In my nearly 40 years, I've been to a few haunted houses. From freaking out with my brother at one at Somerset Elementary School just a few seconds after stepping inside to actually taking part in one at a business in Milroy a few years ago.
Normally I try not to get too scared, but I don't know what came over me at the haunted house at the elementary school. I was probably in the fourth grade at the time and a skittish child. But eventually I got a little braver.
While I?lived in Duluth, I?visited the "Haunted Ship" at the William Irvin. During the Halloween season, the ship is decked out with creepy scenes and actors playing ghoulish parts. It's kind of had a hazy interior which added to the effect.
I?remember one of my friends getting teased a little while we were walking through the different parts of the ship. We also knew one of the actors providing the atmosphere, so he joined in on the heckling. I?guess becoming an adult helped me overcome that fear of "haunted houses."
Fake blood, pretending certain foods and other products are "brains"?or "guts," coffins, people in white faces tend to be the norm at most haunted houses I've been to and this weekend I?get to check out the one in Clarkfield.
It's at the municipal building and is a fundraiser for Relay for Life and the local food shelf. If you or your kids are a tad afraid of the dark, kids hour is from 5-6:30 p.m. today where the lights are turned on (I'm going during that time mainly 'cuz it's easier to get a few somewhat decent photos, not that I'm scared or anything...). Kids can trick or treat at each station and a hayride has been added which is from 5-7 p.m. "Scary time" for older children and the adults will be from 7-9 p.m.
Southwest Minnesota State University will have its annual Residence "HALLoween" from 5-8 p.m. today where kids can trick or treat through the residence halls. The university students decorate the halls with different themes from "scary" to "non-scary."
Admission to the event is one non-perishable food item or $1 per child and it's for children up to grade 6. I took photos at the event last year and kids both young and old get into the spirit of the holiday. Plus there's candy, candy, candy.
Back to my lifelong experience with Oct. 31. I've dressed in such costumes as a cheerleader (I?assembled a costume with borrowing a skirt and pom-poms from my cousin, a yellow cheerleader sweater from another cousin and the "R" from my Dad's letter jacket) to Stevie Nicks from probably the '80s (this was when I was an adult of course, plus the only blonde wig I was able to find in the amount of time was curly-haired, which Nicks sported back in the day). One of the best times involving Halloween was when I?was a freshman in college.
There was a decorating contest in my dorm and it was probably the one and only time we all collaborated on anything. We had covered our doors with gray tablecloths to resemble tombstones and wrote on them with neon yellow highlighters. We built three-dimensional trees out of paper bag material.
Then we added a few black cat cutouts and other Halloween-related items. Throw in a black light and a strobe light to make it look like the trees were moving, we had the overall scary effect. And we won the contest.
Can't remember for the life of me what we won as it was more than 20 years ago, but I do recall it was just plain cool.