Talk about scary: Halloween’s only a few weeks away and you’ve done nothing to prepare. Quit your howling and shrieking. DailyCandy’s got you — and your kid — covered.

And What Are You Supposed to Be?
Everyone knows the holidays have been co-opted as a promotional tool. Halloween, with its opportunities for impersonating Disney characters and storybook wizards, may be the worst. Charlie Crow‘s costume Website — blessedly free of marketing tie-ins — offers charming, well-designed standbys, like animals (the lion is adorable!), knights, and pirates. Being British, they refer to the wares as “fancy dress.” Fancy!

Carving Artists
For every activity you do only once a year, there are experts who’ve made it their livelihood. Pumpkin Masters is a squash-centric company that believes the art of pumpkin carving has nothing in common with the lopsided, blank-faced jack-o’-lanterns you’ve known. Their site offers advice, product descriptions, and even free downloadable patterns. Yankee Harvest, meanwhile, sells all the stuff you’ll need to do the job.

Treat Me Right
Warn your children now. Families claiming to distribute “nature’s candy” to trick-or-treaters should be avoided. (This is not the time for raisins, people.) A better alternative to mini Musketeers? Pretty Morgen Chocolate, molded candies in seasonally appropriate shapes. For toting their quarry, give them a nifty update on the plastic pumpkin with a personalized trick-or-treat bag.

Lighting Scream
It’s not a holiday until you redecorate. Why not save up your energy for for the season to come and go with a few playful accents instead, like adorable candy-corn candles and tarantula candleholders.

Ghost Writers
Nothing says spooky like a good ghost story. Problem is every time you try to tell one, you end up cracking up or forgetting the ending. Leave it to the masters: The Edgar Allan Poe Collection features venerable scare meisters Vincent Price and Basil Rathbone reading tales by America’s granddad of creep. If the kids can’t sit still for it (or get too freaked out), you can always pop in a Halloween classic like It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown or The Nightmare Before Christmas.

There. All better. Horror story averted.

Now you’re free to start stressing about Thanksgiving.