Hooked on Halloween

Most of us don’t think of Halloween for almost a full year, until gruesome retail displays and cooler weather remind us to search our closets for dusty decorations.

But the more, ah, devoted – that sounds better than “demented” – fans of the holiday plot decorations and scheme their scares year-round.

Take Gage Mueller – otherwise known as the Grim Reaper.

“Halloween is my holiday,” said Gage, 34, a computer-software salesman.  “My wife does everything else.”

Throughout the year, Gage collects objects for his costume and to decorate his yard. Kids make a point of coming down Yarwell to be scared out of their wits.

Gage stands on drywall stilts and drapes himself in a black cloak. At 10-feet tall, he’s an imposing figure.  Zach Nathan, a sixth-grade neighbor, said the Grim Reaper costume is so frightening, it’s “for kids who can handle it. I hope to dress like him this year.”

For the first few hours of Halloween, Gage dresses like a clown so as not to scare his 4-year-old daughter, Layla, but after her bedtime, Gage changes roles and prepares for an evening of terror, ignoring the fact that “it’s ridiculously hot in my costume.”

“I usually stand very still in the yard, and trick-or-treaters pass me by thinking I am a decoration. Then as they pass me again, I move, and they totally freak out.”

With any excuse to play dress-up, Jay and Stef Levy and friends David and Laura Favaloro went as the band Kiss.

Laura and David Favaloro of West University are Halloween devotees, too. These 42-year-olds, both from New Orleans, ditch their business attire for costumes every year. “I think our love of dressing up comes from our background of Mardi Gras and parades,” said Laura, an attorney.

Once, they and friends Jay and Stef Levy dressed up as the band Kiss for a Halloween party. The four spent a hilarious few hours applying makeup they’d bought through the Kiss website.

“David had gotten chains modified at Bering’s and went as Gene Simmons.  He kept a packet of red Kool-Aid in his pocket so he could stick out a red tongue,” Laura said.

One year, David, a company executive, went as Fabio, the Italian fashion model known for his romance-novel covers. David wore a fake dead bird in his hair, reminiscent of how Fabio collided with a bird while riding a rollercoaster during a theme-park promotion.

Last year, David was busy shuttling his daughters to parties, but he didn’t let a prime opportunity to dress in costume pass him by. To 13-year-old Courtney’s and 10-year-old Allison’s chagrin, the dad driving the car was Billy Ray Cyrus.

If you live in the Tanglewood area, you may be lucky enough to go down Doliver Street.  You’ll think aliens have landed when you see the 40 or so 3-foot green figures swarming the lawn and trees at one house.

Jerry Rebman's house promises whimsical costumes, decor and all-around fun every Halloween. Jerry is pictured with friend Corbett Childress Kimball (left) and sister Maura Murto. (Photo: www.hartphoto.com)

Jerry Rebman, a retired 50-something electronics designer, snatched up every one of these aliens when he spied them at Target a few years ago.  Also, he said, “I built a metal spacecraft made from old fixtures that I repainted and rewired with a strobe light.”  His friends built a graveyard, and Jerry and a friend designed a cable-pulley system so that a ghost flies across the yard.

For costumes, Jerry becomes a wizard, and his sister, Maura Murto, flies in from Arizona to wear her pig costume. Jerry’s friend, Corbett Childress Kimball, holds court as a fortune teller.

“Our Halloween display gets bigger every year,” said Jerry, who has been doing Halloween up big for 20 years. “We give out 100 pounds of candy. It only lasts about 21⁄2 hours. That is how many trick-or-treaters come by our yard.”

A few miles away in Hunters Creek, one young resident decided that getting into the Halloween spirit could be a community-building experience.  While out for a bike ride, 9-year-old Nick Johnston became frustrated at the lack of bustle and fun in his Memorial neighborhood.  Speaking at a Hunters Creek City Council Meeting, Nick proposed a Hunters Creek Scary House Halloween Contest. The council approved his idea. (For contest details, email [email protected].)

Nick can’t wait to see the entries this month.  As a judge, he said it wouldn’t be fitting for him to enter, but he still plans on making his own house scary.

“I want a graveyard, and you definitely have to have skeletons,” he said.

His expert advice to others is to consider ghosts and fog – and “eerie stuff.”

Editor’s note: In the true-Halloween-fan spirit of planning ahead, The Buzz Magazines invites readers to send us your photos from this year’s Halloween. Include photo details and contact information. Send to [email protected].