Lovers of all things Halloween, horror, and decorating will be happy to hear about a local online group that brings together like-minded fans of the horror genre.
Barrie’s Halloween Enthusiasts! is a Facebook group that lists the addresses of Barrie residences that take part in extreme Halloween decorating, whether it be an array of lawn ornaments and lighting, to full-blown makeshift haunted houses that visitors can explore after dark.
Curious visitors can drop in throughout the weekend up to 9 or 10 p.m., depending on each home, and of course on Halloween night as well.
Many of the homeowners are asking for donations in support of the Barrie Food Bank, Hospice Simcoe, Street Cats Animal Rescue, RVH Foundation, the Barrie Native Friendship Centre, and more.
Elsa Da Conceicao, at 69 The Queensway, has been entertaining their neighbourhood with their mountain of decorations for the past seven years.
“We have a lot more; this is just a small little sample. Our basement is full, and our garage is full,” she told BarrieToday. “Prior to COVID, we had a 600-square-foot haunted hotel in our driveway. Now we are doing more of a yard display, but we are hoping to bring the haunted hotel back next year.
“We love Halloween, and we love our neighbours. We love the kids and seeing how much fun they have with it. We usually have over 500 kids that come by here every year. We’ve always done it in support of the Barrie Food Bank when we’ve had the haunted hotel. This year if anyone wants to donate, they are more than welcome to, and we will deliver it to the food bank,” said Da Conceicao.
“It's the one time of year when you can see the genuine laughter on people’s faces. We do it for the community.”
Some visitors have already dressed up prior to Halloween, and visited on Saturday night, such as the Clark family of Barrie.
The three youngest members of the family seem to all be in agreement as to what they love best about Halloween.
“I like the candy and I like seeing all the costumes,” said Maelle Clark.
“Seeing other people’s costumes and all the candy,” added Mirinda Clark.
“I like seeing other costumes and trick or treating,” chimed in Macalla Clark.
It was unanimous.
Kelly Bourgon, the owner at 4 Maple Crown Terrace, says she loves putting on a good fright.
“We’ve been doing a haunted house here every year for the last four years, just because we love it,” she said.
“We have clowns, a lot of clowns. A lot of people hate clowns. We have a bunch of jump-scares,” which are live actors that pop out of the shadows to startle the visitors as they slowly make their way through the makeshift hallways.
Bourgon tries to bring famous horror characters to life for people.
“We have Freddy (Krueger, of the Nightmare on Elm Street horror film franchise) and the Nightcrawler,” she adds.
And her favourite part about the whole experience?
“Listening to all the screamers,” she says with a wicked grin.
The long list of addresses of participating decorators can be found on the group’s Facebook page here.
