“Trunk or Treat” supplies the sweets and the scares
Published 12:05 am Thursday, November 2, 2023
The costumes at "Trunk or Treat" were truly original. Brad Dountz/Salisbury Post.
Families came to Third Creek Presbyterian Church for candy and to check out the haunted maze. Brad Dountz/Salisbury Post.
Things got spooky in the haunted maze. Brad Dountz/Salisbury Post.
The haunted maze could frighten anyone. Brad Dountz/Salisbury Post.
There were many eye-popping decorations in the maze. Brad Dountz/Salisbury Post.
Real people were dressed up to scare those who were brave enough to go through the maze. Brad Dountz/Salisbury Post.
It was hard for a person not to lose their head during the maze. Brad Dountz/Salisbury Post.
People had to walk by a cemetery in order to get to the maze. Brad Dountz/Salisbury Post.
CLEVELAND — Halloween is synonymous with candy and horror. They may seem like a rather peculiar combination, but every fall, kids and adults routinely go out of their way to let themselves be scared and to hopefully get some chocolate out of the whole deal.
On Halloween night, Third Creek Presbyterian Church held their annual “Trunk or Treat” event where people parked their cars in the parking lot, opened their trunks, and passed out candy to kids dressed up in fantastic costumes.
Freda Snyder has been going to the church her whole life and she says that they have been putting this on so kids can have another opportunity to savor the holiday.
“We like to do things for the community to help keep the kids safe, to offer a safe place for them to go to have a little fun. Halloween is a time for the kids to enjoy, but we like them to be safe. We’ve done this for, we’re pushing 20 years now,” Snyder said.
Besides just candy, there was a haunted maze where those who were open for a few frights could walk down corridors and see several chilling decorations and have volunteers come out of no where to deliver terrifying jump scares. Trent Pence, with the help of his son and other church members, designed the maze and decorated it. Pence said they have been working on it for two weeks, and for him, it’s worth it to witness everyone’s reactions.
“I wanted a kid-friendly section so it starts out kid-friendly over there and you warn them before it might get a little scary,” Pence said. “It’s fun for everybody.”
Pence says he has plans to do it again next year.
“Bigger and better! We’re thinking about maybe trying to expand into a corn maze. That might not be next year, but it might be the year after,” Pence said.
Rebecca Moore and her family came to the church for the trick or treating and to see the maze. It turns out, it definitely delivered on its goal to scare folks thanks to Pence adding improvements to it over time.
“We always visit here during Halloween, we live close by. The haunted house is pretty cool,” Moore said. “The first year they did it, it wasn’t quite as animated as it is today. My little nephew, he’s four, was very frightened,” Moore said.
