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Martin Walker Trunk or Treat full of ghoulish fun

By MARY SANCHEZ 
Special to Leader-Press

Tanya Burris and Brianne Chaco slowly crept into the hallway surrounded by the pitch black darkness of Martin Walker Elementary’s annual haunted house. The pair chose to enter the creepy structure in the broad daylight before nightfall when they would not have the safety of the sun to cling to. 
More than 500 families passed through the school’s haunted house this year which offered previews for second through fifth grade students during the school day.  
“It’s been a while since I’ve been to a haunted house and it was amazing,” Chaco said. 
Screams of horror from inside the walls could be heard outside as unwanted guests ran at a record pace to exit the building.
“Every year we come, the haunted house gets scarier,” Burris said. 
The haunted house was part of a larger trunk or treat annual event which welcomed cars decorated in themes including Coco the Movie, Jurassic Park, 101 Dalmatian’s, Winnie the Pooh and a pirate theme. The highlight of the event was the costume contest with more than 100 children lined up to show off their costumes.  
Nearly a hundred pumpkins appeared in rows outside the haunted house as guests had the opportunity to judge and vote for their favorites in the Storybook Pumpkin Patch. For the fifth consecutive year, students decorated pumpkins to resemble their favorite book characters 
Parent Vanessa Weaver and her son, Mason, walked through the pumpkin maze admiring the creativity.
“I look forward to working on this project with my son and we are a little sad this is his last year to participate before going to junior high,” Vanessa Weaver said.  
Parent Tamara Thomas agreed that the project brought the entire family together to create the pumpkin characters. The People’s Choice Award went to third grader Hailey Simpkins for her creation of Pennywise from the movie, It by Stephen King.
“I chose to create Pennywise because it’s a real cool movie and most of the people like him,” Simpkins said. “My family helped me with Pennywise because they thought it was cool too.”  

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