Halloween at Dreampark

[dreamshark]

Richard changes his Halloween getups frequently. This one (like my Plague Doctor mask) isn't very practical for longterm wear, but it's probably his most terrifying. No, he did not wear it for giving out candy. His thing is to delight the kids,  not scare them.


For the 2nd year, he used a candy chute to dispense candy remotely. This changes the entire trick or treating dynamic, since now he is sitting out on the lawn instead of on the front stoop, so he dragged the fire pit around from the back patio to add a little more dazzle and keep him warm. It was a busy night, starting with the little kids and parents about 5 pm and continuing through 10pm when he finally agreed to call it a night and turn off the lights. The candy count metric said we had 551 kids, but he subtracted 20 for accidental double dispenses with the candy chute and called it 531 - still a record! 

Comments

[quadong]

Neat!

The candy chute comes with a clicky counter, I guess? I can't quite tell from that last picture how it works. Did have to stand up each time to set it off?

[dreamshark]

No, no, just a length of PVC pipe wrapped with orange duct tape. He counts the candy first and then counts what's left at the end.

[quadong]

Ha ha, yes, that makes more sense.

[ihavenoarms]

nice

[bibliofile]

Awesome. All of it.

I have never in my life lived in a neighborhood with that much activity. Though you're probably a destination house, too, which helps.

[dreamshark]

Yes, we are definitely a destination block. Richard has been doing his increasingly over the top Halloween decorations for 15-20 years and is locally famous. People being the tribal animals that they are, the rest of the block has joined in with their own decorations each year, and the result is quite a celebration. The last few years we've been blocking off the street and moving the cars to turn it into a big block party. Fun!

Judging from what I've heard from other people and seen on sites like Nextdoor, this has been an odd Halloween year. Popular blocks like ours saw record activity, but quieter neighborhoods have been totally dead. Not sure what the dynamic was there. Maybe people were unsure if Halloween was "on" or not so they drove around looking for areas with lots of obvious Halloween activity?