NEDERLAND - With All Hallows’ Eve approaching, those who always have their costumes ready, those habitual trick or treaters, have enjoyed a surplus of spookiness as local businesses suddenly become full of cobwebs, swarmed with bats, spiders, and skeletons, and decked out in orange, black, purple, and green.

Thrill seekers were able to test their mettle at TEENS, Inc. on Saturday, October 26, where the staff and students designed, organized, and managed Halloween Ned. The fundraising event featured a haunted house that led those brave enough upstairs and through a daunting challenge of one’s fortitude.

Those who survived the haunted house found themselves released to the other side of the building, where back downstairs they were welcome to enjoy carnival games, sweet treats, and a magic show by Doc Murdock.   

Also on that Saturday, over at the Carousel of Happiness, the animals were all dressed up in their costumes, awaiting visitors to the Halloween Funday, where children of all ages could enjoy the puppet theater, play carnival games for prizes, decorate their own pumpkins, and of course ride the carousel. 

The Carousel of Spookiness is also hosting their annual Costume Contest and Halloween Carnival Fundraiser. For just $1, contestants can take a photo of themselves in costume and submit a Google form to enter to win various prizes.

All submissions are voted on online on the Carousel’s Facebook page: https://m.facebook.com/CarouselofHappiness/ .

The Google submission form can be found here: https://square.link/u/jba1UdjY.

And you can pay the $1 submission fee here: https://forms.gle/i8343DkpwXEnaDdZ6.

Tickets for the Halloween Carnival Fundraiser can be purchased for a dollar and are either used for one guess at the Candy Corn Count, or to play the Spooky Hunt scavenger game to gather clues and solve a riddle. Contestants’ tickets will also be used for entering into a final raffle drawing to possibly win a Carousel of Happiness gift certificate, hoodie, or rental for their party room.

But Halloween isn’t just for kids, as there are plenty of grown-ups in Nederland who also enjoy the dark and macabre, and luckily Very Nice Brewing Company (VNBC) was there to indulge them.

On Sunday, October 27, VNBC hosted a night of sublime and subdued spookiness at their Nederland taproom with Jack O Lantern Paint and Pints. Local artist Danielle Crouse facilitated fellow art lovers and Halloween enthusiasts as they painted portraits of a petrifying pumpkin. Each artist sipped on their tasty VNBC beverages as they added their own flourishes and personal touches to their masterpieces. 

On Halloween night, as the Old Town neighborhood becomes bustling with trick or treaters, be sure to stop over at the Caribou Village Shopping Center, where several businesses will be handing out candy and other goodies – like Brightwood Music, who give out kazoos for the kids every year.

The Carousel of Spookiness will be running later into the night, until 8 p.m., and will be offering $2 rides for anyone in costume. VNBC will also be hosting the Nederland Food Pantry’s Halloween fundraiser, which will offer a scavenger hunt for kids, a costume contest for all ages, as well as for our furry friends, and a silent auction featuring amazing prizes. 

The Carousel of Spookiness will be running later into the night, until 8 p.m., and will be offering two dollar rides for anyone in costume. VNBC will also be hosting the Nederland Food Pantry’s Halloween fundraiser, which will offer a scavenger hunt for kids, a costume contest for all ages, as well as for our furry friends, and a silent auction featuring amazing prizes.