Mysterious Drones

Friends of ours in northern New Jersey told us about a nightly occurrence of drones above and around their home.  Some were as big as cars.  Apparently local police have turned to the FBI for answers.  Currently no one is saying who is controlling them.  

Click below for the story...

Monsterville, New Jersey

Merchantville, New Jersey, is known for such things as its Victorian homes and nature trails. However, in recent years, it's also become "Monsterville" every October, a tradition that is continuing this year.

The temporary name change is not a Halloween prank. Monsterville began in 2015 as a campaign from a group of residents led by Councilperson Anthony Perno to further promote its love for the celebration.

And an adopted ordinance made the moniker official.

We drove to Monsterville on Sunday night after dinner at a favorite pizza joint nearby.  It's similar to the Halloween heaven that is Lambertville, NJ, but it's much more spread out.  So you have to drive to these colorful hotspots that suddenly appear down a shadowy block.  Growing up in Merchantville during the Halloween season must be insane.  

Here are some photos Jenna snapped...

Text source.

Lambertville Halloween House

On Tuesday night, we took a drive to our favorite Halloween town - Lambertville, New Jersey.  So many houses had their full displays assembled and illuminated.  But it was still just a fraction of what's coming.  We'll be heading back to get tons of photos and videos closer to the big night.  

Here are some photos we took of the legendary Halloween House.  And click here for a video.

The Dark Ride At Wonderland Pier

Closing its doors permanently in October, Gillian's Wonderland Pier has been operating by the sea since 1929.  When we heard about this, we made an impromptu trip to Ocean City, NJ to make sure we filmed their Dark Ride. 

Not sure if anyone will swoop in at the last minute to save this historic destination, but just in case they don't, click below to enjoy a ride...

Welcoming Committee

Image source.

Tired Wooden Bones

Vintage Hearse

Nothing like a horse-drawn hearse to liven up a St. Patrick's parade...

Dr. Wayne Gangi's Haunt Of Horrors

A great video by the guys from Weird NJ.

Click below...

A Lambertville Halloween: Part II

100 days until Halloween...

In this blog post from June, I talked about a trip to Lambertville, New Jersey in late October.  We discovered that Halloween Town was a real place, where the High Holiday was being celebrated everywhere you looked.  After a packed day of slowly working our way to see the Lambertville Halloween House, we stopped at a small local tavern to wait for the sun to set so we could see the House in all of its glowing glory.  We quickly dubbed the tavern the Halloween III Bar, as it felt like we could bump into Dr. Challis at any minute ('Drinking and Doctoring' was kindof his thing).

This bar was amazing.  Quaint and Old School and decked out in so many wonderful Halloween decorations.  Classic Halloween decorations... stuff I remembered from my childhood.  This was the Friday before Halloween so the atmosphere in there was exactly like a Halloween party.  They were playing all of the usual classics as well and The Monster Mash never sounded so good.  We drank our drinks and wondered what it'd be like a few blocks away at that strange, elegant House.

As we walked out into the chilly Autumn air, you could tell something significant was happening.  The night air was charged with a feeling that we had somehow mixed up the dates and this was, in fact, Halloween night.  It felt like prime Trick-or-Treating hours... there were children in costumes and excited people everywhere heading in the direction of the House.  But then we noticed that the Lambertville Halloween House was just a voice in a choir.  There were blocks and blocks of decorated homes.  So many lights.  Tons of unique decor and props.  So much Halloween.

We asked a resident walking her dog if this is how it always was...and if the town was heavily into Christmas as much as Halloween.  Her answer was a little on the glorious side:  she said "We really just get into Halloween here...  Christmas, not so much." 

Amazing.  A town devoted to the Love of Halloween.

Below are some photos from that magical evening.  A night that made you feel like a kid on Halloween... excited that there were hours ahead of you, and there were tons of homes waiting for you.  Homes with pumpkins and witches and ghosts and bones and every haunted creepy thing.  And on this one night, they really didn't care that it wasn't Halloween just yet.