Halloween is fun time for everyone
Sep 27 '00
Unfortunately, I was on hiatus during the initiation of the Halloween write off, but thanks to ACDC711 and the others who wrote great reviews, I too am inspired to share some of my Halloween experiences.
ACDC711 and others did great jobs explaining the history of this holiday so I will skip over those details. I found Jdanishevsky's perspective quite interesting. Check it out.
Like most who have written on this subject, I too have the typical fond memories of the excitement of dressing up, being allowed to wear make-up and staying out later. Remind cleverly describes the feeling of Halloween, likened to no other holiday. I too was fortunate enough to have my Grandmother make us home made costumes each year. To this day, I get excited just seeing jelly and caramel glazed apples and the thought of dunking for apples also brings back great memories.
It does sadden me to be reminded of the necessary precautions that SurgRN911 points out to us. Our need to take steps necessary to protect our children is unfortunate, but should not preclude us from passing along our customs to our children and grandchildren.
As an adult, I was never too big on Halloween parties but always joined in when invited.
About 4 years ago, I became involved in a very time consuming project at our American Legion Post, the building and creation of a Haunted Dungeon. Along with several very artistic friends, we had the time of our lives creating 13 chambers of horror.
We were afforded the opportunity to transform our bottom floor and open our doors to the community. The older folks as well as the younger members of our community flocked to our "humble" haunted abode. Each year, we got more and more into it. With a shoestring budget, we had no choice but to use our imaginations. One of our technicians came up with the idea of using black plastic to create the divided room effect.
One year we built a surgical room using items from friends who donated O.R supplies. We actually staged an in-progress surgery using sausage membrane and dyes for intestines! Realistic masks with built in motion detectors completed this ghoulish room.
Another year, we even built a guillotine. When our victims entered this room, the blade would fall with a huge bang and a bloodied head would fall into a basket! Scurrying, blood soaked rats completed this scene. Yuk!
We even have a member who works for a casket company. You may have guessed by now, that the coffins came in quite handy for scaring people.
How ingenious is this? Our chief technician sells satellites for a living. We transformed a dish into a spider web!
Black lights, glow in the dark bugs and creatures, stuffed dummies and a smoke machine and music for each room really added the finishing touches on our haunted house. Without fail, for some reason, each year around this time, I start hearing that music in my head. I guess it is all the hours spent for those 4 years.
At show time, volunteers dressed in character to help scare our visitors. I myself was fooled many times not knowing whether the ghouls were real.
Perhaps one of my most fond creations though, was the making of a Psycho room. We all remember the famous shower scene from Alfred Hithcock's thriller. Manning a jigsaw, my female cousin cut out a silhouette of a woman posing from the side. We adhered a blond wig and attached it to a wall. We then took a hula hoop, covered it with aluminum fool, attached a clear shower curtain, and created a shower nozzle with strips of aluminum that emulated falling water with a little breeze created by a fan. At show time, we had someone hiding behind the wall with a knife. Even though I worked on this, I was scared!
That brings me to a very good point that I would like to share. I was always squeamish as a child. Working on this project for the last several years, not only allowed me to indulge in my creativity. It also allowed me to take part in the great pleasure of seeing people have fun. Hundreds and hundreds of people came through our dungeon representing a wide-variety of youth and adults from our community. Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, Special Ed kids, P.A.L. kids and seniors visited - just to name a few. The biggest gift that it gave me though, was that it helped me lose my fear of horror as it forced me to look at it from a different perspective.
Our most famous room belonged to Frankenstein. Propped on an angled table, this staggering creature was well over 10 feet tall. Clad in rubber hands that were suspended by wires, and huge combat boots, "Frankie" gave many a chill. Someone would hide behind the table and when anyone passed, his hands would shake as if he were coming to life. My same talented cousin, painted a wall that resembled Frankenstein's Castle. Lab jars with fake body parts, and colored water illuminated this room to complete the eery effect. Not bad for amateurs!
I am sorry to say that we just could not fit The Haunted Dungeon into our schedule this year and many are sad but hopefully with the grace of God, we will be back next year, bigger and better than ever!
Happy haunting to all. Stay safe.
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Epinions.com ID:
Barbarajo
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Member: Barbara Jo Acosta
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