Eugene Weekly

The second annual All Hallow’s Eugene, put on by the Eugene Film Society and City of Eugene Cultural Services, was a grand slam downtown, which just goes to show what a family-friendly place the heart of the city can be with expansive, well-executed city programming. Hundreds of costume-clad pets, teens, college kids, families and Halloween diehards strut their stuff in the costume parades from the Hult Center, down Willamette and then Broadway, where businesses handed out treats. Continue reading →

Rain fell in sheets that night, pelting my bedroom window so hard it shook the panes. Late October, years ago, in a rundown North Portland house, I squinted against dim light to read ghost stories from a fat anthology I’d found at a secondhand bookstore. Come autumn, I tend to overdo it with horror films and ghost stories. By the time Halloween rolls around, I’m pretty messed up; my bearings are shot such that every shadow becomes a demon and every black cat a witch in disguise.  Continue reading →

Late October, three years ago, Eric Kissell built his daughter a coffin.  Money’s always tight, so he used some distressed cedar planks pitted with holes bored by carpenter ants and wood beetles. Then he filled the casket with cold beers and added some dry ice for a spooky fog effect. “You can fit a lot of beer in a full-sized coffin,” Kissell says.  His daughter was thrilled. Guests at her Halloween party went nuts over Kissell’s macabre beer cooler. Shoot, he thought. Maybe I’m onto something here. Continue reading →

Terry Kennon isn’t on the clock, but she’s at work anyway — because why not. What the hell else is there to do Wednesday night in Lebanon? She hops down from her barstool, walks outside and lights a cigarette under a sign that reads Merlin’s Bar and Grill. “I’ve worked here forever,” Kennon says, matter-of-factly. “Don’t tell me this place isn’t haunted.” Continue reading →