HAUNTSVILLE 2012

Once again fall is upon us and the time has come to make our annual trip to the forgotten little town of Hauntsville. There have been some changes since last year so let us see what haunts await us in the village for 2012

Witch corner is always the "spookiest" section of town. Every fall the forest above the cemetery and near Grey Lake emits the sounds of cackles and howlings. Folks in town tell tales of witch sightings in the sky, but that sort thing has to be silly, right?

Mordecai Mould, the town mortician and the caretaker of the Forsaken Cemetery. Mordeicai keeps himself busy all year rearranging the grave sites so that although the cemetery had been in use for more than 100 years, it never seems to get full.

I wonder if Mordecai Mould's fertilizer business has anyting to do with the number of open grave sites?

We probable should leave the cemetery since it looks like funeral is about to take place and we don't know the deceased.

Behind the tombstone maker is a secet staircase that leads upinto the forest and Lake Grey. Half way up the stairs is the Little Witch Flight School where novice witches perfect their flying skills under the watchful eye of Professor Minerva McGonagall

Once the novices master basic flying, the training continues over Grey Lake. If you look closely you might see several witches practicing flying skills over the foggy lake.

Above Grey Lake is the heart of the Hauntsville Witch Coven. Here witches brew their potions under the instruction of Ester Slughorn, Chief Potions Mistress. At Stongehenge the witches whirl and twirl around the blazing bonfire.

At the top of the hill stands the witches' favorite gathering place--"The Witches Brew". Here the gals can fly in for a quick brew and catch up on the latest witchy gossip.

I see Hagatha is flying in for her evening brew right now.

Just to the west of the Forsaken Cemetery stands the tombstone factory.

Further to the west, and next to the tombstone factory, is Hauntsville's Mortuary run by Mordecai Mould.

Small wonder that Harry Johnson is running away from the Mortuary. With the Grim Reaper handing out candy, a Werewolf and a skeleton leaping over tombstones in the yard, I'd run too.

A new feature in town this year is Grimsley Park. The landscaping was of course donated by the family as well. It comes complete with safety fence, benches, plenty of bats and is of course is visited by Death on a Pale Horse, a Banshee and would never be complete without a Halloween visit from Brom Bones.

This year the kids of Hauntsville decided to try trick or treating along what is commonly known in town as Dead Man's Lane. On Dead Man's Lane, next to the Mortuary is Hauntsville's officially haunted house. At least that is what the kids say. There is a family that lives there but the kids say "they aren't for real." Next to the haunted house stands the old farm house that belongs to old Pa and Ma Kettle. Strange noises are always heard coming fromtheir back yard, bu no one will ever go back there to see with is going on.

The strange couple that live in the Haunted House.

Pa and Ma Kettle's farmhouse. They certainly seem to have a lazy yard boy who never seems to get their grass cut.

I can see some pretty scary thing trying to get out of their backyard.

Above Dead Man's Lane stands the Grimsley Estate property. The property was made from the pit of the old stone quarry so all the walls a real cut stone. Access is by tunnel passage entered from the Farmhouse backyard and is well guarded to keep out unwanted guests. The Grimsley's occupy the house on the right. Gargoyles have always been their favorite pets, the the property has many statues of bygone "pets". The local Wizard lives inthe house on the left, but his gargoyle pets look considerably more menacing than those of the Grimsleys.

Secret entrance to the Grimsley properties.

The Wizard's "pet" gargoyle

The town of Hauntsville has always shown an abundance of fall colors. The maples along Front Street always show their bright orange folliage.

Steen's Maple farm is the village icon, selling its tasty maple syrup all throughout the area.

Doris Jenkins has been growing and carving pumpkins for as long as anyone can remember. Once again this year she had plenty of pumpkins both for local sale and export to neighboring towns. The pumpkin wagon is loaded and ready to make a delivery to Sleep Hollow.

Doris Jenkins' pumpkin patch.

Doris has always hired local kids to help with the pumpkins. I wonder where she got this year's youngster from?

For me fall has always been apple season. Nothing tastes better than a ripe fresh picked apple off the tree, unless it is the taste of fresh squeezed apple cider. In Hauntsville, no visit would ever be complete without a stop at the Chapman's Apple house where the finest and freshest apples and cider is always available. From looking at the Chapman's oak tree I cansee that not all the witches in Hauntsville fly in the old forest. At least one might need some more trai ning as it appears she ran into the venerable oak.

The old village players' theatre always puts on an anual Halloween play. This year it will be Phantom of the Opera. The audience is arriving now. Just up the hill from the theatre is the housing development called Haunted Hallows. The Williams have the first house on the lane.

The Williams' house is well decorated for the season. Paper lanterns are lit and hung in the old oak tree and the yard is filled with homemade Halloween decorations. The Williams also have a small farm attached to their yard. It looks like the corn crop did well this year.

From the Williams house on the right it is a short walk to the Jenkins house. Not only does Doris carve pumpkins, but she creates paper bag luminaries for her front yard as well.

Let's go up the stair to the upper section of Haunted Hallows.

The old Victorian style house at the top of the hill has always discouraged trick or treaters from stopping by. Maybe it is the just the personality of the strange folks that live there.

Every year the Wilson are so me of Doris' best customers when it comes tobguying pumpkins. They always do creative displays like this year's pumpkin scarecrow.

The celebration of what we call Halloween originally came about because it was believed that at the end of October the thing veil that separated the spirit world from the real world was thinnest at this time of the year. Everyone, centuries ago, had seen the "ghost" that flew in the field this time of year. They certainly did not understand that these "ghosts" were just the wind blowing the mists formed by the mixing of the ward air rising from the earth and the cool air caused by autumn winds. As a result traditionally church attendance rose this time of year as people looked to gain help in warding off the evil spirits. Hauntsville's church always hold services on All Hallow's Eve for the village residents. The church door is always open.

Thank you for visiting this year's recreation of Hauntsville. While I enjoyed construction this edition and really like the look of the display it was one of the hardest to photograph. The sheer number of trees that i used to create the "look" I wanted blocked so many camera views, unless you were on the level and size the the local residents. Still, I hope you enjoyed your visit. See you next year.

Please click the link below and sign my guestbook. Thank you.