Most Halloween candles announce themselves with a pumpkin. These do it with a slow, theatrical drip. Vampire Blood bleeding taper candles are built so the wax runs as they burn, turning an ordinary candlestick into the most watched object on the table. Bleeding candles have a particular power at a gothic dinner party, because nobody has to be told the theme. Run them down a long table in the holders you own, cluster them on a mantel for a haunted house entry, or light a pair to make a bar cart look possessed. Since the dripping is the entire point, give every taper a stable holder and a surface you do not mind protecting.
How long do taper candles burn? Taper burn time is governed mostly by the candle's length and diameter and by how much draft reaches the flame, not by color or finish. Candle makers generally advise burning tapers no more than about four hours at a session and keeping the wick trimmed to roughly a quarter inch so the flame stays steady and even.
