Let me apologize up front for any lost sleep as a result of this post. Feel free to bail now if you are prone to screaming or fainting at the sight of scary scenes because today’s topic is loaded with them. Now, on the other hand, if you are a fan of Halloween as much as I am you will be quite happy! We held our annual Halloween Party a couple of weeks back. A staple for that event is the Haunted Trail that Paul R. and I create for the guests to enjoy .. if they dare. Similar to last year’s trail (link here), the 2013 version was a definite labor. On a previous post it was mentioned I ran the Screaming Pumpkin Marathon Relay (link here). Taking two laps of that event puts me at the Half Marathon distance which closes out my race season for the year. The details of that race can be obtained in that related post, but the key aspect of that race is that it ends at midnight which means we do not get back home until close to 1:30am. The energy drain and the lack sleep w0uld be enough on its own, but the day after the race … or depending on how you look at it, the day the race ended, was the day of our party! The week leading up to the day is spent making sure the house is ready to go, water is hauled to fill the well and the yard is ready for the bonfire. This allows me to focus on building the Haunted Trail once the race is over. To get everything done I need to start the process no later than 9am. From 9 until 15 minutes before the party starts (5:30pm) I am pretty much on the go hauling the decorations into the woods, making sure all the danger areas are taped off, putting up the trail path lights and then crafting the trail experience. This year Paul even came out earlier (1pm) to allow more time for setting up his decorations – pretty much tradition these days that we are finishing it off as the guests are starting to arrive.
Another tradition is each year we go bigger and bigger – last year we took the big step and added power to Paul’s side all the way down to the bridge. Upping the game we added power to my side this year! If this keeps up we just might have to start the day before (in the future we hope to pull if forward to get it away from the race and fit with our schedules better). I took pictures of all the decorations along the trail both during the day and then tried to capture them again at night – used my camera phone so the pictures leave a lot to be desired .. although that might actually add to the spookiness. Rather than overload this post with all the images, figured it would be better if I just highlighted the new elements of the trail. Please visit the full gallery up on Smugmug to experience all the Haunted Trail has to offer (link here) – note, they were placed in the reverse order as they appear on the Trail. Additionally you can visit Paul’s website to see the pictures he was able to take (link here).
The pinnacle of the new decorations this year has to be the clown head. Everyone knows by now I HATE CLOWNS. My adage – the only good clown is a dead clown. Turns out Halloween City must have taken this to heart because sure enough, they had a DEAD clown. When Linda and came upon this while perusing the aisle, my eyes lit up. There was no way we were going to pass up a decapitated clown with a meat hook through the skull.
Pretty creepy eh? Not as terrifying as a real clown but still pretty creepy. The next addition to the trail came from my parents. They know of my affinity for this holiday and tend to pick up items they find that fit the bill. Always appreciated their openness to my weird hobby. The skull below actually glowed nicely in the night – oh, did I mention the Trail at night is nearly pitch black except for the decorations and small lights that outline the walking path? The thick woods doesn’t let a lot of ambient light in which really enhances the experience. You can actually see the stakes in the shot below – those have velcro on them that holds little LED nights. I do not want anyone getting lost down there especially since it parallels a stream and this year the hedge apples were raining out of the trees – the path had to be rerouted from last year for the safety of the guests.
Hit the jump to see all the new decorations… unless you are scaaaarrrreeeedddd.
Continue reading The Trail of Tears – The Haunted Trail 2013
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