The smell of pumpkin spice fills the air, the leaves fall, people plan their disguises, and everyone becomes a sugar junky. It’s the best time of the year!

It’s no surprise articles vote NYC one of the top Halloween spots to party and trick r treat. This year we focus on the NYC haunts taking over our town. With good ‘ol Samhain landing mid-week we have options for Hallow’s Eve itself, and the weekend following. Whenever you choose to celebrate, we’ve got you covered:

Movies

The annual tradition continues with this year’s 31 Halloween Flicks List from Sin Dee NYC.

I try as best as I can to keep up with my own list. Especially those recommended by my Sinner contributors. However, I stumbled across a movie list any horror fanatic would be tempted to accomplish.

The one and only Stephen King has shared his must see horror flick list. So if you can’t take my advice, at least give Mr. King’s list a try.

Costumes

I was born into a Halloween family. This time of year was probably more important than Xmas itself in my household. Costumes were designed months in advance and our head seamstress (Mom) started production as soon as the school year did. Below are a few pics of my homemade costumes growing up, ad well as costumes I fashioned as an adult. I’ll always keep my mother’s advice: “those store-bought costumes look so fake”. A pieced together costume is much more impressive than those out of a bag… In my opinon.

Here’s some costume SINspiration…

Trick ‘r Treating

Long gone are the trick or treating days of my childhood. In urban Queens, NYC my parents and I would join the throngs of costumed families along the main avenue. With a lack of houses and an abundance of mom-n-pop shops, our treat hunting was done from bodega to botanica to apartment building lobby.

It goes without saying I’m against these silly new rules restricting age of participants and setting a curfew. Back in my day, we welcomed the possibility of mayhem on the Devil’s Night. As a teenager planning the perfect costume included a pair of running shoes, in case you had to run from an egg war. Part of the fun was expecting a few rules to be broken. The mischief added to the holiday’s vibe. After all, what’s Halloween without a little fear?

Check out the best NYC neighborhoods for Halloween trick-or-treating by 6sqft.com. They even give my old hood a nice shout out for their family-friendly neighborhood parade:

The Jackson Heights Halloween Parade is the second-largest Halloween kids’ parade in NYC. If that itself isn’t enough fun, the end of the procession means goodie bags for all (kids, that is). “

Witchcraft

It’s no surprise people are turning to religion and the occult for answers today. Choosing a good meditation session over tuning in to Fox News. Self reflection and purpose are the new buzz-words, and “Witch Bitch” t-shirts are all over the interwebs.

As a long-time Wiccan, I’ve long celebrated Samhain as a spirtual New Year of sorts. Setting intensions for the coming year and reflecting on the growth and change that occured the year past. Luckily as New Yorkers we have an abundance of resources at our footsteps. One of my favorite witchy shopping spots is Catland Books in Brooklyn.

Check out the New York Time’s Interview With the Witch this month. Featuring Catland’s owner and Witch in Residence at a Manhattan hotel, Melissa Madara.

Screw Joker! Visit These Step Instead

The Joker Steps are all over the news angering residents and giving aspiring photographers a famous backdrop for new projects. Last year, Sinner contributor Andres Schiffino and I visited The Kitty Genovese Residence for an Atlas Obscura piece he was working on. The scene was made famous when neighbors ignored the sounds of Kitty Genovese’s murder. I recommend you head over to this historical crime scene and enjoy the absence of Joker costumes instead.

The New York Times published an article that would bring national attention to the crime with the headline, “Thirty-Eight Who Saw Murder Didn’t Call the Police”.