Alyssa Cwanger, Post-Gazette Alyson Rodriguez models edible face makeup for Halloween scars and warts.

By Amy McConnell Schaarsmith, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A black cat crosses your path. The moon shines eerily on the horizon. And you could swear that scarecrow is staring at you.

Fright night is coming, and this year, the party's at your house.

	Use caution with dry ice Dry ice can help transform your home into the spookiest graveyard on the block, but it must be handled carefully and under adult supervision. It should never come in contact with bare skin, so use tongs, heavy gloves or oven mitts when handling it. It also gives off carbon dioxide fumes, so make sure the room in which it is used is well ventilated.

Whether your Halloween party will be a launchpad for the neighborhood kids' trick-or-treating adventures or a grown-up monster bash to get friends in touch with their inner goblins, our how-to guide will ensure that your guests have a howling good time. Decorations and refreshments can be made in advance, letting you concentrate on the most important thing about any Halloween party: your costume.

So brew up a batch of our edible makeup, bake a spider cake, dim the lights, and cast your spell over the entire neighborhood.

When guests arrive, creep them out right away by making them walk into a dark house illuminated only by a few lamps with green or purple light bulbs, or desk lamps using regular light bulbs with green or purple film -- available from most camera shops -- taped over the opening. Just inside the front door, hang long, trailing pieces of spider web material, which is inexpensive and widely available at most stores that stock Halloween decorations. For an even grosser effect, wet the webs just before the party starts.

Consider making a two-sided tape recording of scary sounds (after giving your next-door neighbors advance warning, of course), such as screams, moans, sobbing and rattling chains. (Ready-made CDs or tapes of Halloween sounds also are available in stores.) Hide the tape recorder behind a couch or inside a closet with the door left slightly open.

To heighten the graveyard effect, create some homemade crypt fog. Place chunks of dry ice in two large heat-resistant bowls or roasting pans, and place bowls or pans behind illuminated jack o'-lanterns or other decorations. Then, just before the party starts, pour hot water over the dry ice to get fog to billow weirdly over the table and down onto the floor. Keep water hot on the stove to continue pouring over the ice periodically to keep the fog pouring out.

Dry ice is available at many shops that sell fresh fish. It must be handled carefully and under adult supervision. It should never come in contact with bare skin, so use tongs, heavy gloves or oven mitts when handling it. It also gives off carbon dioxide fumes, so make sure the room in which it is used is well ventilated.

Alternately, a fog machine, which does not require dry ice's hot water bath or careful handling, can be purchased from stores such as Kmart for about $25.

And of course, when guests arrive, you want to look out of this world -- literally. The accompanying recipes for homemade makeup will let you create anything from an angelic glow to the world's most disgusting warts, scabs and scars. Best of all, most of the ingredients can be found in your kitchen cupboards. Makeup recipes are from www.allrecipes.com.

To make the basic foundation, combine 10 teaspoons cornstarch with 2 teaspoons white flour. Using a spoon, stir in 5 teaspoons of vegetable shortening and 1/8 teaspoon of any food coloring you would like (or none, to keep makeup white). Stir in 1/4 teaspoon glycerin and mix until well-combined. Use your fingers or a makeup sponge to apply large amounts, with a small brush or fingertips to make detailed designs. Because the foundation uses glycerin, a moisturizer, it should not be eaten.

These fake sores, blisters and boogers, however, are entirely edible and oh-so-delicious. To make them, combine 1 ounce gelatin with two tablespoons boiling water, mix and let set three minutes. If the mixture sets completely or becomes unworkable, reheat it in the microwave for a few seconds.

Lime gelatin mixed with a drop of yellow food coloring makes great snot and seaweed, while black cherry or raspberry gelatin makes very convincing blood, especially when it's allowed to drip over growths while still fairly liquid. To make veins and road rash, mix a teaspoon of grape gelatin into the black cherry or cranberry gelatin. Plain gelatin makes a good foundation that can be stuck to the face when still warm, then painted with colored gelatin to create different effects.

To create moles, blisters and growths, drop the liquid gelatin onto a plate and let set. When cool, use a knife to peel off the formations and use a drop of corn syrup to make them stick to you or your child's face and body. For slimy effects, drop warm gelatin onto skin while still warm and stringy, and press gently to adhere as it cools. To make truly gross textures, press uncooked couscous into still-soft gelatin to make pustules, and sprinkle a little paprika over the "wound" to give it a scabbed-over appearance.

To test for any allergic reactions, place a small amount of makeup on a patch of clean, dry skin. Cover loosely and leave on for 24 hours.

Just in case you and your guests don't fill up on those gelatin warts, be sure to supply appropriately ghoulish food and drink, including the accompanying dishes, on your fog-shrouded refreshment table. We promise that your guests will shriek with delight.

Recipes

Crypt Punch

• 1 new rubber glove, washed well and rinsed
  
• 1-pound coffee can, washed and rinsed
  
• 64-ounce bottle apple juice, chilled
  
• 64-ounce bottle cranberry juice, chilled
  
• 2 32-ounce bottles ginger ale, chilled
  
• Red food coloring (optional)

To make hand, fill rubber glove with water. Tie at wrist with string and freeze one or two days. Unmold by gently cutting away glove from ice hand. Sometimes a finger will fall off when unmolding, but this only adds to the ghoulish effect.

To make a base for hand, fill coffee can about 1/3 full with water. Insert hand and freeze until firm. To remove, run water on outside of can.

When ready to serve, pour half the chilled juices and ginger ale into punch bowl. Insert hand ice mold in center. Fill bowl with remaining juices and soda. For added effect, place a few drops of red food coloring on tips of fingers just before serving.

Makes 20 1-cup servings.

From www.cooksrecipes.com

Spider Cake

• 18-ounce package chocolate cake mix

For frosting:

• 1 stick butter or margarine, at room temperature
  
• 2/3 cup cocoa
  
• 3 cups powdered sugar
  
• 1/3 cup milk
  
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For decoration:

• 1 tube of decorator white frosting
  
• 12 black pipe cleaners
  
• 6 black licorice or grape gumdrops
  
• 12 or so chocolate-coated candies

Prepare one chocolate cake mix as directed, but use two 9-inch pans for the cake. When finished, cool on wire racks.

Meanwhile, combine ingredients for frosting and mix with hand mixer at medium speed until smooth and fluffy. When the cakes are cool, smooth frosting on bottom layer, top with second layer and frost entire cake. Paint spiderweb shape on top with white decorator frosting.

For spiders, cut pipe cleaners into fourths, bend them into 45-degree angles to make spider legs, and place four legs to each side of a black licorice or grape gumdrop. Make the spiders' eyes by placing two small orange or red candies between the two sets of legs.

Internet only

Fingernail Candy

• 16 ounces regular milk chocolate, finely chopped
  
• 12 ounces regular white chocolate, finely chopped
  
• 1 1/4 cups candy corn

Line a jelly-roll pan with aluminum foil, smoothing out any wrinkles.

Melt milk and white chocolates separately in a double boiler or in bowls in microwave. Fold candy corn into milk chocolate and spread mixture into pan in an even layer using a spatula.

While mixture is still wet, dollop tablespoons of white chocolate over surface and swirl gently with tip of butter knife. Do not over-swirl. Place in refrigerator until completely firm, about 30 minutes. Peel off aluminum foil, break candy into pieces and serve.