For those who love a good scare or get a thrill in dressing up in costume, several small towns in northwest Oklahoma are gearing up for them to have a happy Halloween this season. Among them this year are Mooreland, Hunter, and Marshall.
MOORELAND—When Bobby Kehn became police chief in Mooreland, he wanted a way to connect with the town kids in a positive way. He rallied the local police and fire department along with other law enforcement agencies in joining him to launch a massive version of hide-and-seek three years ago.
He figured a few kids would sign up and they’d have fun on Halloween.
What Kehn wasn’t expecting was how well the idea was received by not only his community but by the nation.
The first year more than 80 kids signed up in the first two weeks. The second year he put a cap on 120 participants; 157 ended up playing including a 78-year-old woman. Technically this year the cap is 150, but he’s willing to allow more if they show up and sign up.
“I’ve talked to cops all over the country,” Kehn said, relating how many have seen it on social media and want to know how it works. From California and Washington state to New Jersey and Florida, people are calling for details. Even “On Patrol Live” has expressed interest, and a guy from Minnesota is flying in to play along.
And it’s not just law enforcement agencies, said Kehn, who formerly worked for drug court in Kay County. Recovery groups in Kansas are looking at sponsoring hide-and-seek events for their clients.
The purpose of the hide-and-seek event on Halloween, Kehn said, is to let the town kids know he sees them and stands up for them. He deliberately goes by his first name with them, to make himself more approachable. He has most of the town kids’ parents on speed dial anyway as he grew up with them. Mooreland is his hometown.
“I have a soft spot for kids. I have four of my own and I wanted them to grow up in a small town,” Kehn said.
The third annual Hide-and-Seek from the Police event on Oct. 31 starts and ends at Mooreland Community Center. Participants young and old must sign up between 8-9 p.m. and receive an armband designating them as a player. They will be released to hide at 9 p.m. with a 15-minute head start before 20 LEOs and firemen start chasing, using night vision, drones, and other tools at their disposal.
“They’re [the kids] gonna have to earn it,” Kehn said with a grin. Those still not caught by 10:30 p.m. can return to the community center for the awards ceremony and a trophy. Those caught, well, they too go to the community center to hang out until the conclusion plus have hot chocolate and homemade cookies while they wait.
The rules are simple: 1) stay in city limits, 2) stay off private property, 3) stay outside to play; no hiding inside buildings, and 4) once you’re caught, you’re caught.
Upon capture, the LEO or fireman will cut off the numbered armband and report it over the radio to Kehn’s wife who is the bookkeeper of the registrants.
“This is intended to be fun and allow banter back and forth with the kids,” Kehn said. “They get to know us on a personal level. For me, this is the best part … to make a personal connection and let them know we’re [cops] not always a-holes.”
He added it’s about reaching the community too, “This is the serving part. We don’t always put people in jail. We’re making memories with these kids.”
HUNTER—Hunterween is set for Oct. 26 in downtown Hunter.
This annual tradition began in the 1980s when a local motorcycle shop owner wanted to celebrate Halloween in Hunter. He’d feed the bikers who came and they’d sit around the local pool hall enjoying the evening.
The town joined the foray a couple years later, adding a parade, games for kids, a street dance, haunted house, churchwomen food and craft booths, a costume contest, to name a few. It grew from there. By the early 1990s, Hunterween was going strong with everyone in town participating in one form or another and included a rodeo with mutton bustin’ and greased pig chase for the kids.
However, when Hunter’s locally owned businesses and the bank closed, the school building dilapidated, and organizers moved away or passed away, the event shuttered too.
Fast forward nearly 20 years. Courtney Snodgrass, who was serving on the town board at the time, decided to jumpstart the event again. Her husband is a Hunter native, so she figured why not.
In two weeks, she assembled five games and planned a costume contest for the first one she hosted. Now 10 years later, there are 20-plus games, a hay maze, hay rides around the block, a costume contest, vendors, a live band, trunk-or-treat, a kids’ raffle, and silent auction for adults. There also is a fundraiser cornhole tournament and food trucks.
Snodgrass’ goal is to make it better every year for the kids of Hunter, which is why she keeps adding something each time. This will be her 10th annual Hunterween as event coordinator.
The event itself is free and open to the public; proceeds from the raffle and auction plus any other monetary donations go into the pot to fund next year’s event.
And while she is the sole proprietor of Hunterween—the town itself keeps a hands-off approach since the town mayor and town board consider it a private citizen event—Snodgrass said many of Hunter’s residents, volunteer fire department, and local co-op actively support her efforts behind the scenes.
Small businesses from surrounding towns such as Pond Creek (which is where Hunter kids go to school), Medford, Lamont, Kremlin, and Covington also sponsor and donate to Hunterween.
The cornhole tournament is $30 per team and begins at 2 p.m. The kids’ festivities start at 3 p.m. This year’s live band Jeff Hoover and 12 Pack Poet take the stage at 6 p.m.
For more information about Hunterween or to sign up as a volunteer for community service hours, call (580) 402-0174.
MARSHALL—If you’re seeking a monster of a time, look no further than Marshall Haunted House.
Located in downtown Marshall on “the widest Main Street in the state of Oklahoma” is the old Christian Church converted into a haunted house for a spooktacular holiday.
“I do this because I’m a weirdo and I love Halloween,” said organizer Kathy Cardin. The now-retired beauty operator who owned a salon in Marshall decades ago delights in “scaring the fire out of people.”
She and her husband had moved to southeast Oklahoma then moved back to Marshall in the early 2000s.
In previous years, Cardin and her sons converted abandoned homes around town or in the country into haunted houses before gaining permission to set up in the church three years ago.
The Marshall school alumni association owns the church building thanks to a bequeathal by the Christian Church. The association hosts meetings as well as alumni gatherings there, and memorabilia from Marshall’s yesteryear is on display there.
Cardin is allowed to annually store her Halloween props in the church building, so come August, she starts dragging them out and testing them to see if they need repair or need tossed out. She also acquires new props—usually heavily discounted after-Halloween specials—and dreams up new ideas.
She said her boys do the heavy lifting for her, and generally 20-25 locals show up in the weeks leading up to the event to do behind-the-scenes labor. Each year, she said, more people step up and volunteer to design a room.
Black bags, drapes, and assorted backdrop sets serve as mock walls dividing bigger spaces to guide visitors through rooms and hallways. The church’s front doors are the entrance and the door into the backyard is technically the exit, although more scares will await those leaving the building.
Some of the props are manufactured and some of the props Cardin makes herself. The semi-rusted but unused coffin located near the entrance is real; her husband picked it up from the Stillwater Cemetery after spotting it on Facebook Marketplace.
Many areas within the haunted house pay homage to popular horror films including “IT”, “Scream”, “Jeeper Creepers”, “Resident Evil”, “Arachnophobia”, “The Ring”, and “Friday the 13th”. Recognizable Halloween imagery will be seen throughout such as spiders with spider webs, snakes, vampires, bloody limbs, zombies, and obviously, plenty of darkness.
The church itself offers an ambience like no other. Cardin is convinced it is haunted by the spirits of former congregants who’ve passed on. Her proof, she said, is when she’d come up the church to assemble Halloween decorations, she’d be the lone human in the building with her dog. Her dog would enter certain rooms and would start barking at empty corners.
“I won’t come up here anymore and work by myself,” Cardin said. However, she said she’s not frightened by the spirits who haunt the church.
“The [congregants] here were the sweetest people. So I figure the ghosts are friendly ones,” she said smiling.
Marshall Haunted House will open only two Saturdays, Oct. 26 and Nov. 2, from 8 p.m. to midnight. Cost is $5 per head; all funds go towards next year’s event. There is not an age restriction, but parents are strongly recommended to consider what consent is given to their younger children due to the scariness factor.
Visitors are warned there is no alcohol permitted on the grounds, and there is no touching the actors. Cardin also recommended going to the toilet before coming or wearing Depends because there is no public bathroom available anywhere in Marshall, which itself is a virtual ghost town at night.