Throw a haunted Halloween party

This year Halloween falls on a Wednesday, making it difficult for purists to celebrate the way they might want. For those staying home, but still wanting to have fun, invite some friends and neighbors over, stock up on candy and liquor and enjoy a memorable Halloween house party of your own.

If you’re searching for some ideas to add to the fun, or just don’t feel like putting a lot of thought into a last minute shindig, rest easy. We’ve come up with a few suggestions to help you make the most of the night. Carve some pumpkins, light some candles and have a happy and safe Halloween.

Ghoulish games

Part of the fun of Halloween is reliving those childhood memories of dressing up in costumes, trick-or -treating for hours and bobbing for apples. Times have changed, though, so sticking your head in a bucket of slobbery fruit likely won’t keep your guests very entertained, so here are some more sinister games to keep the party alive.

— Fear Factor

“You’ve seen Fear Factor on TV, right?” asked Brandt Olsen, bartender at Loaded Joe’s. “You just gotta find some crazy worm lookin’ stuff and throw it in a bowl and people eat it.”

There’s a little more to the game if done right, according to assistant manager Austin Curt, who hosted his own version of Fear Factor at Loaded Joe’s last year.

You can have as many teams of two as you want, each consisting of a feeder and a receiver. One person hands the food to another who must eat it, Curt said.

It’s OK if you’ve never seen the show — the rules are simple: eat gross foods for a prize. What you include in your own Fear Factor game is up to you, but imagination can go a long way. Noodles, Jello, sauces and various “meats” (think SPAM) are just a few things you can feed contestants.

“I’d stop somewhere between gasoline and tin cans. Maybe you could dip everything in Ex-Lax,” Curt joked.

The prize is also up to you, but getting people to play is the most important thing.

— Watch and drink

If watching horror movies isn’t enough for you, then you can become part of the cast … sort of.

Everyone at the party chooses a movie to watch like “Friday the 13th” or “A Nightmare on Elm Street.” Then each person chooses a character from the movie to be. When their character comes on screen, they take a shot. When the character screams, they take three shots. When their character is killed, they slam a full drink, and if their character survives, then they get to pick somebody else whose character didn’t survive to slam a six-pack.

Obviously the rules can be fudged to fit the company, but the point is to get everyone involved in the same activity while drinking.

—Source: www.yahoo.com message board.

— Assassin

The perfect game for a devilish night, Assassin combines elements of the board game “Clue” with a classic card game. The result is mysterious fun.

“You have a circle of say, five or six people, but the more people you have the better. It makes things more challenging,” said Edwards resident Alisa Wohlfarth.

Players get dealt one card each, the assassin being the player who gets the ace of spades.

Players must then try to identify who the assassin is among them before they are eliminated. The assassin must wink at each member of the group without being spotted. If he is seen winking by somebody other than the intended victim, he is captured and arrested and the game starts over. But if the assassin strikes successfully, the victim must act out an elaborate death scene and quit the game.

Most rounds of Assassin should last between five to 15 minutes depending on how many people are playing.

“I’ve played it while drinking before, it just gets silly,” Wohlfarth said.

For more information visit symonds.id.au/assassin.html.

Scare yourself silly — Hollywood style

What ever happened to the good old days when you could count on horror movies to be just that — horrifying? Decapitations, gushing blood, demons from Hell — these were what kept audiences on the edge of their seats for hours back then and make them classics today. These days, though, it seems that the masses are content with PG-13 ratings and remakes of the classics they should be watching. The following is a list of six scary flics. Enjoy, then prepare to sleep with the lights on.

“The Exorcist” — If you don’t believe in demon possession before you watch this film, you are sure to at least question your beliefs by the time it’s over. A very young Linda Blair becomes a vessel to do the devil’s work, which includes barfing all over a priest, climbing up walls, and doing dirty things with a crucifix. Jason Miller’s portrayal of Father Damien, a servant of God who has lost his faith, makes it even more haunting when he’s called on to perform the exorcism.

“The Evil Dead” — Sam Raimi’s masterpiece of demons from another dimension brought to our world by an audio recording of the Book of the Dead turns classic horror clichés on their head when a frightening and very bloody battle between the two realms ensues. The old teenagers-in-the-woods story is played out to maximum chills, thanks to Raimi’s touch.

“Saw” — There will be blood. Oh, yes, there will be blood. The tag-line from this torture-porn says it all. A psychopath named “Jigsaw” places his victims into twisted death-traps designed to teach them life lessons. The acting in this ultra-violent slasher flick can be wincingly bad at times, but the washed-out, industrial look of the film and the sheer originality of the plot make up for it all.

“The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (original)” — The movie that defined the slasher sub-genre, and has been imitated, but never successfully. The bleak look of this film, and some truly inspired moments of cinematography, helped to keep this most sacred of horror movies in the top spot even as a relentless supply of wannabes and copy-cats stack up like Leather-face’s victims. It’s hard not to feel creeped-out from the opening sequence all the way down to the final blood-spattered ballet dance in the street.

“Halloween” — You can waste your time going to see the “updated” version of this classic John Carpenter film, or you can just save yourself the time and rent the original. What would Halloween be without seeing the only movie named after the holiday? See Jamie Lee Curtis try to outrun knife-wielding, mask-wearing Michael Myers, who silently stalks her and kills whoever gets in his way.

“A Nightmare on Elm Street” — Once Freddy Krueger came on to the scene in 1984, falling asleep would never be safe again. After being burned to death by angry parents for killing their children, Krueger takes his revenge through the dreams of the children and, in typical serial killer fashion, proceeds to dispatch his victims with his razor glove. One of the most blood-soaked movies in history, and it doesn’t disappoint in the scares category, either.

Drink up

If you’re looking for liquid concoctions to make the party more interesting, then serve your guests some drinks with fangs.

Black Widow

Ingredients:

1 1/2 ounce Tequila Don Julio Blanco

1 ounce fresh lime juice

1 teaspoon agave nectar

3 blackberries

4 basil leaves

Ice cubes

Preparation:

Muddle two blackberries and three basil leaves in Boston shaker.

Add Tequila Don Julio Blanco, lime juice, agave nectar and ice into shaker.

Strain contents into stem-less martini glass over ice and garnish with a blackberry and basil leaf on a toothpick.

Source: Mixologist Duggan McDonnell

Blood Orange Mojito

Chris Assad, bartender at Dish in Edwards, said that this is one of the most popular drinks on the menu. “People love it. It’s kind of fallish, it comes out kind of orangish,” Assad said.

Ingredients:

2 ounces white rum

Large pinch of mint leaves

1/2 fresh squeezed lime

1/2 ounce simple syrup or sugar

1/2 blood orange or concentrated blood orange juice

3 ounces soda water

Ice cubes

Preparation:

Mix white rum, lime, sugar and mint leaves. Muddle together. Add blood orange juice, soda water and ice then stir and serve in a highball glass.

“It’s important to give it an aggressive stir, but don’t shake it. If they shake it, the carbonation will make a mess,” Assad said.

Smoky Diablo

Ingredients:

1 1/2 ounces Tequila Don Julio Blanco

1/2 ounce limoncello

1 ounce grapefruit juice

1 teaspoon agave nectar

1/2 teaspoon dark chili powder

Ice cubes

Orange peel for garnish

Preparation:

Add Tequila Don Julio, limoncello, grapefruit juice, agave nectar and ice in a cocktail shaker and shake well.

Strain contents into a tall glass filled with ice. Sprinkle dark chili powder over ice and garnish with orange peel. Serve in a highball glass.

Source: Mixologist Duggan McDonnell

Arts & Entertainment Writer Charlie Owen can be reached at 748-2939 or cowen@vaildaily.com,