REVIEW: halloween town

NOVEMBER 1, 2021

review: HALLOWEEN TOWN

When most of us think of artists, we think of painters working away in their studios or musicians figuring out the final few chords of a new song. However, art is not so easily categorized, and often its purest form exists within creators who are overlooked by a world that is otherwise occupied. Halloween is a time during which these creators can bring to life their wildest imaginations - enriching the universe around them and treating their community to entertainment and visual masterpieces. This past weekend, we attended a private DIY home event, “Halloween Town”, and we were awed and amazed by what we experienced.

Halloween Town is a creation by Missi Figueroa, a proud mom who also works in the nursing industry. During the pandemic, Missi was worried about how to have an enjoyable Halloween for her children and their friends - and this is how Halloween Town was born. Within the modest confines of her home's driveway, she built a “town” for the kids to trick-or-treat in. Each hand-built structure was assigned a different parent/scare actor who would give the children candy as they went door to door. It was such a success with the children that she brought it back again for the 2021 season.

For 2021, Halloween Town has been decked out to the nines with handcrafted props, playful sets, and intricate lighting for enhanced ambience. All of the scare actors were fantastic and brought to life their individual spooky sections to the delight of the trick-or-treating children. The inhabitants of Halloween Town included the eerie witch, who hovered over her bubbling cauldron under a giant, handmade full moon; and the killer clowns who floated menacingly in their funhouse. We also loved the dayglo alien mom who was toting her alien baby, and the possessed doll who creeped within her violet, bat-infested dollhouse. We also encountered Michael Myers, who was locked away in jail with the other bad boys of Halloween. One of the most entertaining characters was the ghostly, mustachioed fisherman, whose tombstone informed us that he had been alive for only a year. His apparition haunted the gloomy fishing shack as he patiently waited to hook his next sole.

The ghoulishly wonderful world that Missi Figueroa has created for her community is absolutely breathtaking. Not only did she build a mini town for trick-or-treating - she also decorated her entire home with hundreds of handmade props, animatronics, and lighted effects. All of this work is even more impressive considering that she is a mom and works full-time in the healthcare industry. Halloween Town is a testament to the fact that the best art in the world isn’t found in a gallery, ready to be commodified by the wealthy. Rather, the best art can be found right down the street from you, at a house transformed into a magical world in the land of Halloween.

VC

November 01, 2021

Hauntsofla.com

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