I'm the guy with the mallet and stake. Knott's Halloween Haunt circa 1977.
When I was a little tyke, my older sisters would turn off all the lights and prop me up in front of the TV to watch (now) classic horror films like Dracula, Frankenstein, The Crawling Eye, The Blob, The Beginning of the End, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, Them! and on and on and on. Wide-eyed we’d watch with titillating delight. Someone would always scream out and clutch another’s arm or leg sending us all into a squealing frenzy. Spooky stories in candlelit rooms or closets supplemented times between our regular fix of TV scares. The occasional thunderstorm would only enhance the experience. It was great fun!
So when Halloween came around, we were amped! It was our once-a-year chance to live out our wildest, most frightening and spine-chilling fantasies…not to mention looting a grocery bag of candy that would provide a sugar high for weeks to come! The clear, crisp southern California autumn nights and the annual airing of It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown signaled our preparations. We’d carve pumpkins when we could afford to buy them, but our budget generally only allowed for what our imaginations could purchase – anything we could make with discarded cardboard, construction paper, our parents old clothes, and my sisters’ make up.
- The 12-inch Single is my favorite part of this.
We went about the task of cutting out and painting tombstones with epitaphs of our neighbors – always a favorite – and tying fine fishing line from tree limbs and house eves to simulate invisible spider webs – which always freaked people out when they’d brush their faces. I’d run speaker wire out to the front planter and mount speakers in the underbrush, then hook it up to my little reel-to-reel tape-recorder on which I had recorded scary sounds and movie soundtracks. The overgrown planter, which obscured the walkway, combined with the huge tree from which I was known to hang myself were already frightening enough – but when we turned off the lights and the moaning cats, chains, hacking, screams, and slashing musical tracks emanated from the bushes, it was downright bone-tingling… and irresistible.
Donning our ghoulish, “bloodstained” clothes and appearing as “dead” as possible, we raced from door to door yelling, “Trick or treat!” with throngs of other kids filling our normally quiet neighborhood streets with screaming and giggling. The “baby-boom” had been wildly released for this one night of madness – seventy-eight million sucrose-crazed children running rampant! America at its best!
- Mark pantomimes at Knott’s Berry Farm’s Haunted Shack for Halloween Haunt circa 1976
Of course when we became too old to “Trick or Treat,” there was no way we were going to stop having macabre fun. It was perfectly natural to continue to create thrills for new generations of little beggars. So we continued to build haunted houses with sound effects, tombstones, coffins, stuffed dummies and dress up people who were made to look like stuffed dummies. For the few years that I worked at Knott’s Berry Farm, Halloween Haunt was a big highlight for me. I’d jump up on top of the “Haunted Shack” and do strange pantomimes to entertain the crowds, playing on the popularity of the recently released The Rocky Horror Picture Show. I’m not sure why, but the girls loved it. Perhaps it was the an-tici… …pation.
Halloween at the Ferrell House
One of my very favorite things to do over the years was to “hang” myself over our front porch where I’d conceal a wireless microphone in one of my available pockets. I’d hang motionless to emulate a dummie (no comments from the peanut gallery – I’ve heard it already ;^) ) so the little kiddies would be brave enough to approach. “See? I told you he wasn’t real,” I’d hear as the older brother urged his little sister to ring the doorbell. Their ever-so-slightly sadistic parents would wait at the sidewalk holding back laughter knowing full well what was about to happen next. I remained perfectly still as the front door would creak open. Rebecca would spring out screaming, “Helloooo my little pretties!” The younguns would jump back momentarily, then would be overcome by two desires – 1. Get some candy and 2. Get the heck outta there!!
- “A short drop and a sudden stop.”
Just as they’d grab the loot and turn to run, I’d flip around and scream into the mic, amplifying my tortured outburst throughout the neighborhood using the full force of my very loud DJ system. They would run screaming like they were shot from a pistol to their hysterically laughing parents while I’d try to soften the trauma with some quips like, “Hey, why don’t you come back and hang around with me?” and “Come back! I’m dying to talk with you.”
All the noise would then attract the next group. And so it went. Families would come back year after year to see what we’d do next and revel in the fun of being frightened. Some would even join the production and, over the years, friends from out of town would visit and dress up to participate. Of course, we came up with new ways to terrify the marauding children each year, which kept things fresh and interesting, but we’ll save those stories for future Halloween posts. What a blast!
Like everything in life, Halloween is what you make it. For some folks, sadly, it represents an opportunity for paranoia and negativity – a narrow view and imagined true evil. For others, it is a celebration of creativity, imagination, good-natured fright, and safe playacting. It’s a once-a-year sugar fest. In a word, it’s FUN. It takes kids and parents out from in front of their smartphone and computer and TV screens and puts them into their own reality “show” – even if their “reality” is make-believe for the moment. You are the star of the show.
Just as we design our fun and imaginative Halloween fantasies today, as the author or our own “reality show,” we have the power to design our lives. I hope you make your glass “half full,” you find the “silver lining” in your clouds, you see the rose and not the thorns, and that your bag is stuffed with goodies!
Today is going to be so much fun! BOO!! MMWWWAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAA!
And… You can quote me on that.
©2011 Mark K. Ferrell
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Thank you Mark for always continuing to remind us that we have “the power to design our lives”. I see my glass as half full and your friendship fills it up to the top.
Thanks Carl! You’re one of the people I know that don’t need much of a reminder. My cup runneth over.
Great post! Wow. Maybe next year I’ll do more than dress up the dog
You’re invited, Stacie! We’ll make the kiddies jump out of their skin! I know you can be scary.
Thoroughly enjoyable and really funny.
I’m glad you enjoyed it Larry! Thanks for your comment.
I hope you had a fun Halloween!