramid. On the very tip of the pyramid place a ring. Arrange the
guests in line, and have each one in turn cut away part of the flour
with a knife, warning them not to cut near enough to the ring to make
it fall, or the one doing so will suffer a dreadful penalty. If the
crowd is small each will have several turns. The flour must be cut away
until the ring falls. It becomes very exciting toward the end, as each
one tries to cut away as little as possible. When the ring finally
drops, the unlucky one must pick it out of the plate with his teeth. Of
course he gets flour all over his nose and chin.
=Nose and Goggle Party.= To fun-loving people who enjoy the grotesque,
great sport will be found in giving a Nose and Goggle Party. Here two
objects will be gained: merriment and disguise.
Each guest wears a false nose and goggles. The nose may be purchased,
or clever fingers can make it of heavy cardboard covered with chamois.
=Jack-o’-Lanterns.= The effect of these may be heightened by sticking
pins through pumpkin seeds and placing them in the comers of the eyes
for the irises and into the mouth for teeth. This makes the lantern
exceptionally attractive and “realistic.”
=The Surprising Candle.= This is a very clever contrivance, calculated
to cause consternation and astonishment to any individual with ordinary
nerves.
Supposing yourself to be the victim, how would you feel if, when
retiring to bed in some strange establishment, just as you were
thinking of blowing out the candle, it should suddenly explode with
no small report, the light be extinguished, and in place of the
flame a small ghost with outstretched arms would appear, shining with
a phosphorescent glow? I venture to think you would be very, very
much surprised; and yet this is the effect produced by this ingenious
construction.
By examination it will be found that the lower half of the candle is
really a thin cardboard case, enameled to resemble a wax candle, and
containing a small ghost whose arms fly apart when released from their
bondage. To the bottom of this ghost is affixed a wire spring.
The upper half of the candle is perfectly ordinary, and merely stuck on
to the lower portion; the joint being hidden by a rubbing of wax.
On top of the ghost’s head a few gunpowder caps, such as are supplied
at toy shops for children’s pistols, are laid.
Now the candle can be lighted, and it will burn quite respectably until
it reaches the caps, which, by their explosion, cause everybody’s
attention to be drawn in that one direction, just in time to see the
appearance of the ghost, it being forced upwards by the action of the
spring simultaneously with the discharge. The wicked little image
should be liberally coated with luminous paint, and the effect can be
better imagined than described.
* * * * *
The foregoing are only a few of a vast number of similar diversions,
but they are ones most to be commended, and will be sufficient to
produce many an hour of harmless mirth, and very likely lead to the
acquirement of much useful knowledge, as well.