Not to be a wuss at Halloween, Jess of Guv’s Place in Houlton returns to her typical outdoor nightmare scenes, as well as inside displays — and a favorite band, Saving Starz, is providing the music — at their annual Halloween party on Friday night, Oct. 25.
Patrons will see dozens of scary creatures both inside and out, as Jess is back with a vengeance after limiting things a bit last year. That was because work to the Stillwater bridge kept some people from getting to Houlton — and having the fright of their lives.
“I buy new ones each year,” Jess said of her lifesize monsters, then added to look around her. There are six new creatures this season, almost all of them bigger-then-life bats. One is positioned right where a lot of people order drinks, and it shrieks whenever there is a noise, (it’s doublely loud when somebody orders a double?). Various bartenders say these type of displays creep them out late at night before the holiday, but Jess is not dissuaded.
She noted that there are different themes each year, aided by the fact that so many monsters are donated to her by well-wishers, if I can use that term on Halloween. She put up the decorative creatures in phases starting as soon as September turned into October.
Then of course, there are Jess’ favorite, the creepy but amusing clowns, three of them by last count. One hangs over and surveys the people playing video poker, holding the sign “Carnival of Horrors.”
On Friday, two or three hours before their Halloween party starts, she plans to erect her 20-by-20-foot tent in the parking lot, complete with bar, then deck it out with ghoulish decorations. They include those who have been popular and eccentric, stand-up characters in the past, such as Uncle Charlie and Hazel the Witch, (yes I got the word order right, as the remedy Witchhazel, by comparison, would constitute a frightful brew to drink). For now, Charlie fittingly “is hanging around somewhere,” Jess said earlier in the week.
There are also frightening trees in the classic outdoor display, done up in a way that only Jess could do. Like in many cases, there are skeletal-looking hands with spider webs interspersed. Jess said she waits until the last minute, then takes the decorations down right away, to keep them from being stolen.
The decorations inside also are heavy on skulls, most bony and others with pealing, rotting flesh, as well as winged creatures. The ones with these appendages are often seen hanging from the ceiling, and the wings at times are large and draped like an indoor tent — sometimes with shredded ends for a more graphic look.
There is little actual blood or gore, and the mayhem that befalls some of the creatures is mostly suggested, rather than being too grisly. Such is the case with a smiling ape sitting inside an iron maiden.
Some monsters use their long wingspans to spread out banners that say things such as “Beware, enter at your own risk.” That one last season was draped over the entry to the back room.
However, noticably missing right away was a more-graphic-than-usual hallmark of last year’s display, an old man on a rack being electrocuted that sat in a corner where there now is a darts game.
About the only other place where there is a dearth of decorations, because of space reasons, is a new cooking area. A creature or two that were there had to be moved — to another graveyard? — when the installation recently ocurred.
Jess said earlier in October that much of her outdoor display might need to be erected under the cover of darkness, as a recent full moon stood watch up above to ward off evil spirits.
The outdoor end of things wasn’t put up last year, since the weeks-long repair to the Stillwater lift bridge at that time was limiting customer traffic.
But at this year’s party, the acoustic duo Saving Starz is back, with music starting at 9:30 p.m. There are various costume prizes at midnight, with a different theme established by judges each year to help them with their choices. Serving drinks will be shot girls, not from just any brew, but the ones from Pearl Vodka. And there will be a killer drink special on buckets of Budweiser, (make that one a Bud Fright?)
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