I love the Halloween season. I love its culture and history, and how it is so closely related to the Pagan Samhain (pronounced “Sowwan”), which is believed to be an ancient Celtic/Gaelic festival marking the end of the harvest season, and beginning the “darker half” or winter part of the year. While I am not Pagan, I have friends who identify with this ancient religion; and I *am* half Scottish (part Pict, part Celt)…which is to say I was born to LOVE Halloween!

Granted, I’m a little less thrilled with how it has morphed into the consumerist bacchanalia of gimme-gimme-gimme with the commercially processed candy and cheap plastic costumes bought at discount stores in the latest version of Sleazy Barbie or Marvel superhero. Halloween should be about scary stories, and making your own supernatural costume out of found items at home with scissors, a needle and thread, and a little imagination. Most of all, Halloween should be about making your own sweet treats and fun, ghoulish nommins that have children of all ages shudder with delight as they slurp down homemade gummy worms, bob for apples, and pop one of the bowlful of “eyeballs” (i.e. peeled grapes) into their mouths, imagining what it’s like to be a monster or a zombie or a vampire (no sparkles please!) for an evening.

But I’m hopelessly old fashioned, I guess.

Nevertheless, as my beloved nephew is having his birthday party this coming weekend, the theme is inevitably Halloween-based, and so I am making his birthday cake in the Halloween theme, as I did last year. I’ve really struggled to find an appropriate design this year, as there are simply so many amazing cake designs out there, and they are available at the click of a mouse to my old friend Google. So, since I have run out of time to hem and haw before finally making a decision and starting the cake, I thought I’d stall a little longer and take this opportunity to show some of my favourite Halloween-themed cakes and other goodies from the Googlesphere. Maybe they will inspire me.

Note: If I have attributed an incorrect citation for anyone’s photo, please let me know in the comments and I will edit.

In the meantime, have a VERRY SCARRY HALLOWEEN!!!  🙂