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How to Trick-or-Treat in the Haunted Woods


by seahorsepond

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Ah, Halloween. The time when ghosts come out to visit and pumpkins begin to smile in a cheerful and strangely eldritch way. It’s also the time when trick-or-treaters dress up in cool costumes and go out asking for candy. But are you ready to go on the ultimate trick-or-treating adventure, a visit to the Haunted Woods? Beware; this challenge is not for the faint-hearted.

Whether you are a trick-or-treating newbie or an experienced trick-or-treat master, a guide always comes in handy. So I’ve written down some important information about most of the Haunted Woods denizens and how to trick-or-treat at their residences. Think of it as your guide to who gives out candy and who gives out slimy things with tentacles.

So, on to the guide!

Edna’s Tower

Edna is a green Zafara, but more importantly, she is also a witch. She lives alone in a huge tower where she spends all day working on potions, trying to find a potion that will turn her into a super model. For obvious reasons, the tower where she lives is called Edna’s Tower. You can recognize the tower by the lime green glow that shows through the windows and cracks in the walls.

Inside the tower there are shelves upon shelves of horrid ingredients that Edna likes using in her potions. There is also a broom (it’s only for decoration, Edna never leaned how to ride it correctly), and most importantly, the cauldron. That’s where Edna mixes her vile potions.

Tip 1: Edna is very generous with her treats, so stopping at the tower is a must. However, you may want to eat quickly before anything mutates and/or walks away.

Tip 2: No matter what slimy snack Edna gives you, don’t complain. That is, unless you want to wake up tomorrow to find you’ve turned into a Mortog. Don’t ask for an avatar, either.

The Brain Tree

The Brain Tree is said to be the only tree to ever have developed intelligence, but I wouldn’t say that anywhere near the Money Tree, if I were you. Basically the Brain Tree is a grouch. He just sits there quietly in the woods, waiting for someone to walk past so that he can boom out his demands.

It’s fairly easy to distinguish the Brain Tree from the other trees in the Haunted Woods. For one thing, there’s only one tree in the whole forest that isn’t a sickly grayish-blue color, and that’s the Brain Tree. The second way you can recognize it is by the huge brain growing from the Brain Tree’s branches, hence the Brain Tree’s name. And for those of you with low observational skills, there’s a sign hanging above the tree which states: BRAIN TREE.

Tip 1: It’s unlikely that the Brain Tree will give you anything if you don’t do a quest. And even then you will have spent so much time trying to find out who in Neopia Bob the Aisha is, as well as when and where he died, that you won’t have the time to trick-or-treat anywhere else.

Tip 2: If the Brain Tree doesn’t give you anything, you can join the throng of Neopians playing mind-numbing games and telling lame jokes all around (yet out of reach of the branches on) the tree. This can be loads of torture to the poor tree who can’t move from his spot rooted in the ground.

Eliv Thade’s Castle

Eliv Thade is supposedly the ghost of a Kacheek who went mad from trying to solve an incredible riddle, however many Neopians point out that Eliv is pretty solid and looks nothing like most ghost pets. They suggest that he is actually undead, a sort of zombie with a taste for riddles instead of brains.

Eliv’s castle is one of the most popular creepy places to visit; after all, it’s smack-dab in the middle of the Haunted Woods. You can recognize the place by the slimy moss on the roof and the way that the lights turn on and off whenever you look at them.

Tip 1: You have to be pretty brave to trick-or-treat here. Lots of Neopians just avoid the castle (scaredy-Kadoaties!). You’ll just get a handful of stale and moldy candy, but at least you can brag.

Tip 2: Say “krict-ro-tater” instead of “trick-or-treat”. It’ll probably go over better that way.

The Esophagor

At first sight, the Esophagor just looks like a melted green-blue blob. At second sight he seems like a big mouth with red eyes. And... that’s about all there is to the Esophagor.

The Esophagor roams around the Haunted Woods wherever he pleases, though no one is quite sure how, since he doesn’t have any feet. Much like the Brain Tree, the Esophagor likes sitting around doing nothing until some poor Neopian comes across him. Then he demands to be fed. Some wonder why in Neopia the Esophagor knows where and when Bob the Aisha died, since he doesn’t ever leave the Haunted Woods. Or does he?

Tip 1: Don’t trick-or-treat here. You’ll end up giving the Esophagor your whole candy hoard before he gives you one treat, and it’ll end up being worth one neopoint, too.

Tip 2: Some pets that go to see the Esophagor never come back. If you hear “Get me fooooood!”, run for your life.

The Game Graveyard

The Game Graveyard is where old games go to make room for new games. With them go all their characters and avatars, unless they’re lucky enough to move into the next version of the game. It isn’t just unloved games that are buried here, both Destruct-O-Match and its usurper, Destruct-O-Match II, were scrapped in favor of the shiny new Destruct-O-Match III. And that’s just one example of favorite games vanishing without a goodbye.

Now, falling blocks of stone can’t tell the difference between Tyrannia and the Game Graveyard, but neopets like the Gelert from Kau Korral can. Those poor pets are very sad and lonely and would really like a visit.

Tip 1: The Game Graveyard neopets may be sad and lonely, but more importantly they have candy for trick-or-treaters.

Tip 2: Don’t stay in the Graveyard too long or you may get buried along with the next set of games.

Some Neopians don’t consider the following places to be a part of the Haunted Woods. I’ve listed them separately.

The Gypsy Camp

The gypsy camp is a great place for anyone who wants to hear a story or have their fortune told. The camp is a very mysterious place, and no one really understands it, except maybe the gypsies themselves.

No one ever finds the gypsy camp by looking for it. If the gypsies don’t want to be found, you won’t find them. But if you do happen to stumble across the place, you’ll be able to recognize it by the tents and awesome little houses on wheels. You can also recognize it by the lack of a sign telling what it is.

Tip 1: You’ll probably get lots of treats here, but you have to be extra polite. Hopefully, you won’t be the main victim- er, character in the next Haunted Woods plot.

Tip 2: Stay away from the Elephante. Trust me on this.

Neovia

Neovia is an old fashioned place; it was pretty unknown until more than half the townspeople turned into monsters simultaneously. Since the curse was reversed, Neovia got a lot of attention and became overcrowded. Nowadays Neovia has been hidden from most Neopians, and only a privileged few can ever find it.

You can’t recognize Neovia because you’ll never find it. And don’t ask the gypsies where it is, either.

Tip 1: Don’t put Neovian sweets in your trick-or-treat bucket because Neovian sweets tend to be really sticky and you’ll never get them out.

Tip 2: Give the Esophagor your Neovian sweets; when his mouth is stuck closed, you can steal his candy hoard.

The Deserted Fairground

Tucked in a faraway corner of the Haunted Woods lies the Deserted Fairground. The whole place is nothing but perfectly honest and fair. Yes, I can honestly say that the fair is chock-full of lousy neopoint-wasting rigged games.

You can always tell once you’ve stepped into the Fairground. At first it seems deserted, but a second later you’ll find you’ve become everyone’s favorite customer.

Tip 1: This isn’t a good trick-or-treating place; you’ll lose all the treats you already have, along with all your neopoints. And you’ll also lose your hat, your socks, and the lettuce stuck between your teeth.

Tip 2: If you manage to weasel a treat from one of the carnival barkers, you should think about buying your own booth here.

So there you have it, the ultimate guide to trick-or-treating in the Haunted Woods. So stop standing there and go trick-or-treating... Trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat!

 
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