I don't wanna brag, and I know that technically Elvira (is she still alive? What does she really look like now?... a scary thought) is the official Queen of Halloween, but the neighborhood kids crowned me with the title, so I'll wear it once a year, anyway.

That's my house in the corner (and me in the pic as the Evil Queen, beside the Spells and Potions table I painstakingly recreated from Snow White). Each year, I spend about 6 months planning to deck it out in its spooktacular Halloween finery. A local artist  hand-paints the window silhouettes, I obsess over the interior and exterior decor, and I prepare for the adult Halloween party of nearly 100 guests. 

And I do mean obsess. Each year has a theme, to be honored in the party invites, decor, and often our costumes (when I say our, I mean me and my poor unsuspecting husband...). I guess it's because I do the whole full-size candy bar/lightstick/haunted trail thing on Halloween night (fog machines, haunted organ music, things peering back at you from windows) that the kids call me the Queen of Halloween. And I love it.

So move over, Elvira. 

Don’t miss out on Halloween 2009!  There’s no excuse not to dress up this year.  Halloween costumes can be purchased just about anywhere and come in all shapes, sizes and styles.