With Halloween only a week away, children and adults alike are thinking about costumes, candy, ghosts and goblins.
Throughout Greenville, Hortonville and New London numerous events will be held — some that promise to make you scream, others that offer not-so-scary fun for young children, and yet others that are intended for the whole family.
Many of the area’s Halloween events are annual traditions, like Greenville’s “Fright Night in the Park,” the New London “Haunted Trail,” and Hortonville’s costume parade. But New London Public Museum Director Christine Cross wanted to offer something new. She’s organized a free “Haunted History Party” that will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. Along with games, storytelling, crafts, prizes and treats, visitors are invited to participate in a historic person costume contest.
“I wanted to do something different,” Cross said. “I thought this would be a way for people to think about history in different ways. It’s a different twist from a regular costume contest.”
To be eligible for prizes, participants must dress as someone who lived at some point in time or is still living.
“People could go as far back as Julius Caesar or come as someone more recent like Amelia Earhart or Howard Hughes. We’re encouraging people to have fun with it,” Cross said.
Beginning Thursday, families can travel less than a mile away to Hatten Park for spooky sights along the “Haunted Trail.” The fourth annual event, hosted by the city’s parks and recreation department, has become a tradition, according to Ginger Miller, recreation supervisor.
High school student volunteers have conjured up 15 “scare stations” along the 20-minute walk through the woods, lit by hundreds of jack o’ lanterns.
“The theme this year is old school scary,” Miller said. “We got most of our inspiration from old movies like zombies, werewolves and vampires.”
New this year is a visit on opening night by the Wisconsin Hearse Organization, which will park its vehicles near the park shelter for the public to view.
“Each car has its own display,” Miller said. “Some are funny, some are scary. They’re all different.”
The “Haunted Trail” offers a non-scary hour for young children, as well as a scary session later in the evening.
“A lot of haunted houses are too scary for little ones so we make sure this is a more family-oriented event,” Miller said.
The same theory applies in Greenville at “Fright Night at the Park,” which begins tonight at Community Park. There is a “lights-on” hour for children as well as a “Shrieks and Thrills” time period.
The Greenville Civic Club has hosted the event for years, which features a haunted pavilion, pumpkin decorating, a DJ, a bonfire and a hayride through Special Memories Zoo.
Paul Barry, president of the club, said more scary features will be included at the zoo this year, along with costume contests on Saturday and Oct. 31. Winners, divided into age groups, will win cash prizes.
“We’re trying to charge it up a little bit this year with the costume contest,” Barry said. “It promises to be more fun than ever.”
