Preparing for spooky season
James Day with a “mermaid corpse” prop he made for last year’s Haunted Woods, fashioned out of parts of real taxidermy fish. File photo
For James Day, every day is Halloween, but as we approach the end of October and the rest of town readies itself for ghouls and ghosts, he’s more excited than ever to welcome people to the 20th anniversary edition of his Haunted Woods.
The community can get a taste of what’s to come today, Friday, October 24, at James Day’s Spooky Island, a haunted drive-by sponsored by Kahnawà:ke Shakotiia’takéhnhas Community Services (KSCS). The event will take place from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Tekakwitha Island, and Day promises it will be “scarier than Trunk or Treat.”
“I don’t want to give away any surprises,” said Day. “You’ve got to be there.”
The idea for the Spooky Island came about after Day and KSCS organizers decided the older kids in town deserve an extra scare in the lead up to Halloween.
“They’re the ones that live for that kind of stuff,” Day said.
The event will feature smoke and lights, projected images, and actors everywhere, a miniature version of the annual spectacle that is James Day’s Haunted Woods, and he’s found creativity everywhere during the planning process.
“To prepare I call it ‘dumping out the toy box,’ and who knows what you’ll see and find,” he said.
The main event is the Haunted Woods, which will officially kick off on Thursday, October 30, at 6 p.m. with free food from Old Haunt BBQ. That night, Haunted Woods tours will start at 7 p.m. and will run until 11 p.m., with tours running from 8 p.m. until 11 p.m. the following night, which is Halloween.
Day will keep spooky season alive for one additional day, running a final Haunted Woods extravaganza in two sessions on Saturday, November 1, with daytime hours from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. and evening hours from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.
The daytime hours will be especially geared towards younger kids who might want to enjoy the woods with slightly fewer sudden scares, and a quiet period will be available before the last show, designed for those with special needs who might also want to take a tour in a less overstimulating environment.
As always, admission is free, and Day asks that guests just bring a non-perishable food item to donate to Kateri Food Basket.
“It means everything to me that the community trusts in the Haunted Woods to deliver years of fears and memories that live on forever,” Day said.
He dedicates the 20th anniversary edition of his project to his father, James “Jimbo” Day, who passed away just before last year’s Haunted Woods.
“It feels like something he would want me to continue to do, because he loved it as much as we all do,” Day said.
He continues to be full of passion for the event and is looking forward to many more decades of Halloween fun in Kahnawake.
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“I kind of knew once this started there wasn’t going to be an end,” he said. “It goes right into the afterlife.”
The location of the woods can be found by searching “James Day’s Haunted Woods” on Google Maps.
