The other day I was having a chat in the comment section with Susie Lindau of Susie’s Wild Ride blog. I mentioned how much I liked going on Spook Trails when she stated she had never heard of them before. That gave me the idea for this blog.

If you haven’t been on one of these trails you should find one and try it. Also known as Haunted Trails or Terror Trails, usually they are sponsored by church groups or Jaycees or similar organizations. Basically, they are a haunted house, albeit outdoors. The formula is simple, find a nice wooded area with a trail which is very dark after the sun goes down. Set up some well placed scary apparatus and dress up some folks in  ghoulish Halloween garb primed to jump out at already nervous travelers along  the trail.  Of course, free cider and donuts at the end of the trail are a must to calm those intrepid folks who have made the trek unscathed. Usually there is a nominal charge for the trail to offset costs or to go to charity.

A little story about one of these trails. One year a neighbor of ours couldn’t take their boys and asked if they could go along with me and my daughter and son. Of course I said yes. Their little guy, about 7 or 8 years old as I recall, stuck really close to me as my older kids and his older brother sped on ahead. He was wide-eyed and nervous, so when the inevitable monsters and body-snatchers and grave robbers would jump out at us, he would squeeze my hand or cling to my leg until I thought my bones would break! He was well-nigh shook up, but survived, and at the end couldn’t stop talking about how much fun it was. He turned out to be one of the nicest young men you could imagine, so I guess the experience wasn’t to detrimental to his psyche.

Anyway, I hope your autumn and Halloween hi-jinx meet your fondest expectations. In fact, if you’d like to come by our house, I’ll be happy to greet you at the door…….

Your pal, Al