Grim Grinning Ghosts
- andreasachs1
- Oct 30
- 5 min read
By Emmy Serviss / Boston
Ever since I was about six years old, I’ve been obsessed with Halloween. Sure, trick-or-treating was a big plus, but even when I was a child, it was about more than just candy and costumes. Halloween lives in that feeling you get when there’s a sudden chill in the air, a slightly evil twinkle in the eye, and the possibility that maybe that house at the end of the block really is haunted!
Since my birthday is in August, and I always wanted a Halloween birthday party, I managed to convince my brother Ben (whose birthday is a mere week after October 31) to have a Halloween birthday party for two or three years in a row. Nothing like living vicariously, right?! Eventually he got old enough to realize he could have whatever kind of birthday party he wanted, not the one his older sister dictated.
But I didn’t really mind. As we got a little older, I found other ways to squeeze extra Halloween into the year. Whether it was playing “haunted house” in the basement, watching The Exorcist with my dad, or beginning to plan my Halloween costume in the late spring–the spooky spirit was never that far from my mind.
I think I really found my Halloween groove when I got into middle school. Finally, I was old enough to take over the front yard decorations from my mother, and it became one of my favorite seasonal activities. I even saved up my allowance to buy better and scarier decorations, along with creating “dead bodies” to scatter across our front lawn.
My costumes also got more elaborate, trading store bought pieces with putting my costumes together meticulously. One year I dressed as Medusa and spent several nights figuring out how to attach rubber snakes in a cheap black wig. Another year I dressed as a Dead Waitress, complete with a serving tray full of fake eyeballs, cockroaches and severed fingers on crackers. I carefully arranged candy for the trick-or-treaters amid my horror d’orves, so I could offer the tray to kids from the neighborhood.
As I got older, my love of Halloween didn’t diminish at all, but I didn’t know what to do with myself on October 31st anymore. In high school I was too old to go trick-or-treating, and in college I was too straight-edged to go partying. So my teens and early 20s were dedicated to boning up on my horror movie education. Whether it was a classic like the 1968 Night of the Living Dead, a modern staple like The Sixth Sense, or a campy cult favorite like Dead Alive, I would watch any and all horror movies I could get my hands on.
Many of my friends say they can’t watch horror movies because they’re too scary, but I equate it to those who love riding roller coasters. It’s two sides of an adrenaline thrill-seeking experience. People love the feeling of whipping around corners, diving down huge drops and twisting upside down until your stomach feels like it’s going to fall out of your butt. Personally, I hate it. I would much rather sit in a dark theater and become engrossed by a supernatural monster-stalking horny teenagers, while eating popcorn.
For me, it’s much easier to watch a scary movie and maybe get startled a few times at the cheap jumpscares, than to sit in a roller coaster that literally spins my whole body around at 60 mph. The odds of having a freak accident while watching a scary movie? Practically zero. The odds of having a freak accident while riding a roller coaster? Still pretty low, but definitely higher than zero. In fact, the entire plot of the Off-Broadway musical Ride The Cyclone revolves around those odds!
Anyway, after college I moved to Los Angeles and fell in with a friend group who revitalized my love of Halloween. Between my roommate John who worked at a local haunted house, my friend Jason who made costumes that rivaled Hollywood blockbuster movies, and the legendary West Hollywood Halloween party–I was back on the spooky train!
Some of my favorite Halloween costumes from over the years: (from left to right) The Babadook, a dustbunny, and the Statue of Liberty from Ghostbusters II
One of the great things about living in LA, was that Disneyland was a mere one-hour drive away! And for a Halloween fanatic like me, the only thing better than visiting my favorite Grim Grinning Ghosts at the Haunted Mansion, is when they switch over the decorations for a “Nightmare Before Christmas” theme.
When I lived in LA, I helped John paint some sets a couple times at Spookyhouse, though I was still too intimidated to try my hand at being a Scare Actor. But when I moved to Portland, Ore. a few years later, I found another local haunted house: Fright Town. And this time I jumped at the chance to get my scares on!
There’s something so satisfying about the perfect scare. Whether it’s making a grown man jump and scream like a little girl, causing a group of tween girls to scream and fall into each other like a set of human dominos, or even setting off someone’s “fight or flight” instinct - every scare is a good scare.
When I moved to Boston in 2011, I was hoping I could find another haunted house within the limits of the Green Line, so I could keep haunting. Sadly for me, the closest locations were about 45-90 minutes out of Boston. So while I haven’t been on the haunting side in a long time, I still make sure to plan at least one haunted house outing for my friends and me!
A sample of the professional makeup done when I worked at Fright Town
In my 30s, I became the Halloween party host. Planning my annual Halloween party became just as much fun as decorating the front yard when I was in middle school! Between making sure my apartment was sufficiently spooky to creating themed drinks and snacks and curating a horrifying playlist–I made sure that all monsters were appropriately mashed!
Unfortunately, there won’t be a Halloween party this year. But it’s because my fiancé HUSBAND and I got married on October 25th! (and we were just ever so slightly preoccupied with wedding planning)
Ironically enough, when you spend your entire life loving Halloween so much that it becomes part of your whole personality, it means at least 60% of your wedding guests will ask if they can wear costumes to your October wedding. And I told them all that it was a fair question, but NO. We had some “spooky sprinkles” throughout the evening, but I was determined to have a Fall wedding–not a Halloween wedding.
Everyone was surprised that I didn’t want a Halloween wedding, but to me, it was easy. My love and excitement for Halloween knows no bounds, but I wanted to make sure there was a distinct separation between my favorite holiday, and my wedding. I want Charlie and I to be the focus of the celebration and save Halloween for later.
Because Halloween is about embracing the dark and macabre, and giving yourself permission to get scared. And while there are plenty of horrors all around to scare us at the moment, there’s something morbidly comforting about getting scared at something as simple as Freddy Krueger, instead of what’s really lurking in the depths of the Epstein Files.
But for now, Happy Halloween!
Emmy Serviss is a Boston-based writer, actor and improv coach. When she's not binge-watching old TV series with her fiancé, you can find her at The Rozzie Square Theater performing with ComedySportz Boston and coaching the ComedySportz Boston Minor League team. When not on the stage, Emmy enjoys playing D&D, stressing out about her upcoming wedding and counting the days until Halloween.