An Old Fashioned Halloween in Second Life

 

We're all of us haunted and haunting.

Chuck Palahniuk

 

          The seasons change around us.

          That time of the year when foliage begins to change color and then fall to the ground, when there is a crispness in the air, and when days shorten is upon us.

          Traditions are part of these seasonal changes.

          In Real Life (RL), the harvest theme is commonplace. 

          (OK, I know most of you have never even seen a farm but stay with the romance of the idea, will you please!  Sheesh, everyone’s a critic these days!)

          Shadows draw closer and the approach of winter is felt.

          Halloween is in the air! 

          As in RL, Second Life (SL) has its own traditions at this time of the year!

          One of the biggest and most well known is the annual Mieville Halloween festival! 

          This year’s is called An Old-Fashioned Halloween and brings back many of the old Halloween traditions (including dunking for apples!)

          One of the few perqs of my job as SL’s least appreciated blogger (Except for you my three loyal followers!) is that I get a sneak peek at all the wonderful Mieville events from my good friend, Perryn Peterson, Mayor of Mieville and impresario par excellance.

          (Significant Other suggests that I might be better appreciated if I quit using foreign words when I blog.)

          I meet Perryn at the haunted house which is the landing zone for this year’s festivities.    

          (The haunted house is amazing and was put together by Brian Landar.  It’s worth a

visit all by itself.) 

          As we begin our stroll around the grounds, Perryn explains to me that the emphasis is to not repeat attractions from previous years but to have new and fresh thrills for the visitors. 

          And, there is no shortage of new and fresh thrills for those seeking to be frightened!

          The Fun House is new. 

          (But, the smashing pumpkin patch is back!  Some traditions are sacred!)

          A dead pirates’ ship with a full crew of skeletons awaits those who dare.

          (Don’t blame me if they make you walk the plank.  You’ve been warned!)

          (Significant Other’s eyes roll here.)

          The ballroom is inside a large, and I mean large, pumpkin and a giant spider is the

dance ball. 

          (Significant Other leaves the room at this point.)

          The gachas are housed in an impressive new building. 

          There is a Great Pumpkin which leaves goodies! 

          Look for it!

          (Yes, this is a tease!  I won’t tell you where it is!)

          The merchants’ wagons have been done over by Nana Saenz and Pierre Ceriano (who are husband and wife in RL) and add color and seasonal charm. 

          And, don’t forget to the haunted, great treehouse by Marcel Ghostraven.  (No relation!) 

          Perryn does a wonderful job of redoing Halloween every year inworld.

         

The concepts are original and not static like some holiday sims are.

          He avoids the “bloody/gory stuff” as he puts it but does allow a few scenes.

          (Maybe it’s my misspent youth watching too many horror films and reading too many pulp novels but I don’t think the scenes are that bad.)

          Punkerella Summers' wonderful build-your-own jack-o-lantern pumpkin patch is back and is another nod to those Mieville traditions which are so popular. 

          The merchants’ cottages have also been redone by Nana and Pierre and are a new style entirely which befits the holiday.         

          There will be a mini-hunt in the form of trick-or-treating which will start midway through the festival. 

          The merchants have once again outdone themselves with their gifts for hunters Perryn tells me.

          In case anyone is worried, the highly creative freebies of Aley Resident/Acadia Asylum will still be offered as arranged by Briony Juran! 

          I heartily recommend this year’s Mieville Halloween festival to all!

          Come to be scared and to enjoy yourselves!

          The festival runs from October 3^rd to October 31^st and can be located here.

          Tell ‘em web sent you! 

          More pictures from my visit to the festival can be located on this Flickr page.

As always, I’m grateful to all inworld for their kindness and time in stopping to talk with a stranger who was passing through their lives

My Twitter handle is @webspelunker.  Please feel free to follow me and I’d be happy to follow you.

I can be found on Google+ as webspelunker Ghostraven.

My flickr Photostream is located here.

On Skype I’m webspelunker Ghostraven.

I welcome feedback from readers, please either comment on my blog or e-mail me at webspelunker@gmail.com . 

          If you would like to read about my other adventures in Second Life please click here.

          Open roads and kind fires!