October 29, 2002
Tifton-- We will hear a lot about haunted houses with ghosts and goblins during Halloween. But when children go to one house in particular, they will experience "Trick or Treat" a bit differently.
Who knows what spooky person lives next door, and what he will do on Halloween night? Questions you might already have if you live in Walter Hanson's neighborhood. "Scaring the young ones, and watching them get terrified, kind of tickles my funny bone."
He must have a funny bone as big as Frankenstein's. It took him three days to assemble a horrific mini-theme park in his front yard. "I don't know maybe $700-$800 in it. I got a lot of hard work in it, too."
He made most of the decorations himself, the hardware on the side of one coffin came from a piece of furniture belonging to a relative, throwing in subtle humor along the way.
Walter Hanson is married, so-to-speak, to horror, always thinking of how to make his decorations more of a scream. Walter will not rest in peace until he adds another scare or two. "A little bit more. There will be a lot of nice frights."
He has a new way of trick or treating-- He goes first. "That's what it is all about-trick or treat. You got to be tricked before you get a treat."
Walter delights in scaring the wits out of young trick or treaters to the point they will often runaway in fear and he has to follow them to give them their candy.
He adds more decorations each year and fully expects to need more space. "Maybe within ten years I might need to rent me a big Ole ballpark or something because I'll have so much of it." Now, that's a scary thought.
You can see Walter Hanson's Halloween decorations at his home on 416 Dixie Ave, in Tifton right behind the OLD Tift County High School building and football stadium on 8th street.
posted at 4:45PM by dave.miller@wab.com
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