We're prepping for Halloween, doing a little haunted house action for the kiddles in the University Village. As if the rows and rows of townhouses aren't scary enough. I'm thinking it's going to turn out okay, but since I am a natural worrier I have thoughts of the following: what if a kid gets hurt? lawsuit? will this give kids nightmares? will I be burning cruel memories into their tender brains? will angry parents come and find me the day after Halloween to complain? Will the guilt be worth it?
But of course I'm still going through with it. Our buddy Keith is up from LA, a professional in the scary business... he's good at getting you to jump. So far we've hung the lights, done all the shopping and figured out the layout, now we just need to get it up and running.
Brings back memories of Spooky World, a classic white trash Halloween activity. Now, I ain't putting Spooky World down, I'm just saying you have to have a little of the WT (isn't it funny that WT can mean both white trash and wide track?) in your blood to really enjoy the wonder of Spooky World. My uncle used to take me and my sister there, and I admit I found it on the scary side, but mostly because of the patrons. If you're looking to see some fine mullets this is the place to go, my friend. I'm assuming that most folks like to indulge in a little drink or smoke before heading over to this horror theme park, but I found it intoxicating all by itself. From a blacklit haunted house staffed with fluorescent clowns to the Celebrity Barn it says "klass" all the way. The first year we went we were lucky enough to see celebrities Linda Blair and Tiny Tim (God rest his soul). I'm not quite sure why they do the celebrity thing there, because it's not what draws the crowd in... just go to the website and take a gander at who they are calling celebrities this year. That's scary right there. At any rate those memories will always be close to my heart; there's nothing like a guy chasing you with a chainsaw while you're on a hayride, or an alien sneaking up behind you while you're waiting in line for said hayride.
I don't think our haunted house in Albany can ever compare to good ol' Spooky World, but I might have a chance to bring a little WT into this Halloween. Trash bags, check. Black lights, check......