Halloween

The ghouls and ghosts of all ages were out in force on Ellicott Avenue (and Lincoln Avenue) again this year.

Here's a few shots from the fright fest.

If you're unable to view the slide show below, click here.

For about a dozen years, the Millen family has been giving fellow Elba residents quite a fright.

Each year -- and each year they tend to outdo themselves -- the family decorates the entire front lawn, side lawn, back lawn and garage with ghost, zombies and space aliens so that visiting trick-or-treaters (kiddies and oldies) get a good scare.

I stopped by their house at 32 Church St. late this afternoon as they were putting the finishing touches on the decorations, but before they were in custom. Posing for a photo are Sarah, Sandy and Bill.

One of 32 hand-carved pumpkins in the yard.

Photo and info submitted by Pam L. Reed, administrative assistant, YMCA.

Frankenstein (alias Bill Reed) with his daughter, Justine Reed, of Batavia, helped entertain members and guests at the YMCA's annual Halloween event. More than 350 children enjoyed crafts, games, face painting, a haunted house, and watching a movie with pizza.

A thank you to the BHS Zonta Club and ALL the many volunteers! Also a special thank you to area businesses who supported the event: Domino's Pizza, Mark's Pizzeria, Oliver's Candies, and Tompkins Insurance.

The Genesee County Historians will present the 2012 Ghost Walk on Friday (Oct. 12) and again on Friday, Oct. 19.

Cost is $10 and tickets are available at the Engine House at 3 W. Main St. in the City of Batavia.

Tours are at 7:30 and 8 p.m.

For those unable to walk two hours, the length of the tour, a Power Point presentation is available for viewing.

For more information and/or to make reservations, call 344-2550, ext. 2613.

Thelma and Rick Hall are getting their annual Halloween Haunt on Watson Avenue ready for the trick-or-treaters they're hoping will visit them Oct. 31. The Halls are expanding the haunt again this year. It will wrap all around their house and feature new displays and more frights.

Batavia's trick and treaters were out and about Sunday and several of them stopped by the haunted house on Watson Avenue.

One of Genesee County's great Halloween traditions returns this year -- Julie Allein and her daughter Kelsey have decorated their yard and barn with enough fright to scare the white off a ghost.

Julie Allein has been carving pumpkins and tricking out her barn at 8894 Boyce Road, Corfu, since 1997.

Saturday evening, Kelsey gave me a tour of her favorite haunts.

More pictures after the jump:

Thelma and Rick Hall love the holidays. They decorate their home on Watson Avenue to suit the season, but for Halloween tomorrow, they've made an effort that goes beyond even last year -- new ghouls and goblins and a "chop house" where the kiddies will need to enter if they want any tricks or treats.

The whole haunted yard will be populated by Thelma Hall, left, Rick Hall, Daniel Brian, Toni Stoller, Lou Stoller, Ashley and Mike Meyers (newlyweds).

Daniel Brian and Toni will marry in 2011 on Halloween at the haunted house on Watson Avenue.

Batavia history comes alive every October with local historians and history buffs setting up tours that focus on the past and the dead. This October is no exception.

The Batavia Cemetery Association conducted its first 2010 Candlelight Tour of the historic Batavia Cemetery on Saturday night, with another group of tours scheduled for this coming Saturday. Tours begin at 7 p.m. and continue every 15 minutes until 8:30.

On Friday, a tour called "Murder, Mystery & Mayhem" begins at 8 p.m. at the Engine House (3 West Main St., Batavia), with additional tours at 8:15 and 8:30 and again on Oct. 29 at 8, 8:15 and 8:30 p.m.

Also on the Halloween calendar, St. James Episcopal Church presents a "Special Halloween Spooktacular" at 7 p.m., Oct. 30. It will feature the silent movie "Phantom of the Opera," with accompanying organ music by Charles Bradley. Tickets are $10 and proceeds benefit the bell tower restoration.

More pictures from the Ghost Tour after the jump

Saw these two around Batavia last night. Any idea who they are?

There are 215 carved pumpkins in front of the home of Julie Allein, but that's just the introduction to a haunted house that has been scaring the bejeebus out of kids and adults alike for nearly two decades.

"It's all about the fright," says Allein.

Her barn is converted into two stories of horror show, with carved up body parts, cadavers and sculls and a ghoulish funeral that features a dead Michael Jackson as a guest.

Amazingly, it takes Allein and her family only about a month to prepare for the Halloween haunt, and that includes each of the 215 carved pumpkins, gutted by her mother-in-law and cut by Allein. Each one has a unique design.

She might not start the work until early October, but "the mind's always turning" she says, and she tries to think of ways of improving on the previous year's effort.

"It’s grown throughout the years, adding a bit here in there, but probably the last five years we can’t grow any more, so we just change it every year," Allein said. "This year, we made a real casket. It’s a lot of fun."

The Allein's haunted barn is located at 8894 Boyce Road. It will be open Halloween evening and admission is free.

Top photo, courtesy Julie Allein.

Mark Fry started turning their barn into a horror of haunts about three years ago just to scare their kids, but as more and more people stopped by, they kept adding to the show.

"This is the biggest yet, 11 rooms," Fry said. "Everybody this year tells us, keep it going. We were going to shut it down, because last year we had about 40 (visitors) but this year we’ve probably already had over 200 come."

And those are 11 pretty scary rooms, filled with more than a dozen local actors portraying everything from ghouls to flesh-eating surgeons.

If you don't get a little jolt of fear before the tour is over, your heart isn't beating.

The haunted barn on Alexander Road (Route 98) is free, and Friday night was going to be the last show, but on the spot last night, Fry and his wife decided to open for three more hours, from 3 to 6 p.m., on Saturday.

It's hard to close a good show.

The staff at Bank of Castile/Tompkins Insurance on Main Street in Batavia are having some Halloween fun today. The top three floors are decorated with various Disney scenes and most of the staff is dressed appropriate to the theme on their floors. Groups of children from the YMCA are visiting throughout the day receiving treats as they visit Batavia's own Disneyland.