Homes are haunted by the Halloween spirit

Halloween for a couple of houses in the area is a real production.

Children have a couple of favorite places to visit on Halloween, one in Electric City and the other in Coulee Dam.

Dale and Vel Walker, at 107 E. Grand Avenue in Electric City, start about two weeks before Oct. 31.

The Walkers get about 300 visitors during Halloween evening. "We try to change things a little each year," Dale said Monday.

One of his old standbys is the person who is actually buried and comes up out of the ground. "That usually scares people pretty good," Dale said. His goal is to scare adults, too.

They come onto the Walker property rather gingerly, knowing that something is going to happen. And when it does, it is so sudden that it "shocks people," Walker said.

The Walker's son usually comes from Spokane, and Dale's mother, now 84, also helps out. "We recruit some neighbors to come in and help us scare both the kids and adults," Dale noted.

"We have been doing it for about 40 years. Each year it is a bit different, and we try to make it fun for everyone," Dale noted.

In Coulee Dam, it's the Bob Hinkey residence at 810 Holly Street.

There you will find large inflated ghouls, vicious looking goblins hanging from trees and witches. Many of the Halloween props are the blown up variety. These have been up for about 10 days as if to say, "see you on Halloween." He's been holding back on putting out some of his "animatronics" and other sensitive displays due to the weather, he said, but he hopes to have them out for Halloween.

Bob, who gets a kick out of scaring people, has even run after kids with his chain saw going. Never mind that there wasn't a chain on the saw; people can't see that in the dark.

One youngster said he was really frightened when he got chased. And he's itching to get back to Bob and Patsy's place.

Here's hoping for spirits not dampened. The weather forecast as of Tuesday called for a rainy day Oct. 31, with rain likely stopping by 6 p.m. with a half moon behind the clouds.