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There is a chill in the air, the leaves are turning colors and therefore it is time to once again visit our favorite Halloween Haunt, the little village of Haunstville. Rather than enter the village by way of the main highway entrance I thought we could take the old country roads and enter through old highway 13. From here we will be able to see Spooky Knob and the mystical Toil and Trouble Falls. Let's see what's happening in Hauntsville this year.

As we travel up old highway 13 we will enter Hauntsville by passing under Hauntsville's old wrought iron gateway. It has been a good year for pumpkins and Doris Chapman has produced a bumper crop in her pumpkin patch. There is enough of a pumpkin surplus that Doris can sell them to neighboring towns. Her two sons, Frank and George, are preparing to make the delivery on the old wagon, a real vision of a by gone age.

To the left of the village entrance stands Harold and Doris Chapman's Cider House and Pumpkin Patch. The Chapman's apples are pressed and produce the best fresh cider. Doris is a master carver and creates quite unusual pumpkins creations.

Just inside the entrance to Chapman's Cider House property Harold always leaves a barrel of fresh squeezed cider for customers to sample. There are also jugs of cider for sale. You don't even have to bring your own mug, Harold has one available.

Running a cider stand is hard work. Harold has a couple of skinny kids that he hires for seasonal work. I see one of them carrying a pumpkin up from the shed while the other kid is restocking the apple barrel. Can't beat the price at only 5 cents an apple.

Doris Chapman has always had the biggest and the best pumpkins for sale and this year is no exception. Kids love to come and select their own. One little boy (in the lower right corner) seems to have selected one that is too big to handle. I also see Doris is busy working on one of her creations.

You can certainly pick your own pumpkin as there are plenty to pick from, including some really large ones. There are even colorful gourds for sale.

Each fall in addition to their cider and pumpkins the Chapmans convert one of their farm buildings into a haunted fun house. Village children really enjoy walking through the spooky building.

To the right of the village entrance sign is All Saints, oldest church in the village. There are a number of very old grave markers in the church cemetery and even a few crypts. Some of the stones in the oldest part of the graeyard date back to colonial times. It would appear that some of the graves can't keep their occupants in the ground. Over on the left side I see one of the cemetery residents is getting a breath of crisp fall air.

If you like to do tombstone etchings there are some really interesting stones in the old section of the cemetery.

Village residents sware that each year on Halloween night the Headless Horseman makes an appearance in the graveyard. Wonder if he will make his annual appearance this year?

Behind the church and cemetery is Haunted Hallows Lane. The lane leads from the village entrance down to the old mortuary. There seems to be quite a number of folks traveling on the lane tonight. Wonder where they are all heading?

Hauntsville is widely known for a unique little water fall known as Toil and Trouble Falls. Most of the year this little falls appears quite normal as you can see here.

However, each year at Halloween this little falls turns blood red and the splash pool at the base becomes filled with fog and mist that wafts gently over this side of the village and over to the church graveyard. Samatha the witch often comes to the edges of the pool to collect toads to use in her various spells. Village rumors say boys who visit the pool have been turned into toads as well. I have heard that fishing in the creek run off is quite good.

The shoreline of the splash pool is a haven for rats and other spooky creatures.

Just down the lane from Toil and Trouble Pond is the entrance to the Forsaken Cemetery and the old village mortuary. Both residents and "visitors" to the cemetery may attempt to enter the gate and take the long stairway up past the pool to the cemetery entrance. I see a couple of guests attending a funeral heading on up right now.

The old horse drawn hearse has just discharged the latest graveyard resident to be and the pall bearers are preparing to take the coffin for its final journey to the graveyard.

Towering above the entire village is Spooky Knob. For more than 2 centuries folks who have lived in the area have claimed the that mountain is haunted. But surely that is just an old tale---right? I thought we could walk up tot he grave yard and see the old tombstones and get a bird's eye view of the village. That is we could, if you dare. . .

At the top of the stairs above the pool is the entrance to the Forsaken Cemetery. A pair of old skulls mark this entrance. There are several quite ornate grave markers in this section.

Old Jake, the cemetery caretaker, appears to be running a secondary business producing Bonemeal. At least he won't ahve too much overhead as he seems to have plenty of resources available for free. If you don't like creepy critters watch where you step when around old skulls.

There are a couple of benches up here where we can sit for a rest if you like. Just ask the two guys if they would mind moving over. Looks like there is someone occupying Ghost Cave. I always thought that was just a rumor.

Just beyond the bridge over Toil and Trouble Creek is the area Hauntsville residents claim is the witch village. But those are just tales meant to frighten children --right? Let's take a look, shall we??

Witch Hecate lives just past the bridge. She is known for her spells cast on brooms. I see she has a new one hovering at her command. Witch Henrietta Newtoaster seems pretty satisfied with her new broom. She even has her cat enjoying a ride on the broom handle.

Beyond Hecate's house are the witch gathering places known as the boiling kettle (located just below the glowing pumpkin lit tree) and Stonehenge. Witches gather here in the evening to dance and cast spells. At tne end of the pathway is the stairway to the Witches' Pub. The sisters Regina and Pricilla Trotbottler are busy sweeping the stair so since they have cleaned a pathway for us we might as well walk on up.

At the top of the stairs stands the old windmill and then the Witch's Brew Pub. The pub is a popular hang out for witches after midnight. The popular roasted toad nuggets have caused the pub to open a fly-in pick up service. You can see Nora Newtbuster flying in from the right to pick up her order right now.

Just past the pub stands the Witch Flight School where all witch children learn to fly brooms under the stern eye of witch Verruca Millipedegrunter. The children better listen closely to the lessons taught as just behind the Flight School as several rather fearsome flying creatures.

High above the citch community stands Blackmoor Castle home of the fearsome wizards Guxprix and Eclivius who specialize in the breeding and raising of dragons. Currently there are two black dragons in training at the castle and I see there is a new hatchling bursting out of its shell on the far right.

The csstle is watched over by the great Forest Dragon Scatha. Scatha seems to have his eye on some little flying witches in training at the flight school. Hope Verruca has placed enough protective spells around the school to keep her students safe.

From up here on the rim of the Witch Community we have a grand view of the of the valley below and the residents who live there. I can even see Grimsley Manor and their banner celebrating this year's Ghouls' Gathering. Maybe we should go on down and see if we can crash the party.

As we walk up the lane, past Toil and Trouble Falls we next come to R.I.P.'s Tombstones. RIP has opened a stone quarry at the base of Spooky Knob and make headstone for the residents of the Forsaken Cemetery as well as the church graveyard.

The Grimsley's own the carriage house, located just up the lane from RIP's Tombstones. Last year they rented it out to a would be "scientist" who said he was working on a magical experiment. He seems like a nice enough fellow, but I don't remember that white fence along the edge of the property being there last year. Just like on the lower pat of the Lane that we saw earlier there seems to be quite a few folks walking along the lane.

Behind the carriage house stands the old windmill. The guy standing next to the windmill looks like one of the scientist's experiments gone wrong.

Looks like the Grimsley's party is just about to begin, it seems the last of the "guests" are arriving. Once they walk past the garage, they will be ready to party.

At thefar end of the lane is the old Johnson farmhouse. Before this area was developed into a modern extention of Hauntsville Ben Johnson and his wife Martha farmed this area. When Ben retired, it seems he sort of let the farmhouse go to ruins. It will take more than a coat of paint to fix this place up.

The Grimsley Estate is all lit up and ready for the party. Let's see if we can get a better look.

It would appear that the Grimsleys have gone all out for the party. They have some of Doris' pumpkins stacked near the house, a butler seems to have a tray of toad pizza ready for the arriving guests, and they have some beautifully carved gargoyles set up as yard statues.

Getting good help would appear to be a problem even in Hauntsville. The yardworker the Grimsleys hired to cut the grass seems to be taking a nap while on the job.

The anual Hauntsville Hayride is preparing toget underway. The wagon leaves from just behind Doris' pumpkin patch and will take children throughout the entire village.Jim Hansen always decorated his year for Halloween. He has done a nice job with the pumpkins, and the scacecrow. It seems some of the village kids and having a "trick" at Jim's expense as they have p laced a For Sale Sign in front of his house.

To the left of Jim Hansen's house stands Gravely Manor. It is one of the oldest homes in the area. The Gravely's keep to themselves most of the time but to do like to get out on Halloween night. I see they are heading out for the evening right now. Perhaps they are going to attend the Grimsley's gathering tonight.

Down the sidewalk from the Gravley's home and next to the Fun House is the usually quiet neighborhood of Elm Street. This is one of the most popular streets in all Hauntsviile for the children to visit for Trick or Treating. Residents along the street usually do a good job of decorating for the season and providing lots of goodies for the children. On the right below you cansee the Halloween week bulleting board listing all the events in the town for the night.

There are quite a number of children Trick or Treating along Elm Street tonight. Grandpa Hampton has drawn the assignment of watching the children while they are out on the street tonight. He seems to ahve brought along his newspaper to help pass the time. Most children arrive on Elm Street just by walking out their front doors, but there is one child who is coming up from u nder the sidewalk? Couldn't have just arrived like everyone else?

With all the colorful leaves this time of year, my favorite street to see is always Elm Stree. The p lace just seems to come alive at this time of the year. Perhaps the seasonal lights help.

The residents of Elm Street are good old fashioned blue collar folks and most seem to like to workwith their hands. Every house on the street features homemade seasonal ornaments. Check out the "BOO" Ghost the paper luminaries.and the handmade ghosts on these houses.

The James family always reserved several very large pumkins from Doris for their annual Pumpkinman that stand in front of the home. This year they have added a spooky tree to the right of their stairway.

Another home made touch is the crash witch hanging on the tree right above the Miller's produce truck.

We have come to the end of our annual tour of Hauntsville. As always there was plenty to see along the fall lanes. Thank you for coming along for the tour.

I hope that you will return next year for another visit to the timeless town of Hauntsville. We will be expecting you! Also don't forget to come back to the caveonline.com

in December for a tour of Dicken's Christmas Village. If you enjoyed the village, please sign the guest book by clicking on the link below.

HAUNTSVILLE 2014