Opportunities abound for frightening family fun
■ Local organizations will offer
mazes, haunted houses and
a Celtic festival for the family
By Courtney Sweet
for the Emerald
With Halloween just around the
comer, many University students are
looking for ways to celebrate the holi
day. Whether people are searching
for the perfect hay ride in a pumpkin
patch or just a way to scare them
selves silly, Eugene has a wide vari
ety of Halloween options available.
Scream in the Dark is a haunted
house hosted by the Eugene Active
20-30 Club, a local nonprofit service
organization benefiting children’s
charities in Lane County. According
to Arnie Morosky, the organization’s
marketing chair, the haunted house
features a maze of rooms, including a
jungle room and graveyard. Local
high school students volunteer for all
the acting roles in the house, such as
ghouls or prisoners, he said.
Scream in the Dark runs today
through Sunday and Oct. 30 and 31
and is located at the Lane County
Fairgrounds. Admission is $5, and
participants can get $1 off with a
coupon from Taco Bell, a Bi-Mart
card or the donation of a jacket for
the Coats for Kids campaign. All
proceeds from the haunted house
will go to 20-30 Club charities.
Spiral Star, another local non
profit organization, is putting on an
all-day, family-oriented Celtic festi
val Sunday at the Knights of Pythias
Hall, located at 12th Avenue and
Lawrence Street. According to Sue
Sierralupe, the program director,
the festival will offer costume and
jack-o-lantern contests, a mystery
maze, games, crafts and workshops.
At 7 p.m., Celtic band Tom's
Kitchen will perform, and at 8 p.m.,
there will be a public ritual honor
ing “faery folk," Sierralupe said.
Workshops will run from 1 to 6
p.m. and include discussions about
herbal magic and the four phases of
the goddess, she said. While the
workshops are for adults, the festi
val as a whole is family-oriented.
“Other (events) include children,
but I want (this) to be for kids," Sier
ralupe said.
Turn to Organizations, page 8C
Jonathan House Emerald
Anders Christensen crawls through the Lone Pine Farms pumpkin patch, looking for a pumpkin that is just the right size.
Creativity, comiort and craziness add up to a good costume
■ bo witn tne old standbys—
witches, ghosts and goblins—
or get a little costume crazy
as a blade of grass or Billy Idol
By Steven Neuman
for the Emerald
It’s almost Halloween. Is it time to
dust off the ubiquitous Dracula cos
tume, gory-looking mask and robe,
witch hat or fairy wings? Maybe not.
With some creative tinkering, this
year’s costume doesn’t have to be
the same one worn in sixth grade to
gather candy.
Brett Shanley, a freshman anthro
pology major, suggests that people
try to think outside the box.
“It’s not really that exciting to go
as the same thing that everyone else
has done for 50 years,” Shanley
said. “Some costumes are just tired.
I would say that people should try
to get a costume that reflects their
interests, and people should realize
that it doesn’t have to be expensive.
This year I’m going as a Russian sol
dier from the Cold War. I found this
incredible woolen coat and soldier
hat at a sidewalk sale, and the entire
(costume) cost me $4.50.”
Paul Andersen, who is studying
theater arts at the University, also
hammered home the concept of cre
ativity.
“I’ve never really done a lot of
work in theater that’s involved really
heavy costuming, but Halloween is
everybody’s chance to be a costum
ing expert,” he said. “You get to de
sign whatever you see fit. Besides,
you want to stand out, be different.
“I don’t think there’s anything
worse than going to a party and see
ing someone else with your cos
tume,” Andersen said. “If you go as
a Moulin Rouge girl, you’re just ask
ing for disappointment. ”
“We get wierd requests,
but usually the wierdest
(costume requests) tend
to roll in last-minute.”
Amy Clancy
saleswoman, Nobody’s Baby
While some might consider Hal
loween costumes childish, costume
parties have become increasingly
popular with adults, according to
local professional costume rental
shops, such as Antrican and Imagi
naries.
Andersen suggests letting a child
ish nature be the guide for interest
ing costume ideas.
“I would try something like your
favorite cartoon character as a kid or
something else from your child
hood. Nothing could be funnier than
the ’80s right now. Maybe go as Rain
bow Brite or as Billy Idol,” he said.
If creating this year’s costume is
out of the question, there are several
costume shops that will rent out
cutting-edge costumes that might be
a perfect fit. Nobody’s Baby, at 365
E. 13th Ave., has been renting cos
tumes for more than 15 years and
specializes in costumes with a cre
ative flair.
Amy Clancy, who has been a
saleswoman and customer at No
body’s Baby, has seen just about
everything.
“We get weird requests, but usu
ally the weirdest (costume requests)
tend to roll in last-minute, just be
fore Halloween,” she said. “I once
had a guy request a costume for a
blade of grass.”
The shop not only takes weird re
quests, but also provides unusual
offerings to choose from.
“I think that our ‘Blarney’ cos
tume is the most screwed-up. It’s a
bootlegged ‘Barney’ (the dinosaur)
costume that is all ill-fitted, and the
head is all messed up,” Clancy said.
According to Clancy, it is impor
tant to wear costumes appropriate
to the environment so the wearer is
comfortable.
“When someone comes in and
says they want a costume, we drill
them on what they are interested in,
but also what the party is like,” she
said. “You don’t want to be going to
someplace inside that’s going to be
really hot wearing a Chewbacca cos
tume or something skimpy to a par
ty outside. You’ll freeze.”
Steven Neuman is a freelance reporter
for the Oregon Daily Emerald.
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