<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"How much do I love Halloween parties? Enough to fight the chaos that is trying to get to them in New York City. If you&amp;#x27;ve never been here for the occasion, be thankful to have never known the pandemonium that is trying to be the last person to fit on the subway platform or attempting to get the last open cab on the island--before finally conceding to pay a shady black non-city cab cash to drive you home.Throw in some torrential rain, and you&amp;#x27;ve got three out of the last five Halloween or Halloweekend Saturday nights here in NYC. Which is why more often than not I wise up and try to throw my own party. The best of the best were headed up by my college friends/former roommates in our old Chelsea apartment. And after a few seasons of trial and error, I&amp;#x27;m here to share some essentials with you. 1) Cheap decor Know what the great thing about being a party procrastinator is? Everything Halloween-themed at Target is, like, a dollar right now. May I suggest whatever they have in the way of light-up haunted house figurines, which for some reason are always a huge hit, and a cauldron for your spooky punch. 2) Spooky punch Source: blessedmom.hubpages.com via Roxanne on Pinterest Spooky punch is an absolute must, not least because do you even realize how fun it is to get to use the phrase &amp;quot;spooky punch&amp;quot; all night? Try it right now. It&amp;#x27;s great. You can make it out of just about anything--as always, Kool-Aid is a great base--or choose from one of the many recipes on Pinterest. 3) Ice hand for your spooky punch Easiest and most useful thing ever. Fill a couple latex gloves with water, pop &amp;#x27;em in the fridge. Use &amp;#x27;em later to keep your spooky punch cold--or cool off when the party is at its peak capacity, as evidenced brilliantly here by Glamour photo editor Brian Marcus, circa 2009. 4) Background footage This is one of the only parties where you can pull off playing a movie in the background, arty-bar style, on mute. Recommendations: on the lighter end, we&amp;#x27;ve got Obsessed throwback favorites Double Double Toil and Trouble and Hocus Pocus. Then there&amp;#x27;s Carrie, Rocky Horror Picture Show, or Sweeney Todd. The Saw series is a tad too dark, as Ava learned the hard way last night on Up All Night. 5) Interactive costumes Your indecisive roommate just got assigned a costume: something interactive that gives your guests something to do and provides a hilarious souvenir come morning. My friend was once a bathroom wall--literally just hung a corkboard around his neck and glued a roll of toilet paper near the bottom--that we all signed throughout the night, and it was the best thing that even happened. 6) Embarrassing nostalgia I wish I would have thought of this before one of our parties--I got the idea from my beautiful childhood buddy Elizabeth, who&amp;#x27;s your very convincing Scary Spice in this picture. (That&amp;#x27;s me in the middle--how do you like my Posh? If you answered--that looks more like an Amish version of Posh, congratulations, and thank my parents.) Anyway. What could be better than revisiting your dress-up victories of yore? Friends old and new will be delighted by your former nerdiness. 7) A killer (muah-ha) playlist, obviously A PARTY WITHOUT A GREAT PLAYLIST CANNOT STAND. I am not a fan of full-on Halloween playlists, but here are some picks to scatter throughout your lineup for the night: HAPPY HALLOWEEKEND, GIRLS! Whatcha up to over the next couple days? More stuff to get you in the spirit: Where Are They Now: Hocus Pocus Group Pop Culture Halloween Costumes Double Double Toil and Trouble Flashback P.S. Want more Obsessed? Sign up for our awesome daily newsletter that features the latest celebrity gossip, TV news, hilarious Internet sensations, and more! Photo: Pinterest, Target"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.glamour.com/entertainment/blogs/obsessed/2012/10/7-must-haves-for-your-hallowee>