Not that long ago, I was strolling through the aisles of Walmart with my mother and we spotted the first Halloween merchandise of the year: a couple of baby onesies in the classic variety of bats, skeletons and more. Considering it’s only July, I was surprised. Surprised, but not disappointed.
Halloween has always been my favorite holiday. I used to spend months thinking about my costume and would map out the best trick-or-treating route on my bike a couple days before the big event.
In my eyes, Halloween is a month-long celebration. While I would focus on October 31 when I was younger due to the trick-or-treating, I now take advantage of the entirety of spooky season.
It wasn’t until college that I realized the joy of haunted houses. Just miles from my house in Wisconsin was Burial Chamber - “Wisconsin’s Best Haunted House Complex.” I had always thought it would be fun to be an actor here, but the idea of actually attending Burial Chamber as a guest had never crossed my mind.
I finally went my freshman year of college, going all out for my first haunted house experience. When I went in 2019, there were three main attractions: Adrenaline, focused on the classic in-your-face experience; Insanity, looking to scare you both mentally and physically and Phobia, the only outdoor experience. They have since added a buried alive experience, which I think is still a bit too much for me.
Haunted houses aren’t the only thing I enjoy about Halloween. Dressing up is fun, though I never have the skill or money to go all out like I want to. I could spend hours walking through costume shops, seeing both the trending mass-creation costumes and the smaller DIY additions.
While growing up my family didn’t do much for outdoor decoration, I loved going through the neighborhoods to find the best and most decked-out yards. The recent trend of the 12-foot skeleton has been my favorite thing in years. While I don’t own any outdoor Halloween decor, I think my inside collection rivals my boxes of Christmas decor, which is saying something.
Another wonderful part of my spooky season is going to places nearby that are supposedly haunted or locations of old true crime cases. While most of the short trips I took with friends for this purpose simply led us to roads or bridges in the middle of nowhere with similar stories, there was a more extreme location we had the chance to go to.
When attending the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point, I lived only half an hour from Plainfield. This is a very small town, with a population of under 400, and is known around the world for one thing: Ed Gein.
For those that don’t know, Ed Gein, also known as The Plainsfield Butcher or the Grandfather of Gore, was an infamous murderer and body snatcher. He is often called a serial killer, though he only was convicted of two murders. People around the world know him for his horrific mutilation of at least nine corpses, including his mother.
Gein is buried in the Plainfield Cemetery next to his mother and his brother. (Very unfortunate considering besides the corpse mutilation, he is suspected of killing his brother.) His own gravestone no longer sits at his final resting place, as it had been stolen a number of times in the past.
One year around Halloween, I went with a few friends to find his grave. Though it is known that he is buried there by his family, it is still hard to find the location in the cemetery. We spent around half an hour looking before we finally found it.
Many people find us going to see his grave strange. Usually people do this to pay respects to lost loved ones or those in history they admired. Obviously, this is not what we were doing. Instead, besides our interest in the macabre in general, we knew that Gein played a large role in shaping horror media into what it is today.
The novel, and eventual movie, “Psycho” was loosely based off of Gein. Classic horror characters from movies such as “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” and “The Silence of the Lambs” were based off of this horrible person.
Despite going to Plainfield with interest, we all felt unsettled when we left, deciding to play my playlist of Halloween music to cheer us up. However, that feeling doesn’t stop me from going to similar locations when Halloween comes around.
As I head into my first spooky season in southwest Iowa, I’m excited to see what that time of year will bring. There might not be any Spirit Halloweens nearby, but I’m sure there’s some epic haunted corn mazes. Having my own place for the first time, I’m excited to spookify the entire thing with my myriad of decorations. Much to the chagrin of some, I’ll probably also seek out some of the supposedly haunted places in the area as well.
My excitement for this holiday continues to build, so much that I’m almost sad October is still over two months away. Usually people don’t like to wish away the summer, but I might be doing just that. Remember, only 67 days until spooky season!