Halloween Street '23

 November and BOOM! We all forget about Halloween, in one instant. Well, I got a few more pictures to share. There's a small town around here that celebrates Halloween like you see in the movies and TV. You'd think it's like a fantasy version of it, but I can actually go there! So we took advantage of the opportunity to wander around and check it out.

Me and Lucille here are ready to check this thing out. My friend found his old leather jacket, so for tonight he can be Negan. Are you Negan? Silly to say this because it's a character from The Walking Dead, but it was rather heartwarming to be recognized and cheered on so much throughout the night.

I've done this before, but in case you don't know, the real police close off the street around the massive beautiful gothic houses. So many thousands of people come here to trick or treat! No, we're not here for any candy, I'm way too old for that. But it's going to be fun to check out all the costumes and decorations.

This house once did a huge pirate ship, but this year it's a much less impressive, yet still amazing Batmobile. I mean, how cool is this that someone took the effort to build this thing? Golly, Batman, you're right! It sure is amazing! Um... is that a Robin skeleton over there?

House for sale? Right in the middle of this mess, no pressure! You might have to go nuts at Halloween if you decide to buy this home.

I messed up this picture, but this person was dressed up similar to the skeletons in the yard, with the matching wig. So I'm sure the plan was to surprise kids all night long.

Look back at that last picture, this was the same yard. I was thinking "Are those David Bowie wigs?" and then I see this guy over here with the Major Tom name on it and yeah, that's from the song Space Oddity. So they get super bonus cool points for the Bowie theme.

Yeeesh! That meat grinder! Might be a little too harsh for the kiddies. But hey, it IS Halloween. Let the little kids see a hideous meat grinder.

The house on this one corner does a Nightmare Before Christmas theme every year. Got a stage with Oogie Boogie for photo ops! That clown next to him looks so much more scary right now.

Not only do the police close the street, but they are handing out glowstick necklaces and bracelets for the kids!

Who has a monument in thier neighborhood? Am I in like... a Hallmark Channel movie? They don't do Halloween movies, do they?

I almost didn't post this picture but I'm too lazy to delete it. Here's one of the porch bands getting ready to play later. Notice I said "one of..." there's usually a couple of live bands at this thing!

Even without "Halloween" the houses around here are quite stunning. I managed to snap a picture of this one that looked empty at the moment.

It's pretty much agreed that this is the centerpiece house of the Halloween event. It's the one with real gargoyles on the roof. They usually have a stage out front, a new theme each year, and large crowds checking it out.

Small bummer that they are "closed" this year. I wonder why? I hope everything is okay. That's kind of implied by the "see you next year" part of the sign, but still... However, nobody's upset, because they throw a big deal party every year, so give 'em a break about it.

Big Church on the street with a funny sign welcoming seekers of "The Holy Ghost." Cheekily trying to tag along with the Halloween theme as best they can.

Checking out the river from the bridge, there's already some pumpkins floating in it. Were those "practice" pumpkins? Maybe tomorrow, there's going to be a lot more.

I've totally gotten this exact picture before, but it's still nice to get a picture of the town sign. It's huge and they must have spent some money on it, so get a picture already.

An actual scary moment! That guy is waaaaayyyyy up on the firetruck ladder! I hope that's a legit fireman or is trained to do that. I can't even imagine being up there! Sooooooo scary! 

The fire station is giving out candy, too. I'm still a little shaken up thinking about the person up on the ladder. They were climbing down very slowly, and I kinda wanted to stick around to make sure they got down okay, but that's silly. I'm sure they'll be fine.

This bridge and lake are on the other side of the street from the big town sign. Nice view.

Walking around, checking out the shoppes. This one will consult with you... about castles? Hey, I was thinking about getting a castle!

It takes Five Guys to make hamburgers, but apparently only Four Boys to make ice cream. Hmm... Is that some math I don't need to know about? How many guys for pizza? Or... tacos? What else?

Okay back up to the Halloween Street. I wasn't going to take a bunch of pictures of the costumes, since that's maybe a little rude or awkward to be taking pictures of kids an all. But that's a big part of what we are here to check out! Maybe a few far-away or blurry pictures are fine.

You can almost see the sun setting as I take the pictures. Of course, my camera is trying to make the pictures brighter than they are. I tried to get a few down-the-street pictures to give you an idea of what the crowd size was. Anybody got a step ladder?

There we go! That band is rocking loudly and drawing an audience. 

This house was on a busy corner spot. The windows are full of creepy displays with cool green lights.

This poor puppy! Do you think it has any concept of what is going on tonight? I sure hope it's a happy little puppy and not genuinely terrified with all the costumes and decorations around. Eh, it looks happy enough. There were a lot of people walking dogs through the crowd.

This house was unexpectantly getting a lighting boost out of the police car blocking the street. The red and blue alternating lights were casting a shadow on that tree which was wiggling back and forth. Neat.

Another attempt at a crowd-size picture. There's a lot of people here!

Thanks to my camera, this picture is a lot brighter than it was, but maybe you can still get the idea. At this point, I realized it was pretty dark outside, and that was significantly affecting the ability to check out all the costumes and stuff.

Okay I had to sneak in one more costume picture of these two people in Buc-ee Beaver outfits. Yay Buc-ee's!

No live band, but there's a DJ here who is showing off how loud his speakers can get. Those kids are dancing but I'm a little worried about their ears, to be honest. And then I get a feeling like, I'm not that old... never mind... turn up the music!

Here's another live band playing music. I think there was another group setting up somewhere but I think I missed getting a picture of it. Well, it's not like you can listen to a picture, anyway.

Well I took several laps up and down the street, so it's about time to call it a night. I'll treat myself to some candy later just to keep in the spirit of the night. It's always a little awkward for my goodie-goodie friend to park in the school parking lot, with the "School parking only!" signs up. I'm sure it's fine.

Safely back home. My friend's "leather" jacket was quite dry and crumbling. Almost disintegrating around him. There were lots of people who shouted "NEGAN! Oh, that's cool!" and one little kid asked if it was a real bat! No, but it sure looks good, right?! It's fun to think that wearing the jacket and holding the bat named Lucille over your shoulder gives you a great excuse to walk with a swagger and not feel like an idiot. Hot diggity dog, what a fun night!