Staying in for Halloween but don't want to waste it away? Well, if there aren't any parties to go to, trick-or-treaters to treat (or scare), or if you just plain don't want to get up off that couch, then you may as well make it into a Halloween-themed evening. No trouble there. Just rent the right movies and invite the right people. Costumes optional. For those still dissuaded to participate in this supernatural time of the year (or for those who don't believe in the supernatural), read onward for several suggestions and insight.

Halloween bears its origin from the Irish and Scottish countries. Since then varieties of it have cropped up, nonetheless all of them with similar components: masks, costumes, parties, and the presence of mortality and death. The latter quality is what makes Halloween stand out from the other national American holidays: death. It is only appropriate, then, to disseminate it into all the qualities that make up our notions of Halloween. In other words, scare the living daylights out of anyone; but don't forget to scare yourself. That's the real treat of Halloween.

Of course, most movies can only go so far in scaring a person. (And in all honesty, the majority of movies can only manage to startle a person; all while instilling very little actual fear). As any person would know by know, the joy of watching a horror movie is to watch it with others. Doing so might pad out the scare-factor, but boy does it make the movie more enjoyable.

The point of Halloween to exist in the modern world is to provide faux scares. That and, well, at the opinion of this writer, Halloween is a solid gold harvest for the corporations. Staying home without any legitimate fears, or even a sense of greater wonder, is the ultimate crime on Halloween night; the one and only legitimate and legally organized night to instill fear in others' hearts. The best thing to do, inside the confines of your own home is to dress up as a creature, lie in wait behind a door, and scare family members.

Okay. Fine. So I'm all out of ideas to convince you to revel in Halloween night. You're right then, it really isn't worth it to go out and stay out on Halloween. They say the candied apples strangers throw into the kids' bags are booby trapped with razors and pins. They say that vandalism goes up for one night; drunkenness, disorderliness, and delinquency it all goes up. Most importantly, they say that ghosts and evil spirits rise from their graves and enter the physical world of the living, and that they torment any soul who doesn't wear a mask (a ward to keep spirits at bay, just so you know).

And so, for those of you who do not intend to celebrate Halloween at all, who plan to stay inside on the one night evil spirits arise to wreck havoc, please, at my own superstitious beliefs at least wear a mask.

Staying in for Halloween but don't want to waste it away? Well, if there aren't any parties to go to, trick-or-treaters to treat, or if you just plain don't want to get up off that couch, then you may as well make it into a Halloween-themed evening. For those still dissuaded to participate in this supernatural time of the year, read onward for several suggestions and insight.