October 15, 2024 — I don’t know the history of carving up a bunch of pumpkins, lighting them, and setting them on a trail for people to wander through while holding hot ciders or mulled wine. I assume, like many recent Halloween traditions, it was stolen from Christmas. In this case, light displays, I guess. I also assume that it didn’t really take off until polyurethane foam pumpkins were a thing, as mixing them in liberally among the real pumpkins makes these events more cost effective to carve, preserve, and reuse them. Although it might also make them the definition of an insincere pumpkin patch. Anyway, I don’t know any of this because it’s super hard to Google this particular topic. I don’t even know what these events are called generically. And I keep getting the history of the jack-o-lantern. Which I know. Irish turnips or whatever. Shut up, Google.
The two biggest events of this sort that I’ve been to personally
is the Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze in Croton-on-Hudson, New York, and the Roger Williams Park Zoo Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular in Rhode Island, the latter of which does
have a history that goes back to 1988 in Oxford, Massachusetts, as a
fundraising activity. But still, I don’t think they are all called blazes or
spectaculars.
The one I went to the other night was simply called
Halloween on the Hill.
It was in Beverly, Massachusetts, in a public garden called
Long Hill. Hence the latter half of the name. It was relatively modest, featuring
1,500 pumpkins. Although how many of those were polyurethane foam pumpkin facsimiles,
I don’t know. Compare that to the aforementioned New York event that features
7,000 pumpkins and the Rhode Island one that features 5,000.
But it was cool. There’s nothing like strolling at night
through eerily lit scenes of leering gourds with hot ciders and chocolate lollipops
shaped like jack-o-lanterns. I’m not sure how long the trail was at Long Hill. They
say it takes about an hour to do, and that seems right. Depends on how many
photos you have to take before you get the focus right on all the glow-in-the-dark
bits.
I will say, since it’s relevant to the theme this year, that
there was a ton of IP. Harry Potter was there, of course, and Beetlejuice, of
course, and Ghostbusters, of course, of course, of course. However, I’ll give
them a pass because I believe the whole event was movie-themed. To the point
that they had pumpkin-headed scarecrows of such not-Halloween-standbys as the
girl from Legally Blonde, Forrest Gump, and Danny and Sandy from Grease.
Still, it was a good proof point for the topic because in
the midst of all the Star Wars, Hocus Pocus, and Addams Family jack-o’s, the best
part for me was the lane of simple sheet ghosts under lighted trees. That one
bit (and a few others) felt unique to this experience, and not like a Spirit Halloween
or a Home Depot had been plundered by the inevitable Jack Sparrow scarecrow for
the event.
And if one of you could let me know what these events are called in general, I’d appreciate it.
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| Edward Scissorhands is the one IP I will not call foul on. |
