01 Nov Haunted district

Trees with ghosts, balconies with skeletons, front yards with pumpkin faces, zombies and dolls, spiders and cobweb on windows and doors.. In Outer Sunset something evil started to grow out from deep within the sweet pastel houses. We had no idea what was ahead of us that foggy night of Halloween.

Even though Norwegians started to arrange Halloween some years ago, it is a different experience to see this in a country with decades of this as tradition. Especially as a child, but also as parent. Being in Castro just after sunset, a crowd of animated faces and figures in costumes roamed the streets. Blood, skin, bones, plastic and chains was just some of the elements. But with a kid it’s recommended to avoid the area of Castro before people get unpleasantly animated in motion, so we headed back to our hood for a Trick-or-Treat walk..

In our own neighborhood they have been prepared for several weeks. From a street crossing with bus stops, we’ve been watching a man working out and testing his equipment every now and then. This included the gravestones moved out on the lawn, then removed, and put out again. The zombie, devil head and dog skeleton with a ball in his mouth was also adjusted during preparing, while he tested the fog machine the other day. On the night of horror he could probably show the best exhibition of the neighborhood, with moving creatures, sound and light. He even had live figures in costume and make up, guarding the front yard, trying to tempt us inside, and stalking us in a scary motion.

It gives an extraordinary experience for us to be invited into peoples houses to witness a performance of horror, in order to get a treat from them. What a total treat!

Soundtrack: What’s he building in there by Tom Waits

-Synne B J

(unfortunately not able to add the describing photos at the time)