Be afraid. Be very afraid.
Reports of a horrorist roaming free in Winnipeg’s North End have been confirmed.
OK, roaming free may be a bit of a stretch — but it sounds so scary. The truth is the happy horrorist is none other than my good friend Alan Shepard — who was actually sitting comfortably on his couch with his wife, Verna Judge, when I visited them earlier this week.
The couple is renowned for the great job they do decorating their Machray Avenue home every Halloween.
This year their yard is terrifically terrifying and includes a scarecrow with freaky eyes that just seem to follow you around the yard.
The best part is all the local kids who look forward to the thrills, chills and, of course, the mountain of candy Shepard and Judge will hand out on Wednesday evening.
Not only do they both greet the kids, but they do so in full costume. Shepard provides the fear and Judge hands out the cheer, right up until the final chant of "HALL-O-WEEN APPLES" echoes into the night.
Depending on the year — weather being a major factor, of course — they sometimes treat hundreds of costumed kids, which keeps them both hopping like crazy, filling all those bags and pillowcases with goodies.
So how did this love of Halloween come about?
Shepard says when they moved into the home a few years ago, they were astounded with their neighbour Nikki’s Halloween decoration efforts and activities, and really enjoyed seeing how much the kids appreciated her efforts — so they started their own Halloween celebration.
Turns out their boo-tiful neighbour Nikki has since moved away, so they are now the star attraction on the block. They even attended her garage sale and bought every bit of "Halloweenia" she had — stocking up their prop and costume inventory with endless possibilities for years to come.
Judge says the usual routine for the big night is Shepard in a super scary costume and matching persona, which tends to keep a lot of the younger kids outside the gate, afraid to enter the yard. Judge, in her role as the good witch, brings the candies out to them, while Shepard roams about menacingly. The older kids, of course, can’t get enough of Shepard’s gruesome characters, and he hams up the horror to the max. Meanwhile, the good witch makes the younger kids gawk and giggle. They both absolutely love giving the kids, and themselves, the most fun and greatest spooky memories they possibly can.
Shepard says Halloween was a huge deal in his family throughout his childhood, and he is absolutely delighted to pass those thrills along.
There’s no question they are both Halloween heroes, but have they ever encountered a real ghost?
"You know, we once lived in a house on Gerard here in Winnipeg," Judge says. "There was a big hallway we decided needed painting. We took a before picture, completed the job, then took an after picture. To our surprise, the after picture showed a large area of fog in the hallway, which wasn’t visible while taking the picture — and in the fog there was a very eerie human face peering back at us. We still have that picture somewhere."
They gave me the number of the house on Gerard Street, but I’ll keep it a secret. We wouldn’t want to scare the bejeebers out of the current residents!
Or would we? Moohaha!
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