by A.C. Turley

Created on: October 18, 2009

A killer Halloween party requires preparation and attention to detail. Along with the right decorations and music, making a great Halloween punch that is part of the spooky atmosphere is a central detail to enhance your thrilling and fun Halloween theme. Adding dry ice to the punch bowl to create that foreboding ghostly fog may be just what your party has been missing!

In addition to being used to keep things frozen for shipments, dry ice has been a staple of Halloween parties and events for years. It is simply carbon dioxide in solid frozen form, and when it begins to sublimate, or change from a solid to a gaseous state, it creates an impressive flowing fog that is perfect for Halloween special effects. Dry ice suppliers in your area can be found quickly at www.dryicedirectory.com, or you can try local grocers, ice cream shops like Baskin Robbins, or ice shops for food grade dry ice too. Just remember, because of its extreme freezing temperature, caution should always be taken when handling dry ice. If it makes contact with your skin it can cause severe burns, so have an ice chest to transport it in, and always use insulated gloves and tongs to handle it. Also, since dry ice will sublimate quickly, try to purchase it as close to your Halloween party as possible.

Now that you know where to find dry ice, you need to have a perfectly ghoulish Halloween punch to combine it with. There are many different Halloween punch recipes online, but one very tasty option is this green punch from www.allrecipes.com:

2 (3 ounce) packages of lime flavored gelatin mix

1 quart hot water

1 (46 fluid ounce) can pineapple juice

2 (12 fluid ounce) cans of orange juice concentrate, thawed

2 cups white sugar

4 cups cold water

2 liters ginger ale

Mix the gelatin in the hot water first, and once it has cooled stir in the remaining ingredients, slowly adding the ginger ale just before serving. This serves twenty. To add extra flavor, and a frothy, misty top coating to the "Witch's Brew," "Screaming Zombie Ooze," or whatever you label your creepy Halloween party punch, consider floating some scoops of orange sherbet along the top of the punch bowl too.

If you prefer to have a wickedly blackened Halloween drink sloshing in your guests' glasses instead of the green color, switch out the orange juice for grape juice. Also, if you want this punch to have that adult-only Halloween spirit, you can easily add vodka or even champagne to this mixture (cut back on the soda to add the champagne).

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