How to make the most of Halloween in Elsternwick Village

It’s that one night of the year when the souls of the long departed rise to seek vengeance; where monsters in the lab come to life; where ghosts and vampires roam the street to terrify passersby.

It’s also the one night of the year where we can let our imaginations (and kids) run wild and have a whole heap of horrifying fun!

Taking your Halloween game to the next level is easy in Elsternwick Village – we have everything you need to trick or treat yourself to a howlingly happy Halloween.

Devilishly good decorations

Every street has that one neighbour who goes all out at Halloween. There are tombstones in their front yard, bloodied bodies hanging from the awning, cackling laughter set to play when anyone walks past.

This year, if you want joining the Halloween Hall of Flames to be more than witchful thinking, everything you need to transform your home into a crime scene, graveyard or haunted house is in Elsternwick Village.

There are the essentials: pipe cleaners and polystyrene balls (spiders), clay or plasticene (maggots, of course) and black cardboard to create creepy window silhouettes for the windows.

Then there are next level decorations: pre-loved clothes from Elsternwick Village op shops, that you can stuff and then slash… that’s where the red paint comes into it. Because if you don’t have corpses in your front yard, is it even Halloween?

For a scream-worthy selection of decorations and Halloween-themed party goods, make your first stop at Party Bazaar.

Pick up all your arts and crafts needs from Elsternwick Village at Hot Potatoes Super $2 Shop and Officeworks.

Pumpkins are a Halloween staple and there are enough in stock at fresh food stores in Elsternwick Village to adorn every doorstep.

Bewitching baking

It’s where baking skills meet twisted imaginations. Think cookies shaped like tombstones; custard bowls that become buckets of vomit; green slime jelly being consumed by nuclear coloured worms.

But don’t stop there – what about iced cupcakes with red veins that look suspiciously like brains? Or cakes fashioned into body parts, complete with red icing (hint: red velvet cake)? Meringues are just howling to be decorated as ghosts, and give us a liquorice strap and within minutes you have spiders.

Get your friends and family together and lay down the bloodthirsty bake-off challenge. Who can come up with the creepiest, most vile baking creation?

All your bewitching baking needs can be created from items picked up at Coles Elsternwick. While you’re there you can get everything else you need for your freakishly fabulous Halloween feast.

Frightful costumes

It’s the one night of the year when the worst dressed is also the best!

Whether totally terrifying is your goal or channelling your favourite villain is the vibe, you’ll find everything you need for Halloween in Elsternwick Village.

Start by thinking about the most gruesome way to die and then creating a backstory. The bridegroom tied to the railway tracks by a jilted lover; the child who didn’t heed its mother’s warning to stay away from the boiling water on the stove; the hapless fisherman who rowed out onto the deserted river unaware of the dangers that lurked beneath the surface.

The two main ingredients you’ll need are old clothes to cut up and destroy, and lots and lots of red paint. Visit local op shops – Australian Red Cross, Posh Opp Shoppe, Sacred Heart Mission Op Shop and Salvos Stores – for a great range of era-specific clothes, at a price you won’t mind ripping them to shreds for.

Ask your butcher for some discarded bones that you can affix to your costume and pick up face paint at Hot Potatoes Super $2 Shop.

Every child loves trick or treating and for many, the costume of choice is a superhero or video game character. Others want to join the ghost brigade or have no bones about transforming themselves into skeletons. Whatever their creepy costume desire, Party Bazaar stocks an excellent range of Halloween costumes.

Deliciously haunting food

Halloween is a great time to get those we love together to feast on the flesh of our friends and devour the remains of their dreams… or just enjoy great food and drink, while we scare the socks off all the kids that come to our door!

Elsternwick Village has all your Halloween fresh meat, fruit and deli goods organised, and with a little imagination, you can turn them into a freakish feast.

Linked sausages can be fashioned into intestines, and chops and steaks covered in tomato sauce are sure to raise questions about their sinister origins. Pick up all your meat needs at Trialto Meats and Peter Da Silva Poultry & Selected Meats, and head to Dirito’s Quality Fruits for everything you need to create a ghastly grazing board.

Whether you’re planning to be the ghostess with the mostest at home, or aiming for the most horrifying house in the hood, you can get everything you need for a happy Halloween in Elsternwick Village.