Scaring up some Halloween fun in the L-C Valley

Nov. 1—The Halloween spirit is alive and well on the 3700 block of 17th Street in Lewiston.

Residents know how to put on a show and trick-or-treaters in the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley know it as a destination spot for spooky scares and sweet treats. The block was full of kids, and even a few adults, in costumes as Spider-Gwen, Doctor Octopus, Sully from "Monsters Inc." and Tinkerbell, among others Tuesday night.

The Kaufmans from Lewiston had a Barbie theme that most of the family participated in. Twins Beatrice and Cecelia Kaufman, both 8 years old, were dressed as Barbie, with Cecelia donning pink boots and a neckerchief to go as cowgirl Barbie.

Even their dad, Joe Kaufman, got in on the fun wearing a suit and pink tie to go as Will Ferrell's CEO character from the "Barbie Movie" — or, as Beatrice calls it, "the villain that's nice."

Natalie Kaufman, 13, had a Barbie box costume she was going to wear but it was too big and "it didn't work well to walk." So instead she was dressed as a watermelon.

Their brother, 10-year-old Henry Kaufman, also went off theme. He wore a sweatshirt with blood splatters on it that said "I'm OK, it's not my blood." He initially had a T-shirt that had blood all over it that read "I'm fine" but was told to find something similar as a sweatshirt to wear for a cold Halloween night.

Esmee Knollinger, 7, of Clarkston, was dressed up as M3gan, the title character from the 2022 film that features a lifelike artificial intelligence doll.

Knollinger's decision for her costume was simple.

"Because she's spooky and my favorite character," she said and demonstrated the character's signature stare for some of the adults giving out candy.

Knollinger's goal was to get lots of candy for the evening, including her favorite Oreo Hershey bar.

Her mother, Summer Knollinger, dressed as Binx, the cat from the movie "Hocus Pocus," had other goals in mind: Get out early and avoid the crowds and cold.

Their first stop was to visit the "Hocus Pocus" house, with real life sisters dressing as the Sanderson sisters, Janet Lear as Winnie, Jessica McKee as Mary, and Samantha McKee as Sarah, along with Bryan Clayton as Billy, and 2-year-old Addison Frisbee was dressed as Binx the cat — all characters from the movie.

Summer Knollinger works with Samantha McKee and decided to stop by for some Halloween haunts. The home featured a graveyard, a cotton candy cauldron, a photo booth with the Sanderson sister and songs like "The Addams Family" theme and "Ghostbusters" played from a speaker as fog rolled onto the driveway. The sisters also had a spell book from the movie made by their mother that had a moving and light-up eyeball.

Jessica McKee said they get up to a thousand people coming through, depending on the weather and if Halloween is on a weekend or a weeknight.

It wasn't the only home decked out for the holiday. A few houses down was a yard with an sign reading "Enter if you dare." Those who ventured inside the smoke-filled yard found hanging skeletons, a man in a Michael Myers mask from the movie "Halloween," another man with a chain saw chasing unsuspecting visitors, and of course, candy for trick-or-treaters.

Two of those brave enough to pass through were 8-year-old Ezra Dale and Andrea Dale, of Lewiston. Dressed as Scooby-Doo, Ezra was probably used to people in masks trying to scare kids, a common situation his costume character finds himself in. He chose to go as the mystery-solving canine, "because he's a Halloween character."

Ezra said the haunted yard was fun and not too spooky.

That was the sentiment of Clarkston's Daizi Daniel, 7, when she went through the haunted yard with her brother, William Daniel, 4, and cousin, Eoin Doyle, and aunt, Belinda Doyle, of Lewiston.

"There are so many spooky things here," she said.

All four were just getting started on their evening, Eoin was dressed as a skater boy, William was a firefighter and Daizi was Rapunzel.

Their next stop was at the home of Derek Katzenberger. The Katzenberger residence was filled with animatronic Halloween horrors, mostly skeletons moving, dancing, pouring drinks or popping out of caskets. A witch was also brewing a pot of a smoky concoction.

The Katzenberger family has had the display for the last four or five years. Derek Katzenberger buys the skeletons and ghouls, his son, Ryan, does the electronics and his wife, Beth, does the voices.

At a touch of a button, the characters come alive to move and speak to the trick-or-treaters, or come out behind a wall to give them a scare. Derek Katzenberger said he adds a little bit every year. This year's addition includes a skeleton fountain and dancing skeletons.

The set-up takes a long time and requires some repairs. For example, this year the witch had to be reprogrammed.

"Most of it is repairing everything that broke from the previous year, which happens a lot," Derek Katzenberger said.

When it's over it takes up a fair amount of storage space, even though the skeletons fold up nicely.

"They look like little contortionists," Derek Katzenberger said.

The animatronics will go in the tree house and used to go into two sheds, but those started to leak. Derek Katzenberger said he's going to buy a large shed from Ziggy's home improvement center "just to store my Halloween stuff."

Storage isn't the only problem.

"I might have to get more lawn," he said, although that can be solved by moving the display to the backyard. In a couple years, for Ryan's senior year he's going to do the full yard and get people to play some of the parts.

But Derek Katzenberger said it's not going to get too scary.

"Most of the kids out are littles," Derek Katzenberger said. "We're more into the whimsical."

All the displays at the Katzenberger home as well as others along the street have drawn a crowd to the area. Derek Katzenberger said they used to get 20 trick-or-treaters and the road was dark. But with more participants and a spotlight he put in a few years ago to make it safer, the street has roared to life, which makes it more of a destination.

"I have so much fun doing it," Derek said, and he's glad he's not the only one on the street getting into the Halloween spirit.

Brewster may be contacted at kbrewster@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2297.