This Week: Countdown to Halloween, Puerto Rico Fantasy Vacation, Ice-Skating Season Starts this Weekend

10/23/14 - By Raven Snook

You scream, I scream, we all scream for Halloween! In a week, our little ghosts, goblins and ghouls will be parading around in their costumes and trick-or-treating all over NYC. Since Halloween falls on a Friday this year, there are a slew of celebrations this weekend and next, as well as the days in between.

It's no shocker that Halloween-themed posts dominated all of our sites this week, from a must-see jack-o-lantern installation on Long Island to Westchester cemetery tours to haunted houses in Philly. If you're suffering from Halloweenitis, don't be scared: Come next week you'll be able to console yourself with your kids' candy.

Speaking of all that high-calorie loot, there are lots of charities that accept donations of Halloween candy if your kids get too much (and you know they will). And while you're in a generous mood, please also consider giving to Mommy Poppins' virtual food drive through Feeding America. Our goal is $1,500 and if we reach it, we'll double the amount.

With the temperatures dropping, we all seem to be fantasizing about warmer climes. Our Travel site's new series of posts about visiting the Condado Plaza Hilton in San Juan, Puerto Rico and hanging at the isle's largest family resort, El Conquistador are sure to inspire beautiful daydreams.

Here's what else we covered on the NYC site this week:

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Outdoor ice-skating season kicks off at six rinks this Saturday. We've got a comprehensive list of NYC's 10 outdoor ice-skating spots.

Our focus on Red Hook, Brooklyn continued with a roundup of places to play in the neighborhood, both indoors and outside.

In honor of Halloween, we visited Brooklyn's creepiest museum: the skull and specimen-filled Morbid Anatomy.

Other Halloween posts included amazing pics from Long Island's Rise of the Jack O'Lanterns installation, a roundup of NYC's best door-to-door trick-or-treating spots, scary zombie fun for teens and an infographic with the real safety hazards of Halloween (hint: poisoned candy isn't one of them).

At the Brooklyn Children's Museum's new STEM-themed installation, school-age kids can learn about biology, robotics and technology at hands-on stations.

This week's WeeWork projects included an up-cylced trick-or-treat tote and fearsome finger foods.

Best bets for the weekend include costume parades, Halloween festivals and an advance screening of Disney's animated movie Big Hero 6.