Halloween may well be a time of ghost, goblins, witches and spirits. But when I celebrate Halloween, my focus is on loftier ideals. That is, on the drawing together of neighborhoods and communities in a unified desire to slow down and re-focus on all things fun and pleasurable.

We love Halloween and we love how much our kids love Halloween. That's why we don't want to sound like the fun police, but we do want to make some sense of the excess (read: the sugar excess). Here are 12 simple and subtle ways to manage the candy rush -- including tips on how to curb our own temptations.

Let's face it: Halloween is a holiday dedicated to candy so the opportunities to derail your regularly balanced diet are going to be all over the place for at least a week. Here are four handy tips for keeping your cravings under control and and avoiding being scared away from the scale come November.

Most people go to Greece for beaches, ouzo and temples gleaming in the Mediterranean sun. I went for a vampire. But what I found there led me beyond pop culture images of vampires to a darker part of the human imagination. In the midst of searching for ancient ruins, an archaeological team from UBC stumbled on a cemetery from the time of the Ottoman empire. The lead researcher wanted an osteologist to study the skeletons -- especially one that might have been accused of being a vampire. There wasn't much question of not going, of course.

Was it the hairy spiders or the monster under your bed that made your skin crawl as a kid? We may laugh at the things we were once scared of, but ...

Halloween is scary business and its popularity is creepily climbing, with children and adults alike. As a parent and etiquette expert, I view this annual night of ghosts and ghouls, costumes and candy, as the perfect opportunity to reinforce manners, civility and neighbourly conduct.

Halloween is easy when they are little. You chaperone them trick or treating at 5 p.m. and they are in bed by 8 p.m. But, tweens and teens still love Halloween and want to roam the streets by themselves in the dark. How do you keep them safe? Here are 10 safety tips.

Forget everything you know about flying space objects and creepy little girls Photoshopped into family pictures — the creepiest (and funniest) photo...

You can't be expected to substitute your favourite candy bar with an apple on a holiday that practically demands your participation in this candy orgy. So what's a Skinny Chick to do? Here are some tips that will keep you from blasting off on a sugar high that will have your dentist rubbing his hands together in evil glee.

Moms know that Halloween isn't just one night -- it's an official season. Capture the fun of the season by spending time with your kids creating crafts, costumes and delicious recipes you can all enjoy together. Get inspired with our Fun Halloween Activities.

Being a kid during Halloween basically means you're a blank canvas for your parents to either test out their creative skills or just dress you up in s...

The official colours of Halloween may be orange and black, but for the purposes of this season, we're adding some yellow and white into the mix. Ca...