Oct 14, 2014

Halloween Web - Ked

On the chopping block today is a ghoul that's always got something spooky going on at his place this time of year...

Ked5

For the people in the home audience, tell us a little about yourself.

My name is Ked. I am one of Halloweens biggest fans. I am an avid home haunter, thrower of the best Halloween parties in the land and I also run a small little blog "Something wicKED this way comes". I have worked on an advisory board for 2 national haunted attractions and still work with local community haunts to fund charities. Thankfully my wife is also a Halloween nut!

Ked4

What was Halloween like in your neighborhood as a kid? 

Halloween during my childhood has to be some of my fondest. My Great Grandmother was born on Halloween so we always had a HUGE costume party right before Halloween night (she wanted to be home for Trick or Treaters on Halloween itself) . Elaborate games, costumes, and decorations were just the norm for me. Even after she passed, we continue to celebrate Halloween in grand fashion!

Halloween night for me was just the greatest time ever. We lived in a great old town where you could go from door to door up until midnight with complete safety. The dentist down the road would give out toothbrushes. The teacher up the street would give out pencils and erasers.  The caterer across town would hand out hand made popcorn balls shaped like jack o'lanterns and hand dipped candy apples. Almost all the houses in between would hand out treat bags. I mean bags of candy! Like a popcorn bag FULL of candy! It was truly a magical time. We would always roll my best friends house with toilet paper...not because they did not hand out treats, simply because it was fun and he usually helped! I have to say...Halloween was truly magical for me...in every sense of the word.

Ked2

Any favorite costumes from Halloweens past?

I always have liked the black robes and heavy cloak of death....but I think my favorite was my Zombie outfit from a few years back! It really put the fear into the kids...and most adults too!

Ked3

Do you have a particularly memorable Halloween story?

A close friend of my mother's had asked us to come and scare her guests at a bonfire one night, right before Halloween. I was 17 at the time. My best friend, Uncle, Mother and myself all dressed up and headed over. They were in a big field near the woods by a farm. We parked down the road and made our way up to the hay bales laid in a ring around the bonfire. My mother was dressed as an old crone and looked quite horrific. My Uncle (who is about 6'7") was dressed as a backwoods hillbilly type. The best friend was a generic hockey mask and jumpsuit wearing psycho with a machete and covered in chains. I decided to be death complete with custom black robes and cloak with bones hand gloves and a large (real) scythe!

Needless to say, all the guests were unsettled and one in particular (a teenage girl) was on the verge of nervous breakdown and refused to look at us. We did not say a thing, just simply circled around them slowly several times before heading down the road. As we left, there was a large drainage ditch (about 5' deep) that I did not see and I fell in it. To the poor girl who was so frightened, it looked as if I had just disappeared into the ground leaving behind a scythe that seemed to balance in the air on it's own for a few seconds before falling loudly to the ground. They ended up having to take the poor girl to the ER due to hyperventilating.

Ked1
Disclaimer: no kitties were hurt in the making of this picture

What do you think it is about Halloween that keeps it in our hearts as we get older?

What is there not to like? It comes during the season when everything is cooling off, the leaves are changing, and football! Halloween is a feeling more than just a holiday. It is the spirit that keeps us young as the days grow old. It is the celebration of the unknown, the what if, and the what we hope can never be! For one night a year, you can literally be somebody or something else! I feel that by celebrating death and the known of the afterlife, we tend to find that life is oh so much sweeter! Plus, who doesn't like the adrenaline rush of a good scare? Both giving and receiving!

Ked6

What do you do to celebrate Halloween these days?

We have a HUGE Halloween party every year. Always the Saturday BEFORE Halloween.For decades it has been known as "The wicKED weeKEnD Halloween party". There is gross food, games, costume contests... truly an amazing party that has to be seen to be believed. Then on Halloween night, we have a yard haunt. We go all out with lighting, fog machines, animatronics, you name it! The kids get a real kick out of having to fight through "The wicKED Woods Cemetery" to get a treat. The decorations go up the last weekend in September and we just add to it daily till the high holiday itself!

Do you have any yearly rituals?

The Halloween Party and the Yard haunt is a given. We always start out the season by watching the Home Haunters Videos to get inspired. Down time always consists of pumpkin flavored ale and Trick R Treat, Halloween, Hocus Pocus, and a good mix of Freddy and Jason. My wife and I also carve a forever pumpkin...funkin...foam pumpkin...whatever you want to call them. We carve 2 new ones each year to remember our Halloween. We have a small army of jack o'lanterns now. Not to mention we start "Halloween Hunting" right after labor day, which is just scouring the nearby towns for the first signs of Halloween decor! There are also 2 local pay haunts that have been around forever in my home town and we always visit multiple times!

KEd7

Inside the Spooksters' Studio

The worst thing to get while trick or treating was a toss up between toothbrushes, pennies, and peppermint candies.....I guess I hated the mints worse than anything. You see them all year long, especially around Christmas....besides...who really likes them?

My favorite thing to get was big fat treat bags brimming over with all kinds of creepy Halloween themed goodies....if I had to be more specific, I would have to go to the full sized or KING sized candy bars. It was like finding a pearl in an ocean of fun sized treats.

Where can folks find you online?

You can dig a lot deeper into my soul by checking out my Youtube channel, my Facebook, and my Blog.

Thanks for stopping by, Ked and sharing the great photos!

There's still time to enter to win the Halloween Mystery Box or a postcard from Salem MA.
Click here to find out how to enter.

Before you head off to your next house, swing by Halloween Mixes.
They're posting a themed mix album every day of the month!

And of course, check out all the other folks participating in the Countdown to Halloween!

4 comments:

  1. Thanks for doing this. It was a pleasure as always!

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    1. Thank you for taking the time. I really appreciate all the responses.

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  2. Ked and his family are fabulous! Judging by his FB posts, there's ALWAYS some sort of party going on at the Wicked Woods Cemetery! And sending a girl to the ER from shock... he doesn't take his Halloween duties lightly!

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    1. Although he and I share a similar taste in faceless creeps, it's probably a good thing for the world at large that we don't live closer together :D

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