In recent years, Louisville has become something of a Halloween mecca for fans of the spooky season, but 2013 looks to bring an added touch of black magic that might take the city to the next level of orange and black hysteria!
As long as I can remember, Louisville has always had a special place in its heart for Halloween. There’s something magical in the air here, where the South meets the Midwest, and when the leaves start to transform the urban landscape into a colorful wonderland of reds, browns and oranges, the people of this city start to transform themselves. They become a city of fall children ready for a jolt of trick-or-treat euphoria.
This is the Phantom of Ville bringing you my own personal Top Ten list of reasons why I think that 2013 might be the most exciting Halloween season this city has ever seen. There is no shortage of great spooky events going on between now and October 31st. Actors Theatre’s production of “Dracula,” the Louisville Zoo’s “World’s Largest Halloween Party,” the Haunted Hotel’s 24th year of terrorizing the public and trips to Caufields and Horner Novelty continue to gain new fans and loyal followers year after year.
Not every entry on my list is specific to Louisville, but they all have a connection to the Halloween spirit this city holds dear. In the end, it’s just my own personal opinions, and I’d love to hear your own favorite reasons why Halloween 2013 will be one for the history books in the comments section below or on our Facebook page.
10) The Return of the Jones Halloween Sodas: While not specific to Louisville, the Jones Halloween sodas had become sort of a sugary tradition with many folks before they suddenly disappeared from store shelves during the Great Recession when the company nearly went bankrupt. This year these eight-ounce, mini cans make a glorious return exclusively to Target shelves just in time for Halloween. You can choose from the Wolf Man’s Candy Corn, Dracula’s Blood Orange, Frankenstein’s Red Licorice and the Zombie’s Caramel Apple flavors. Personally, I had been craving a shot of Jones’ candy corn flavored soda for years!
9) The Louisville Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular: From October 10th through November 2nd, Iroquois Park will host a brand new event with 5,000 carved pumpkins lining a quarter mile trail, illuminated from dusk to midnight during the week and until 1AM on the weekends. You’ll pass through elaborately themed sections set to music into an organic “art” landscape. Check out their website at http://www.jackolanternlouisville.com/.
8) “Monsters Wanted” Louisville Haunt Documentary on DVD: Bringing the Louisville haunted attraction scene, and the city’s obsession with Halloween in general, to national attention, Brian Cunningham’s (“Overtime”) documentary follows the team of Richard Teachout and Janel Nash as they attempt to bring their dream of creating Louisville’s first haunted theme park to life. It’s a fascinating, if stressful, journey into the realm where dreams become obsessions. Also featured are the Baxter Avenue Morgue, the Louisville Zombie Attack, the Haunted Hotel and Horner Novelty. You can read our interview with Cunningham and Teachout here: http://www.louisvillehalloween.com/monsters-wanted-haunt-documentary-world-premiere-at-fandomfest/.
7) “The Uninvited” (1944) Finally Gets Released on Blu-ray and DVD: Nothing gets my pulse going quicker in the spooky season than a classic haunted house movie, a bowl of hot buttered popcorn and a warm cup of apple cider. Thanks to Criterion Blu-ray/DVD, this classic ghost story starring Ray Milland, Ruth Hussey and Donald Crisp finally sees a proper digital release on October 22nd. The story follows a composer (Milland) and his sister as they move into a Gothic seaside house on the English coast only to discover that it is very haunted! Fans have been begging for this one for years, and now it can be pre-ordered at Amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/Uninvited-Criterion-Collection-Ray-Milland/dp/B00DZP1C9K/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1380205321&sr=1-1&keywords=the+uninvited+1944.
6) “HauntedWeen” 20th Anniversary DVD Released: Shot in John Carpenter’s hometown of Bowling Green, KY in 1989, this local 80’s slasher epic finally received a proper DVD release just days before Halloween 2012, and this year it’s available for the uninitiated and nostalgic to relive our own local piece of the 1980’s horror boom. You know Jason, Freddy, Michael and Chucky, but do you know about the legend of Eddie Burber? The story follows a WKU fraternity as it attempts to host a fundraiser haunted attraction in the house where little Eddie murdered a young girl 20 years prior. Unfortunately for the college kids, Eddie has returned home is up to his old murderous tricks. How will the patrons of the Burber Haunted House know what’s fake and what’s real? You can read our interview with director, Doug Robertson, here: http://www.louisvillehalloween.com/%E2%80%9Chauntedween%E2%80%9D-1991-20th-anniversary-dvd-released/. Order your copy of the DVD at http://hauntedween.com/.
5) The Return of Frute Brute and Yummy Mummy: The buzz of the monster world this Halloween is the new General Mills’ Monster Cereal promotion that sees all five monster cereals available together for the first time in history. Frute Brute and Yummy Mummy return to join Count Chocula, Franken Berry and Boo Berry on cereal aisles nationwide while Target stores are carrying exclusive retro-art boxes. You can read our exclusive interview with General Mills here: http://www.louisvillehalloween.com/general-mills-unleashes-all-five-classic-monster-cereals-for-halloween-2013/.
4) Grim Trails and the Dead End Hotel Bring TWO New Haunts to the Ville: There’s really nothing more thrilling than experiencing a new haunted attraction for the first time. You have no idea what to expect as you wait in line, your stomach turning in knots as you approach the entrance. Halloween 2013 brings us two new haunted attractions, Grim Trails in Jeffersontown and the Dead End Hotel in Shepherdsville. You can read my Grim Trails review here (http://www.louisvillehalloween.com/grim-trails-haunted-attraction-review-2013/ ) and my Dead End Hotel preview here (http://www.louisvillehalloween.com/the-dead-end-hotel-sneak-peek-2013/ ). A full Dead End Hotel review is coming soon.
3) Classic Monsters Invade Literally a Haunted House in the Culbertson Mansion: I love classic horror! Every October, I will watch as many classic Universal Monster movies from the 1930’s and 1940’s and Hammer Horror films from the 1950’s through the early 1970’s as I possibly can. Nothing gets to the heart of everything that Halloween is about more than Dracula, Frankenstein, the Wolf Man and the Creature from the Black Lagoon. This year, Literally a Haunted House at the Culbertson Mansion in New Albany, IN is bringing us a theme of classic monsters and Gothic literature, and I can’t wait to check it out. Read our haunt preview here: http://www.louisvillehalloween.com/literally-a-haunted-house-sneak-preview-2013/. A full review will be coming soon.
2) Double the Haunts, Double the Fun on Danger Run: A Louisville Halloween institution for the last 19 years, Danger Run is doubling down in 2013 with the biggest upgrade in its history. For the uninitiated, Danger Run is a game you play in your car, following rhyming clues across the city in an attempt to come the closest to the exact mileage and competing for big prizes. The clues ultimately lead to two different haunted houses. This year, Danger Run has doubled the number of possible haunts you can experience by partnering with FOUR new haunted houses that have never been on the Danger Run course. That means you can play more than once for completely different routes and haunted houses. They’ve also added an online starting option that allows you, if you wish, to start at your own driveway. Read our Danger Run preview here: http://www.louisvillehalloween.com/double-the-haunts-double-the-horror-double-the-fun-on-danger-run/.
1) Butch Patrick (AKA Eddie Munster) is the Grand Marshal of the Caufields Halloween Parade: Caufields celebrates the 10th Anniversary of its ever expanding Halloween Parade in the Highlands by bringing Eddie Munster himself to Louisville to lead the charge! The parade will take place at 7PM on October 11th starting at Baxter Avenue and Lexington Road and ending at the Mid-City Mall. The Baxter Avenue Morgue is sponsoring Butch Patrick’s Louisville visit, and he will be hanging out and signing autographs at the Morgue during haunt hours on October 11th and 12th. For more information, visit the Baxter Avenue Morgue’s website at http://www.baxtermorgue.com/. The Caufields Halloween Parade is quickly becoming the centerpiece of the entire Louisville Halloween season, and this year promises to be the year not to miss!
There you are, Boils and Ghouls, ten reasons to be glad you live in the Ville this Halloween! Let us hear about the events you’re most excited about in 2013. I will return soon with much more Halloween news and haunt reviews in the weeks ahead.