Talk about hot to handle negative experiences and how to empower children to handle the paranormal and their fears.

With Rona Anderson of Paranormal Explorers and Yvette L’Hirondelle of Transitions & Harmonies

Sunday, April 11th, 2010
3:00 - 7:00 PM
$80 / Family

dEdmonton is proud to announce that Groundhog Day and Halloween have entered into a partnership that will reshape the landscape of North American holidays in Edmonton forever.

“The usual ‘rules’ of Groundhog Day don’t work very well in Edmonton,” says dEdmonton co-chair Christian Nelson. “Winter isn’t going to end in early February. Everyone knows that, so why continue the charade? All it does is make the Groundhogs look bad, and they’re not happy about that.”

This Groundhog Day All the Rules Will Change!

The members of dEdmonton have worked closely with the local Groundhog community to develop a new set of metrics more suitable to Edmonton’s status as a winter-city.

So this year, the following rules apply:
• If Groundhogs do not see their shadows then Halloween will last for all of October.
• If Groundhogs do see their shadows then Halloween will only last for 31 days.

“This makes Groundhog Day relevant again for Edmontonians,” says dEdmonton co-chair Darryl Plunkie. A representative of Groundhogs in Edmonton could not be reached for comment, but we are confident they will show up at the appointed time.

With so many days of Halloween to plan the dEdmonton Board of Directors is now looking for Committee Members and Volunteers to contribute their enthusiasm and expertise in the areas of:

• Parades
• The dEdmonton Street Team
• Event Planning
• Internet and Social Media
• Marketing & Public Relations
• Fundraising & Sponsorships

dEdmonton is dedicated to celebrating Halloween in all its forms, and is also looking for outreach coordinators. Are you are involved in a local scene or community – Horror, Family, LBGT, Music, Art, Crafts, Props, Retailers, or anything else – and interested in joining the Halloween fun?

Join the Council of E-ville!!! Thrill to the arcane mysteries of “The Council Chambers”!!! Play pin the tail on the Zombie!!! Who will earn the coveted role of Assistant Liaison to the Undersecretary of Horror?!?

For further information please contact:

Darryl Plunkie
Co-Chair, dEdmonton: Canada’s Halloween Festival
volunteers@dEdmonton.com

A special thank you to My Ghoul Friday for the use of her creature… Thanks GF!

First, head on over to the giveaway site and follow her blog: newagedolls.blogspot.com. Just comment at the bottom of the page and that is it…you have an entry!

Hurry - contest entry is only open till January 31st at Noon Pacific time! Later that day the winner is announced.

You can get more entries of course - just blog about her contest or her excellent Etsy store, and spread the word on Facebook and MySpace too.

I suggest you spend some time on her site(s) - her work is incredible. These are one-of-a-kind pieces, not your typical mass-produced stuff.

And who says you can’t celebrate Halloween all year round? Certainly not us dEdmontonians!

Mayor Mandel - Honourary Member of the Council of E-ville












































A big thanks to Scott Mckeen and the Mayor’s Office for helping us set this up.











More photos of the trip are here.

On October 24, 27 and 29 the Edmonton Opera presents Verdi’s Rigoletto at the Jubilee.

One of Verdi’s finest and darkest works, Rigoletto is a world of decadence and depravity in the Duke of Mantua’s court. Life here swirls frenetically in a circus of deception, lust, betrayal and - eventually - murder. Rigoletto will invite audiences into a fantastical world where morality does not apply.

“Very modern and very dark” is how they described it to dEdmonton, and that sounds good to us!

On October 30th and 31st the Edmonton Symphony is having two programs to celebrate the season at the Winspear. On the Friday and Saturday night they have Halloween: The Concert for the grownups:

We’ve rounded up a frighteningly good mix of music – from classical to popular – that will send all the right chills down your spine! This concert mixes rousing spine-tinglers by Mussorgsky, Dukas and Bach with chills from Phantom of the Opera and music from Psycho.

And then on the afternoon of the 31st there is Spooktacular! for the whole family:

Just before the kids go trick or treating, we’ve got musical tricks and treats! Dress up in your Halloween costume, and haunt the concert hall with us. Pre-concert activities start at 1:15 PM in the main lobby and include an instrument petting zoo and craft making of masks and percussion instruments.

Also on the 31st the Art Gallery of Alberta will be busy fending off a invasion of art-appreciating Zombies:

It’s a nightmare at the Museum! Visit the AGA’s art-inspired Haunted House on Halloween Day from 1-4 pm! Spooky sculptures, petrifying portraits and an army of zombies will fill the gallery on this special HSBC All Day Saturday for families and people of all ages. Come for tricks and treats and resurrect artists from the past by making your own scary mask.

Under a blood-red spotlight and with a bouquet of black roses the winner of the first-ever Miss dEdmonton Contest was crowned on October 13th. Joey Tramer massacred the competition with her combination of gruesomely gorgeous good looks, a terrifying command of Halloween knowledge, her ability to make even a painting bleed, and a scream that could raise the dead.

It was a battle to the undeath as the contestants competed for prizes from Amber’s Brewing, amokphoto, Ghoul Friday, Hallowindow, and Rowena – and for the ultimate honour of the crown, corset and converse from Karrie’s Costumes, Sweet Carousel and Divine. The judging panel consisted of Scott Mckeen from the Edmonton Journal, Angelika Gawronski from Shaw TV, and Mike Kendrick for the Gateway at the University of Alberta. Out of the three rounds and five finalists, only the vampire contestant named Darkrose achieved the coveted perfect score of 6-6-6 for her combination of poetry with sword-fighting.

Now that Miss dEdmonton has been unearthed the Halloween season can truly begin!

The new Miss dEdmonton will cut the inaugural intestine at the River City Zombie Committee’s Zombie Prom II – happening this Friday October 16th. It will start at 7:00PM in McIntyre Park in Old Strathcona, and then lurch along Whyte Avenue to Downtown. For the un-un-dead makeup demonstrations will be taking place starting at 5:00PM in the Arts Barns. So show up early in your finest tatters, let the makeup wizards work their macabre magic, and then stagger over to join the Zombie Hordes!

If the Zombie Walk wasn’t enough, Miss dEdmonton will be taking in DEDfest: Hellberta’s Horror Festival – running all weekend at the Metro Cinema theatre in the Citadel. And if horror really isn’t your style then you can join the denizens of dEdmonton at ABC Headstart’s Scarecrow Festival – now in it’s 17th year at the Edmonton Expo Centre this weekend.

A big thanks to all the contestants!

The Vampire Dark Rose, Roxy Glasscock, Brandy-Jo Ewashko (Miss Mutilation MD), Susan Brune (Spooky Souxie), and Joey Tramer

You can read all about the event at the Edmonton Journal

And thanks to Mack Male for his writeup.

Photos courtesy amokphoto. Full set is here.

So round up all the little lycanthropes and lurch on down to the local library, or visit www.epl.ca

Meet The Theatre Garage.

After talking with Tessa, Beth and the other staff I realized that this was a magical place - especially if you are into Halloween. They have costume lines and masks that I haven’t found anywhere else in Edmonton, a good stock of Kryolan makeups (with more on the way!), lots of wigs, shoes, and a HUGE costume rental department. It’s not often that you see boxes labeled “Stormtrooper and Football equip” next to another one that says “Red Samauri”, is it?

Right now there are several old rental costumes that are for sale. Sure, some of them need a little TLC - missing a bauble, sequin or stitch - but there is an excellent costume that I know will make a perfect Zombie Elvis for this year’s Zombie Prom! In addition, there are old Klondike Kate style dresses and hats that might make a perfect addition to your costume wardrobe.

Location:
#102 10575-115 street
Edmonton, AB, T5H 3K4
Phone:
780.498.6208
Mon - Wed:
10:00 am - 6:00 pm
Thurs - Fri:
10:00 am - 9:00 pm
Sat:
10:00 am - 6:00 pm
Sun:
12:00 pm - 4:00 pm

Every Halloween homes, yards, and community halls throughout the Edmonton region are mysteriously transformed into frightfully fun Haunted Houses, Grisly Graveyards, and All-Ages Abattoirs. They might be across town or just down the block, but their locations have always been shrouded in secrecy - until now!

We want everyone to know about the E-ville extreme makeovers that these home haunters perform. And since many of them collect donations for the Food Bank or for other charities, you can scare yourself silly while supporting a good cause.

So plan a tour of dEdmonton’s Most Haunted, or add one of these mansions of the macabre to your route for trick-or-treating.

If you are one of dEdmonton’s Most Haunted but we are not currently tracking you on our map, please contact dEdmonton to turn yourself in.

View dEdmonton’s Most Haunted in a larger map