Halloween Express Huntsville

08/30/2023

Happy Wednesday!! 🧛‍♂️ It's FRANKENSTEIN DAY!!
Movie Poster | Universal Pictures

Frankenstein Day is an unofficial holiday that falls on the 30th of August every year. This is a holiday that celebrates the life and works of Mary Shelley-an English author who crafted one of the most-read monster novels in the world entitled “Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus.” Her book is considered to be the first modern horror ever written and people have enjoyed it for over two centuries now. On this day, people can pick up a copy of this book or watch one of the many Frankenstein movies that have been made over the years.

HSTORY OF MARY SHELLEY & FRANKENSTEIN:
This holiday is a celebration of Mary Shelley, and as such, it falls on the anniversary of her birthday in 1797, August 30th. Her mother died less than a month after she was born and she would end up being raised by her father. At the age of four, her father would marry Mary Jane Clairmont, a neighbor of theirs, and Mary would end up having a troubled relationship with her throughout her childhood.

At the age of 17, she would begin a romance with one of her father’s political followers, Percy Bysshe Shelley-a man who five years her senior and already married. Mary Shelley, Percy, and Mary’s stepsister Claire Clairmont all traveled throughout Europe. Upon their return to England, Mary was pregnant with Percy Shelley’s child. The next two years for the couple weren’t pleasant ones, however, as both of them faced ostracism and constant debt, as well as the death of their prematurely born daughter. When Percy Shelley’s wife committed su***de, the couple would then marry in 1816.

After being married, Mary and Percy Shelley, along with Mary’s sister, spent the summer with Lord Byron and John William Polidori near Geneva, Switzerland. This is where Mary Shelley came up with the idea of Frankenstein during a writing contest between all of them. The book would be published on January 1, 1818.

HOW TO OBSERVE FRANKENSTEIN DAY:
📖 Buy a copy of Mary Shelley's Classic ....and sit down for a good read!I
👱‍♀️ Learn more about Mary Shelley and her remarkable life.
📲 Post on Social Media and use the hashtag !
🖥 Watch one of over 10 different movies featuring Frankenstein!
📸 Lastly, reach out to Sedwick Photography, who is offering Creepy Portraits of you
and your friends dressed up as your favorite creepy🧛 creatures!!

However you decide to celebrate this day, have fun doing it!!

08/24/2023

Unfortunately due to circumstances beyond our control- Halloween Express Huntsville will not open a Huntsville location in 2023

Thanks to all who supported and shopped with us over the years.

Visit www.halloweenexpress.com for your Halloween costumes and decor.

All content on this site is available, via phone, at 1-980-580-6310. . If you experience any accessibility issues, please contact us.

11/24/2022

THANKSGIVING DAY!! 🦃
Thanksgiving Day is observed each year in the United States on the fourth Thursday in November. The observance is a time when families and friends gather and give thanks for many reasons, each often as different as each person who gathers around the table.

In 1621, the Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Indians shared an autumn harvest feast that many acknowledge today as one of the first Thanksgiving celebrations in the colonies. For more than two centuries, days of thanksgiving were celebrated by individual colonies and states. However, it wasn’t until 1863, amid the Civil War, that President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day to be held each November.

HOW TO OBSERVE :
In many American households, the Thanksgiving celebration has lost much of its original religious significance; instead, it now centers on cooking and sharing a bountiful meal with family and friends. The pilgrims may not have even served turkey that fateful day in 1621. Today, however, the bird is so ubiquitous, it has become synonymous with the holiday. In fact, nearly 90 percent of Americans eat the bird—whether roasted, baked or deep-fried—on Thanksgiving, according to the National Turkey Federation. Other traditional foods include stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie. Another common Thanksgiving tradition is volunteering to ensure everyone has a meal on the big day. Some communities often host food drives and free dinners for the less fortunate.

Parades 🎈are also an integral part of the holiday. Presented by Macy’s department store since 1924, New York City’s Thanksgiving Day parade is the largest and most famous, attracting some 2 to 3 million spectators along its 2.5-mile route and drawing an enormous television audience. It typically features marching bands🎷, performers, elaborate floats conveying various celebrities and giant balloons shaped like cartoon characters.

Beginning in the mid-20th century and perhaps even earlier, the President of the United States has “pardoned” one or two Thanksgiving turkeys🦃 each year. sparing the birds from slaughter and sending them to a farm for retirement. Several U.S. governors also perform the annual turkey pardoning ritual, too.

To read more about the history of this holiday, please click the link below:

https://www.history.com/topics/thanksgiving/history-of-thanksgiving

11/02/2022

Well, the 🧟‍♀️👻💀Halloween Party is over.....at lea

We want to say "Thank you" to all of our 🧛‍♀️Ghouls and 🧛‍♂️Boys, Parents and Grandparents....and everyone else who likes to get their Creepy on! We truly appreciate your patronage and look forward to seeing you next year!!

We hope the rest of your 2022 is wonderful!!

11/01/2022

Happy Tuesday!! We want to "Thank" everyone who came out this year to support our new store location!! If you are a true Halloween Enthusiast, stop in today for our 1 DAY ONLY 50% OFF sale!! We want everything to go....so don't delay!!

We look forward to seeing you!!

11/01/2022

It's HALLOWEEN!!👻
On October 31, Halloween brings out the ghouls and goblins, creatures, and strange folk. They come creeping about the neighborhood seeking favors over trickery.


People of all ages look forward to Halloween traditions. While dressing up and baking, we carve up glowing pumpkins. Children breathe life into storybook characters while practicing their trick or treat. In twos and threes, they traipse through the neighborhood, collecting their bounty in pillow sacks. A ghost, a pirate, a robot or Dorothy, and Toto. No matter their age, they come to the door. They knock or ring. Here and there, a screech or a boo!

The crisp air and autumn colors set the mood. Seasonings fill our senses with a taste of autumn. So we set forth on an adventure and finish with a warm apple cider around a flickering fire.

HOW TO OBSERVE HALLOWEEN
Typical festive Halloween activities include trick-or-treating (or the related “guising”). While many attend costume parties, bob for apples, and light bonfires, others look forward to counting trick or treaters. Many people decorate with sprays of fall leaves, scarecrows, and pumpkins carved into jack-o-lanterns. Attractions include visiting a haunted house, playing pranks, telling scary stories, and watching horror films.

However, trick or treating has also changed. In the United States, some organizations offer trick-or-treat events for children to come dressed up and collect candy in a safe environment. They may also offer Halloween parties for children to attend, too.

In many parts of the world, the Christian religious observances of All Hallows’ Eve, including attending church services and lighting candles on the graves of the dead, remains popular. Although, in other locations, these solemn customs are less pronounced in favor of a more commercialized and secularized celebration.

For the safest Halloween trick or treating tips, be sure to check out the Centers for Disease Control guidelines. Then, get your spook on and use to post on social media.

HALLOWEEN HISTORY
The observance dates back to an ancient pagan harvest festival marking the end of summer and the beckoning of winter. Seasons overlapped during Samhain (pronounced sah-win), and revelers believed the worlds of the living and the dead crossed. The living would wear costumes and light, bright bonfires to help protect them, allowing them to interact with the spirits.

Similar celebrations honoring the dead took place in Roman traditions, which were gradually blended and soon replaced the Celtic ceremonies. However, All Martyrs Day, established by Pope Boniface IV in 609 A.D., was eventually moved by Pope Gregory III to November 1. Later, it became known as All Saint’s Day. The eve of this celebration became known as All Hallows Eve or Halloween.

Through the Colonial era in America, Halloween celebrations were considered taboo due to religious beliefs. By the Victorian era, though, Halloween traditions featured fall festivals, parties, and foods involving communities and neighborhoods.

11/01/2022

One day only
Tuesday November 1st
50% off original price - entire store
10 am - 8pm
Halloween Express Huntsville

10/30/2022

Happy Sunday!!

Do you have your costume ready for lots of fun Trick or Treating, yet?? If not, stop in today to put together a great costume for the young or young at heart!

We look forward to seeing you!!

10/28/2022

NATIONAL FRANKENSTEIN FRIDAY!

National Frankenstein Friday, on the last Friday in October, recognizes author Mary Shelly, the novel Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus, her characters, Dr. Frankenstein and the monster. Dating back to the 1800s, Frankenstein’s monster is one of the best-known horror characters of all time.

The novel by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797-1851) tells the story of a young scientist, Victor Frankenstein. While she published the first edition of Frankenstein in 1818 anonymously, the first 500 copies sold out. However, the public believed her husband, Percy Shelley, to be the author. Then in 1823, Mary Shelley published a new edition under her name. Another edition in 1831 included Shelley’s explanation about how the story came to be. This version is the one modern readers are the most familiar with today.

When is National Novel Writing Month?
The film world has created more than 60 movies or shorts on the theme of Frankenstein. Edison Studios produced the very first film version, Frankenstein, in 1910.

According to some sources, the day is observed on August 30th in honor of Mary Shelley’s birthday.

HOW TO OBSERVE :
🧟 Watch a movie featuring Frankenstein or read the original book written by Mary Shelly. Dress as Dr. Frankenstein or his monster.
🧛‍♀️ Find out who Frankenstein is on Frankenstein Friday.
🧛‍♀️ Read both editions of the book. Seek out other novels by Mary Shelley or learn about her history.
🧟‍♀️ Draw your version of Frankenstein’s monster.
🧛 Attend a stage production of Frankenstein.
🧟 Bake monster shaped cookies.
⚡️ Conduct an electricity experiment in science class in honor of the day.
🧛 Host a Frankenstein party. Play trivia and hand out prizes.

10/27/2022

10/27/2022

In honor of tomorrow being National Frakenstein Friday, here is the story that a 20 year old Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley crafted from her imagination. Her original notebooks are currently held in the Bodleian library in Oxford.

Shelley's novel, Frankenstein: or, the Modern Prometheus (1818), is a combination of Gothic horror story and science fiction. The book tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a Swiss student of natural science who creates an artificial man from pieces of corpses and brings his creature to life. Shelley is often credited with writing the first true Horror Novel!

While the idea of reanimating different pieces of dead body parts is to some degree fascinating, in reference to the possibilites in saving a limb or finger.....the concept of creating a functioning human being from them is on the other end of the spectrum! Interestingly enough, there were many actors that played the monster in numerous films.

While there are only two original films, Frankenstein (1931) and The Bride of Frankenstein (1935), there have been a total of ten Frankenstein movie adaptations over the years. Starting with the original:

1. Frankenstein | 1931
2. The Bride of Frankenstein | 1935
3. Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein | 1948
4. The Curse of Frankenstein | 1957
5. Flesh for Frankenstein | 1973
6. Young Frankenstein | 1974
7. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein | 1994
8. Van Helsing | 2004
9. Hotel Transylvania | 2012
10. Victor Frankenstein | 2015
11. Official Trailer | Frankenstein w Benedict Cumberbatch & Jonny Lee Miller | National Theatre at Home

Here is the link: https://youtu.be/DmkQHV8e4Rk

We hope you will have some fun tomorrow and don your best Frankenstein face, or simly do strange immitations around your office of the famed monster!!

10/26/2022

In honor of NATIONAL PUMPKIN DAY, we wanted to share some great Jack O'Lanterns with you!!

National Pumpkin Day recognizes a favored autumn decoration and food on October 26th. Not only do they make great fall decorations, but the pumpkin also completes a variety of tasty recipes. Join a pumpkin competition or visit any of the many fall festivals featuring the beautiful gourds.


By October 26th, we’re in a frenzy of pumpkin obsession. We cannot wait for the big November holiday for pumpkin pie. No siree, we need pumpkin everything! Bars, cookies, coffee, cheesecake, pasta, and oatmeal. Pumpkin Chunkin’, pumpkin patches, festivals, bake-offs, and television specials. Let’s not forget jack-o-lantern carving, too! This fruit grabs Americans’ attention.

As it should! This squash is native to North America. The oldest evidence of pumpkin-related seeds dates back to somewhere between 7000 and 5500 BC to seeds found in Mexico.

The word pumpkin originates from the word pepon, which means “large melon” in Greek.

Within recent years, white pumpkins have become more popular in the United States. The United States produces 1.5 billion pounds of pumpkins, with Illinois producing more than any other state.

In 2021, Italian Stefano Cutrupi claimed the title of the world’s largest pumpkin when his gargantuan gourd weighed in at 2703 pounds (1,226 kg). That’s 300 pounds heavier than the 2014 winner from Switzerland. In 2020, Travis Gienger grew the largest pumpkin in North America. The hefty vegetable weighed in at 2,350 pounds. It eeked out the previous winner, a 2,145-pound pumpkin from Streator, Illinois grown by Gene McMullen.

Pumpkins are packed with nutrients, but they’re not only good for humans. Did you know that pumpkin may be recommended by veterinarians as a dietary supplement for dogs and cats? Since pumpkin is easy to digest, if your pet is experiencing certain digestive ailments, don’t be surprised if your vet says to give them pumpkin puree. Poultry also benefits from eating raw pumpkin as a supplement to their regular feed during the winter months to help maintain egg production. As a seasonal food, it sure comes at the right time of year. Since it’s packed with vitamin C, it can boost your immune system to fight off those nasty colds, too.

Pictures: 1. c2educate.com 2. The Pottery Barn 3. longisland.com