It’s the happiest, spookiest time of the year.
And scaring the daylights out of your nearest and dearest has never been easier, thanks to food blogger and entertaining pro Jason Goldstein, a k a ChopHappy.
The New York-based comfort food aficionado has a soft spot for old-school horror movies and trick-of-the-eye party food.
With this in mind, he’s planned a horror-themed Halloween party that’ll make your friends really scream.
“We’re all New Yorkers and adults here, let’s just really get into Halloween and make it like the West Village parade in your house,” Goldstein says.
Here’s how it’s done.
What to drink
The “Eyeball Halloween Spritz” is a boozy take on a Shirley Temple — which can be made alcohol-free by simply taking out the vodka and finding a booze-free grenadine.
The showstopper comes with the garnish: lychees with blueberries stuffed in the hole. “They really look like eyeballs,” Goldstein tells The Post.
“There’s nothing to it and they look really cool floating on top of a martini glass.”
Ingredients
1/4 cup Sprite
3 dashes or 2-3 tablespoons grenadine
A squeeze of lime
1 ounce vodka
Lots of ice
Instructions
To make the eyeballs, place the blueberry in the hole of the lychee. Set aside. Add all the spritz ingredients to a glass and stir. Add more grenadine if you want more “blood.” Add lychee to look like floating eyeballs.
What to eat
This “Bloody Brain” cheese and crackers snack is a throwback to the cheese dips of yore, with a horrifying twist (don’t worry, it’s tomato sauce). All you need to buy ahead, in addition to the ingredients, is a brain-shaped mold to use for the cheese ($ 8.90). “It’s gross enough that it’s not gross, so you still want to eat it,” Goldstein says.
Ingredients
24 oz. cream cheese
2 garlic cloves, grated
1/2 cup feta crumbled
2 tablespoons of dill
Juice of half a lemon
1 teaspoon salt and pepper
1/2 cup sour cream
Thick tomato sauce (for the garnish)
Instructions
Spray inside the mold with cooking spray so the dip releases easily. Mix all the ingredients except for the tomato sauce together and fill brain mold. Place in fridge overnight and then take out of mold onto a serving platter. Drizzle tomato sauce like blood on top and around the brain. Place a large knife in the center of brain for a freaky twist. Pair with crackers.
How to decorate
Here’s where you can really give ’em the old razzle dazzle. Goldstein recommends serving drinks in these fake IV bags ($ 13.99), which you can fill with your drink of choice — preferably blood-colored.
This one might make you do a double-take. A fake head in a laboratory jar ($ 25.07) makes for the perfect centerpiece. “It’ll match the eyeballs in your cocktails!” Goldstein says.
What’s a horror-fest without bloody limbs? These fake severed hands ($ 14.99) can act as both props and entertainment. “You might have to make people sign a waiver,” he says.
What to watch
Old-school horror flicks are perfect to have on in the background, or with the sound on — “They all have really good creepy music in them,” Goldstein says. “The graphics weren’t so great back then, so they really had to use sound to scare you.” He recommends “The Exorcist,” “Psycho,” “Nightmare on Elm Street,” “The Shining” and “Carrie.”
“These movies are really recognizable to most people, so there’s some nostalgia, a good talking piece, but you’re still sort of scared, even though you know what’s going to happen,” Goldstein says.
What to listen to
Go for the tried and true here, you’ve scared your friends enough. Pandora has a playlist locked and loaded with Halloween favorites such as “Monster Mash,” which never gets old. “Everyone knows the words to those songs,” he says. Or, opt for a “Spooky classics” playlist with songs including the theme to “Bram Stoker’s Dracula.”
What to do
This one’s a scary twist on a bachelorette party staple. The “Toilet Paper Mummy Game” involves teams of two, with one person judging. “Grab a roll of toilet paper and you have 10 minutes to wrap your partner in toilet paper to look like a mummy,” Goldstein says. “Buy stickers and fun things to decorate the toilet paper.
After one minute, “a buzzer goes off and the mummified person then wraps their partner in toilet paper” for another minute, resulting in everyone except the judge completely covered in toilet paper. “The judge decides which team won.”