The Haunted Railroad

A good friend of mine is also a Home Haunter.  A while back, at work, someone found out I was into Halloween and mentioned a coworker of theirs who also dug on the holiday.  "You guys should hang out!" she said.  "You both are into Halloween!" she added.  I explained that I don't 'hang out.'  (yeah, I did actually say that.)

So a few weeks later, this guy does a rotation in our department and we start to talk about stuff and we had a ton of similar interests, especially that of Home Haunting.  So we hung out (kidding).  So eventually we start to talk about his upcoming Halloween display and it was intriguing to say the least.  He invited me to his dry run the weekend before Halloween and I accepted.  So we hung out (kidding).

So the plan was for me to drive over there and give him a call from the car letting him know I was around the corner.  I would approach the house on foot and would be treated as a trick-or-treater (well, as a parent escorting a trick-or-treater [as no candy was offered nor given {though truthfully I never asked, and I didn't want any, and I'm making this way more complicated than it was}]).  

Picture this: it's a quiet and very dark street.  I can't stress just how quiet this street is (an important detail).  Thinking I'm hilarious, I bring the below mask and place it on my face...

I start to walk towards the house and I'm already intrigued by a blue glow coming from the direction of his house.  And I think I hear thunder and a distant train whistle.  Insanely clear and realistic, to the point of believing it was, in fact, an approaching storm and a far-away train in the hills of Pennsylvania.  Then I see my friend walking towards me.  This wasn't the plan and I was surprised he had left his base of operations.  But I seize upon this opportunity to walk in the shadows as Devil Guy (similar to a Michael Myers stride [I'm a one-note actor]).  "Actor"...

My friend sees Devil Guy approaching and pauses.  He waves a nervous wave and I say nothing and simply increase my pace towards him.  Then I spot his small dog.  My friend has no dog.  And my friend looks nothing like this guy.  

It's not my friend.  Just some poor guy walking his small dog.

We had a good laugh about it after, but boy was it weird when it was happening.  The guy was pretty creeped out.  So was his dog (I think it had gravy mouth).

So here's what I first saw and heard as I approached (and do me a favor and just watch this video and then come back here to read how it unfolded [don't click any of the other photos or videos just yet]).

Click below (make sure the sound is on and turned up)...

So this house's porch is amazingly already just like an old-world train station.  The green/red signal light instantly made my brain feel like I was at some isolated rural station where a train was a long way off.  You could hear the train whistle fighting the sound of thunder.  Almost as if the train was riding with the storm, deliberately.  Or perhaps it was bringing the storm with it...creating the storm.  This was, after all, a HAUNTED Railroad.

So the below video is perfectly shot from the point of view of the kids and parents who came up for candy.  So make sure your volume is up, and lean in close to watch.  Imagine cool night air on your face, and a perfectly silent peaceful street.  

Click below...

I need to stress that the SOUND of this event was startling.  Shocking, in fact.  There WAS a train about to kill me.  I WAS about to die.  My instincts overruled my logic.  I'm willing to bet that the volume of this train sound effect was 100% the actual volume of the real thing.  I felt the sound in my chest.  And in my limbs.

I looked around at the quiet houses on the street and imagined the people inside listening to this.  And then I tried to imagine what a child would feel and think coming up for candy on Halloween night.  As you're so mesmerized by the spooky setting and the sound of the approaching storm and distant train that you excitedly cross those shimmering tracks (like a fool who didn't look both ways).

I will never forget it.  It was the neatest experience.  As a man always glued to his house on Halloween night due to tending to a display of my own, it was an incredible treat to see someone else's Haunt and feel like I was a kid again.  A kid in a devil costume.  On Halloween night.  

And about to get the scare of my life.

Click here for my friend's Instagram account.  And explore his other photos and videos.