Halloween: Haunted Woods and Some Other Stuff!

Tons of Neopets love candy; in fact it's the busiest time of year for the Chocolate Factory. They must make sure every Neopian who stops by gets enough candy for the younger pets that come to visit on Halloween night. But besides the obvious, what else is there?

The dares, of course! One of the most common places to want to visit on Halloween night is the Haunted Woods. Neopian schoolchildren aplenty will dare each other every year to go adventuring into the Haunted Woods subjecting themselves to endless torture on the place. So what exactly is in the Haunted Woods to make it so scary?

Besides the no longer working fairground and the stone Battledome, there are creepy things like the Brain Tree. This tree is rumored to give you impossible to answer questions; your job is to find the answer. Which leads us to...

The Esophagor. This lump of... umm... stuff here is actually considered a type of villain in the Neopian world. What he actually wants is food. It's rumored that if you get a Brain Tree quest you should hunt down this lump of stuff and get him the food he requires. When you get the food he'll give you one of the answers to the Brain Tree quest. However, if you just go there to feed him, which is nice and a bit weird, then he'll give you a present in return.

There's a typical haunted house; this place is spooky enough. The place is rumored to have such a scary history behind it that most Neopians don't ever want to hear it. So, well, we hope that whoever haunts this house rests in peace on Halloween night.

Then there is the castle of Eliv Thade; this guy is just creepy. He seems to be nothing more than a floating head (surely the work of incredible technology instead) that has an insane liking for anagrams. There's a story that a Usul named Gilly went into it once, and whether she came back out or not, nobody really knows. There's various answers, of course, and many Neopian adults like to tell the creepy story on Halloween before their children go out, a way of trying to keep them away from the castle and, hopefully, the Haunted Woods itself.

Then there is Edna's tower; she seems to be a creepy Zafara witch. She spends her time in her tower with her cauldron doing spells. When a Neopian comes by and stops in, she gives them a request to get her an item. She also tells you that she's the one to go to if you want some sort of potion; creepy, no? Even though there is no option to actually ask her for a potion.

So there you go; that is what is in the Haunted Woods. We could go explore the deserted fairground, but the fact is is that it isn't actually deserted. There are still shopkeepers up there, and the ghostlike Mynci still seems to want you to play his game of Test Your Strength. So if you have enough courage to venture into the Deserted Fairground at night, well, then I wish you the best.

Here are the top five safest places (in my opinion anyway) to go trick or treating in Neopia!

1. Your neighborhood. While it may still be decorated all creepy, you can rest assured that plenty of the Defenders of Neopia will be roaming around as well. Extra protection. Plus you Neopians all know each other which will add all the more security to your travels.

2. The Lost Desert. I must warn you, however; the Lost Desert is really hot even at night in the cooler hours. The chocolate may melt before your Neopian children come home. However, it is safer despite the melting chocolate and the heat.

3. Terror Mountain. Perfect! It's cold so that your younger pets don't have melted candy and it happens to be filled with all sorts of friendly people to help your Neopet out. Plus I bet the Neopian Neggery will have very interesting candy on this night.

4. Neopia Central. This place is just overfilled with friendly Neopians just happy to help fellow Neopians out. I must say that this is one of the safest places a Neopet can go trick or treating. Plus, if they need any added Neopoints, the Neopian Bank is right there ready to be used.

5. Last one I'm going to mention is Altador. King Altador and the Hall of Heroes is here! Plenty of people to go visit and the heroes are right there happy and willing to help any poor Neopian in need. I'd say that this is a close second, if not the best place to go trick or treating in the world of Neopia.

So now that you have the best, perhaps the worst places to visit is next.

1. Jhudora's Cloud. Plenty of us have tried to do her quests and one of the first prizes she gives out for helping her is a Poisonous Lollypop. I wouldn't be surprised if she gives these out on Halloween as well. Try to stay clear of Jhudora on Halloween; who knows what devious item she'll have to give out to unsuspecting Neopians tonight.

2. Krawk Island. While pirates are probably the coolest types of Neopets in Neopian history we must not go visit them on Halloween. Not that they probably won't give your Neopet a chocolate treat this night, but Pirates are known for their thirst for loot. Instead of getting chocolate, your pet may end up losing all the hard-earned candy they just collected. So perhaps Krawk Island should be avoided tonight.

3. Darigan Citadel. Who would want to go to this creepy place anyway? Despite that, though, it's full of dangerous Neopets. Just steer clear and be safe, okay?

4. Virtupets Space Station. Okay, so it isn't dangerous or cruel in any way, but I have a feeling that if Sloth is going to have any sort of devious plan for Neopets, he's going to use his original idea of keeping with the Grundos. Besides, who wants weird space candy in the first place? Well, you can go if you want, but I'm staying far away from Virtupets Space Station on Halloween night.

5. Meri Acres Farm: Rubbish Dump. Not dangerous, either, but think of all the germs involved!

So despite the bad parts of the Haunted Woods that we've covered, there are some other places that you should avoid listed above. Okay, so I steered off course when it came to the Haunted Woods, but I thought I'd give you some pointers as well. I hope you have a safe Halloween!