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Home, spooky home
Halloween bash gets family in frighteningly festive mood
Friday, Oct. 23, 2009
 Click here to enlarge this photo The driveway to the Blush home in Hughesville is guarded by giant gargoyles. The family holds an annual Halloween party for family and friends that shows no signs of losing its scary good appeal.
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Don't mention Christmas to Doug Blush. It is really best for all involved to just focus on the holiday at hand, the holiday that Blush and his family have celebrated with a blowout bash for the last decade.
"It makes me mad when stores have Christmas decorations next to the Halloween decorations," said Doug, an electrician who lives on a Hughesville horse farm with his wife, Wendy, three kids, Cassandra, Nicholas, Shannon and her fiancee Jay and their two daughters, Kylie, 5, and Bella, 3 months.
"Christmas gets all the glory," Wendy smiled.
It all started when Doug wanted to have a Halloween party. Other holidays — Christmas, New Year's Eve and Easter — were already claimed by family and friends for get-together purposes.
With three acres and a built-in crew of workers (the kids), the Blushes threw their first party with little fanfare and few decorations, a couple of inflatables, some corn stalks and hay bales.
Anywhere from 50 to 150 people showed up. It's hard to pin down an exact headcount, Wendy said. She does know that it grows every year — both in guests and Halloween hurrah.
Because the party takes place indoors and out, the Blush home is decorated with scary, albeit temporary, wallpaper fashioned out of plastic sheeting, cauldrons bubble on side tables, skulls and images of the Grim Reaper take up residence among the framed family photos, a glowing purple spider web stretches along a wall, the bathroom has skull sconces and a matching shower curtain.
Blow-up gargoyles flank the driveway, visitors smack their head on hanging skeletons, organ music emits from a Cryptkeeper-esque prop under Nick's tree house that is adorned with gothic accessories — given to Doug in trade for some electrical work for a friend (the tree house is where Wendy hosts a "Fear Factor"-like game for party guests).
A field near the barn that houses the family's three Big Belgian horses — another attraction at the party, guests can't resist a stop by the barn to give the horses treats and snacks — "It's their favorite night of the year," Wendy jokes — is being prepared for a bonfire.
Inside and out, candles are lit by the hundreds, it seems, tiki torches throw shadows — one year the power went out, a complication that went unnoticed due to the illumination of the many wicks. Only when the inflatables started collapsing did the family realize they lost juice.
The night of the party, the family, who always dresses in a "surprise" theme — one year they were the Incredibles, another year they were the Addams Family, KISS, Willy Wonka and the Oompa Loompas — recruits party guests to scare passengers on hayrides around the farm and a neighbors paintball field.
No real accidents yet, Doug knocks on wood, but they have had some encounters that folded into the Halloween theme.
The family's neighbors are on board with party but a renter who liked to slug back a few ,was unaware of the festivities and when the tractor came through he raised hell and police were called.
"His wife was on the hay cart!" said Doug of the outraged party pooper. People on the ride thought it was just another part of the show .
But Doug, dressed as Willy Wonka with Wendy as an Oompa Loompa by his side, had to talk to a couple of cops, everything turned out OK.
It's a theme — these odd situations that crop up but are quickly handled — that seems to hover over the party. One year the hay cart broke, sending a woman and her baby tumbling out. The woman jumped up declaring the twist "great" and Doug exhaled.
And then there is the rain.
"It's a challenge we overcome every year," Doug said. "I tell my neighbors, ‘If you want rain, I'll start decorating.'"
The mud and muck is sloshed in the house — the doors are left open, food is available on upper and lower stories — costumed guests are in and out but nothing has ever gone missing.
The morning after the party, the house is wrecked, for sure. The family has found stuff on the ceiling, the floors have mud tracks. Not that the Blushes would have it any other way. The more the merrier, they said. They've thought about opening it to the public but parking is an issue and right now, everyone gels.
"It's a nice crowd. Everyone gets along," Wendy said.
Among the invited are Nick's class from St. Mary's Bryantown and their families, the Southern Maryland Trail Riders — an equestrian group to which the family belongs — and family and friends.
"People change their plans," said Wendy of the popularity of the event. "They know it's the first weekend before Halloween and every year people look forward to it."
Doug's brother is flying in from Florida; friends come up from North Carolina.
"The adults are worse than the kids," said Doug, of the excitement surrounding the party.
"Another reason we have [the party] is that the older kids still like to dress up but can't trick-or- treat," Wendy said.
The family starts pulling out decorations and putting them up about a month or so before the party, patching up props, stitching rips and tears. Wendy's home office is turned into a staging area of sorts, still full of boxes of decorations needing to be placed.
The couple and the kids take it a little at a time; eventually the three acres and house will be brimming with brimstone and fright night décor.
Items have been culled from trips to Belize and Mexico, props from Universal Studios and bargain basement sales. When it is time to get rid of something, Doug has to leave. He can't stand to watch parts of his collection wind up in the trash pile.
"I've always liked Halloween … I really got into it," he said.
On Nov. 1, the family hits the stores and buys up all the clearance Halloween stuff to add to their collection. It'll take about a month to take down all the decorations, store them properly and put them back in the attic.
Just in time to haul out the Christmas decorations.
Fall fun
Serenity Farm will hold haunted hayrides 7:30-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday nights in October at the farm in Benedict. Organizers warn that the attraction is not recommended for children 10 and younger and children 12 and younger must be accompanied by an adult. Tickets are $6 per person. Call 301-399-1634.
Vampire Manor will be open Thursday-Sunday through Oct. 31. Hours are 7:30-10 p.m. Thursdays and 7:30-11 p.m. Friday-Sunday. Tickets are $10, $5 for children younger than 12. Proceeds benefit local nonprofit organizations. Vampire Manor is at 9410 Irving Road, Bel Alton. There is no parking on the site; park at the fire department at 8765 Bel Alton Newtown Road and take the shuttle over. Go to www.vampiremanor.com.
Zekiah Farms has corn mazes open 10 a.m. to dusk every Saturday and Sunday through Nov. 1. Enjoy hayrides, two mazes, see farm animals, pick pumpkins and visit the store. The farm is at 5235 Bryantown Road, Waldorf. Tickets are $8 per person with special packages available for school and youth groups. Call 240-216-2635 or go to www.zekiahfarms.com.
Shalgel Farms in Waldorf has hay rides, a petting zoo and pumpkin picking 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays until Nov. 1. Call 301-645-4554 or go to www.shlagelfarms.com. Farm is at 12850 Shlagel Farm Road.
