Spooky Scary S...tuff to do on Halloween

The Aldor Acres experience, a fun fall event for all ages

Katherine Charlton, Contributor

Aldor Acres Farm is an amazing family-friendly pumpkin patch nestled away in a farming area near Fort Langley.

It provides a variety of fun activities and cute animals to see. You can not only pick out your perfect pumpkin in the field, but also take a relaxing hayride on the way there, which can be the perfect moment for taking those coveted couple photos.

But before all that, there is a petting zoo complete with lambs, piglets, baby bunnies, and more. If the smaller, more delicate animals aren’t your speed, there is also a pen full of goats you can romp with and feed.

But be warned: The goats are prone to chewing on anything they can get their greedy mouths near.

For the parents, there’s a small market to buy decorative pumpkins, all kinds of natural honey-based products, and adorable knitted clothing. And for those making the trip with kids, there is a coffee and hot chocolate station that always has refills at the ready.

Aldor Acres grows every year to make the experience for their clients better and better. Whether you’re looking for a fun place to bring your kids during fall, a cute date with your significant other, or just some good ol’ autumnal vibes, Aldor Acres has something for everyone.

Fright Night, Playland’s spooktacular Halloween event

Jayne Wright, Contributor

Playland hosts its annual Fright Night event every year in celebration of Halloween. This year, 20 of the classic Playland rides are open to the public, with an additional eight haunted houses set up for the Halloween season.

Fright Night is an absolute delight, complete with an energetic atmosphere and people of all ages making their way out to enjoy the freaky festivities.

You won’t go far without one of the many friendly zombies or recently deceased-looking characters coming up to you and asking if they might sample some of your brains, keeping the night lively.

If that’s not enough to entice you to check out this night of horrors, maybe the adrenaline-filled rides are more your speed.

The greatest of them all is the old wooden roller coaster. Built in 1958, the wooden roller coaster is the oldest one in Canada — and you really get a sense of that while you’re riding it. The scariest part of the night, trumping goblins and dead babies jumping out at you in haunted houses, was the wooden roller coaster at night.

It really feels as though you are going to fly out of the rickety seat at every turn, making for a terrifying ride the entire time.

If you’re looking for an entertaining night out this Halloween season, Fright Night should definitely be added to your list.

The haunted house in Save On Foods

Kristen Frier, Graphics Editor

Halloween is a super weird holiday riddled with expectation. If you’re a kid, you’re expected to be ecstatic about wandering the streets at night hunting for creeps and cavities like you really are the cop/dentist you dressed up as. If you’re a teenager, you’re supposed to get drunk and do something stupid or kind of mean — like blow up pumpkins or try and make your weakest friend cry. As adults, we aren’t supposed to really care. Halloween is supposed to be just another stupid day where we reluctantly put on a silly hat so that Karen from work doesn’t go, “Aw, why doesn’t Mr. Grumpy ever do anything fun?”

I disagree. I’m Karen. I love Halloween so much, and I have been woefully disappointed this October because I haven’t really been able to go to a pumpkin patch or plan seven alternate costumes just in case or watch all of the HalloweenTown movies in a row. Not yet, anyways.

So when I found out that there was a tiny slice of the Halloween spirit in the North Vancouver Save-On-Foods, I was super excited.

There is a main room filled with inanimate objects that are vaguely scary, a bunch of kids fake screaming because of how much they wish they really were scared (and any excuse to scream in a grocery store is a good one), and a bowl full of free candy.

This is a place where people go to spend their hard earned money on candy just like this, and they are giving it away for free.

The house also has a clearly marked “adults only” section. This area had more pop-up style displays, including a giant spider that almost got me.

While in this chamber, a passerby outside the Save On Foods heard me making a fuss and decided to yell to try and scare me, which did make me let out a loud cluck.

Oh yeah, I was also dressed like a giant chicken.

After the haunted house, I got a sweet deal on some autumnal gourds and bought some chicken to see what would happen to me — because again, I was dressed like a chicken — and had a lovely dinner.

If you’re picking up groceries anyways, throw a little spice in your basket and check out whichever Halloween activities are available to you, wherever you may find them.