With Halloween just weeks away, IrishCentral's own Chef Michael Gilligan is back with the two things every party needs: something to eat and something to be terrified of. His brittle meringue bones and carrot "fingers" take minutes to throw together and look suitably gruesome on the table, but it is the ghost stories he tells first that your guests will remember.
One thing I like to do for fun on Halloween, and you can try this too, is before bobbing for apples at a Halloween party, fill your mouth with ketchup. When underwater, discharge the goo, then frantically jerk your head up out of the water, screaming, "Razor! Razor!"
In keeping with my tradition of telling scary stories for Halloween, here are a couple of spooky tales. Most of these are complete rubbish, but you can put in a few names of people you know, and it makes them a little bit more realistic.
To those who spook easily, remember, these are not real events that have happened ... Or are they?
*Makes a sound like a crazed person laughing ... Muhhhuaahhah!*
Man's Best Friend
A young lady is alone in her apartment in Queens. She goes to bed with her dog on the floor beside her.
In the middle of the night, she is woken up by a strange sound. She is alarmed but reaches down to the dog, which licks her hand. She is reassured and goes back to sleep.
In the morning, she finds the dog hanging in the shower. Where the dog slept, she picked up a note which reads: "Humans can lick too...”
Blind Man's Buff
In Berlin after World War II, money was short, supplies were tight, and it seemed like everyone was hungry.
At that time, people were telling the tale of a young woman who saw a blind man picking his way through a crowd. The two started to talk. The man asked her for a favor: Could she deliver a letter to the address on the envelope?
Well, it was on her way home, so she agreed. She had started out to deliver the message when she turned around to see if there was anything else the blind man needed, but she spotted him hurrying through the crowd without his smoked glasses or white cane.
She went to the police, who raided the address on the envelope, where they found heaps of human flesh for sale.
And what was in the envelope?
A note saying, "This is the last one I am sending you today.”
...Now that I’ve scared you a little, let's get on with the cooking!
These two recipes are easy to make and look great. You can give them out to the kids on the block who are trick or treating.
Halloween recipe: Brittle Meringue Bones
Makes 4 to 5 dozen small, finger-sized bones.
Ingredients
- 3 large egg whites
- 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 2/3 cup white sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
Method
Preheat oven to 200F. Line a cookie sheet with a brown paper bag or parchment. In a medium-sized bowl, at high speed, beat egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt till fluffy.
Gradually beat in sugar. Add vanilla.
Place in a pastry bag fitted with a medium, plain piping tip. Pipe 3" bone shapes onto parchment or a brown paper bag.
Bake for 1 hour until set. Turn off the oven, dry in the oven for one hour.
Be sure to store in airtight containers, or they will become soggy.
Halloween recipe: Carrot "Fingers"
I need to do something healthy for the children before they stuff themselves with all that candy!
Ingredients
- Your favorite vegetable dip
- 4 long carrots
- 1 medium carrot
- 2 tbsp softened cream cheese
- 5 sliced almonds
- 5 baby carrots
Method
To prepare them, just fill a serving bowl with your favorite vegetable dip.
Wash and peel 4 long carrots for fingers and 1 medium carrot for a thumb.
With a paring knife (a parent's job), cut a flat, shallow notch in the tip of each carrot. Then use a dab of dip or softened cream cheese to glue a sliced almond fingernail atop each notch.
Stick the fingers in the dip and serve with plenty of peeled baby carrots for dipping.
Scare you later!
Chef Gilligan
What's your favorite Halloween tradition? Share in the comments!
* Originally published in 2010. Updated in 2026.
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