Monday, July 22, 2024

Memories Of Halloweens Past



The next submission for this fun blog series (click here to see the others) comes from the super talented home haunter Fraidy.  This one is terrific, and it's not tied to a particular Halloween possession, but rather a haunted attraction - The Indianapolis Children's Museum Haunted House.  Started in 1964, it's the oldest continually operated spook house in the country.  Fraidy shared that she has many fond memories visiting this attraction and provided some links featuring vintage photos from its early days... Old School Halloween Heaven for sure, "Looking back, it was actually pretty scary! - even for adults - and over the years, it has inspired countless young Halloween fans to make haunted houses of their own."

Click below for a fantastic article about the Haunted House, which includes some amazing would-never-do-that-stuff-now memories from a blogger who grew up near the attraction.  Here's an excerpt:

October 1 was the day we walked into our classrooms at school and found the “Dial-A-Witch” flyer on our desks promoting that year’s version of the haunted house.  While the themes of the haunted house would change annually, there was always a loose association with these witches who were kind of the marketing team for the haunted house.  The “Dial-A-Witch” flyer would not only provide with the hours of operation for the haunted house, but provide you with a 1-800 number to call in order to talk to a witch.  This, for me, was as sacred a Halloween tradition as trick-or-treating!




This submission opens up some possibilities for this blog feature - so if you're sitting there thinking that you don't necessarily have a Halloween item that's been with you for decades, but you have a specific memory that you cherish and that may have started your Halloween obsession, send it on!  I would love to post it on the blog.   


Thanks, Fraidy!  This was really great.  I had never heard of this Haunted House before.


For anyone interested in submitting, you can email me at pumpkinrot @ gmail . com (remove the spaces, of course!)

5 comments:

MR. Macabre said...

Those are very cool memories, I probably have a couple of them from Halloweens past that I can submit in the future.

Jenna said...

The "Dial-a-Witch" number is so fantastic! Sounds like a really great haunt.

Fraidy said...

What a great post! Thank you! I am so honored! It would be fun to go back to Indianapolis for the 60th anniversary of the Children's Museum Haunted House to see how it has changed and grown over the years. Psst...as a side note, for anyone who's seen the craft store Michael's pink/orange/pastel/floral/'groovy'/disco take on Halloween this year that many people are seeing as a throw-back to the 60's and 70's, believe me, we did not have decorations like that then! LOL!!

Rot said...

My pleasure! So glad you emailed!

Revenant Manor said...

I can't say that I recall hearing of the 'Indianapolis Children's Museum Haunted House' before, but am a fan now...being minted in 1964 means they would have had a hand in creating and maintaining multiple generations worth of Halloween celebrants.

The 'Dial-A-Witch' thing was particularly charming and nostalgic.

(Imagine the olden-days frustration of being excited to hear the witchy cackle and spooky phrases, but only getting a busy signal...arrrgh!)