At our age, my wife and I don't 'Trick or Treat' and our kids are grown up that they go to adult Halloween parties. However, we get to see what's going on in the neighborhood through social media and dinner conversations with friends. This brings me to a couple of things.
Each year, the local high school have been putting on a 'haunted house' the weekend before Halloween. It's always free, but donations are accepted. This year they started Friday evening and Saturday. The seniors always put on a good show, with lighting, costumes, sound effects, etc. and this year was no different. We haven't been to one in a few of years as the kids are older now, but a friend of ours went as he has younger children. He told me that they have, like previous years, set up rooms in the school where you go down a darkened corridor and look in.
They had a: 'Mad Doctors' room with a back lit cloth showing a silhouette of a operation where it looked like entrails were being pulled from a live patient. They had a Victorian style bedroom, where Count Dracula was burying his fangs in a sleeping maiden and then they had a 'House of a 1000 Corpses' room where the bad guys were tormenting four cheerleaders, who were all bound a gagged! He said that one of them was his niece! No pictures were allowed because of the flash and it was too dark to get an image anyway.
Saturday, my wife and I went to see it for ourselves, only to make a donation you understand. Guess what, that room was closed! We just found out today that some parents felt it was too 'sexual'.
After dinner, we drove though the town nearest where we live to look at the displays. Some outstanding, some not so much. One residence had a stake in the front lawn with bundles if twigs and wood and had that lit up underneath with orange and yellow cellophane and a fan that looked like very realistic, moving flames. Tied to the stake with rope (and lots of it), was either his wife or girlfriend dressed as 'Elvira, Mistress of the Dark' and she looked the part too! The make up, bouffant hair, cleavage, split dress, dark hose and heels. That was it (as if that wan't enough!) There were no other decorations, just 'spooky' music playing in the back ground.
She was talking to the folks on the sidewalk who were watching. She played the part well and was full of wisecracks! Things like: "Hey can you help me? I'm starting to get hot flashes!" "When he invited me over for stake, I thought he meant dinner!" "You, yes you....you got a fire extinguisher on you?" and my favorite was when she spoke to a young boy with his scout uniform on. "Hey kid! You must be good at knots. Gimme a hand!" This went on for a few minutes then the front door of the house suddenly opened and the guy dressed as a monk, strode out. You couldn't see his face. He then climbs up behind her on the platform, whips out a black bandanna and gags her! I couldn't believe it! My wife said: "Glad you came?"
We watched for a few more minutes as 'Elvira' wriggled around and 'Mmmumphed' for a bit, then the monk came back out and took off the gag, where she immediately went back into playing the part, corny jokes and all to a new (as I recall), larger audience. Neither my wife, nor I, had our phones and the Town doesn't have a Facebook page, so I will see if I can find a photo, photos or video to share.
Halloween is now becoming my favorite time of the year!