Like most couples in their mid-twenties, Michael and I spent our Saturday night wandering around Old World Wisconsin. Oh wait – no one else does that? For shame because Old World Wisconsin’s Halloween Legends and Lore was awesome.
For you Wisconsin kids that didn’t end up there on a field trip as a child, let me give you the gist: it’s a giant outdoor museum with dozens of historic buildings you can check out with reenactors to show you the ropes. But let me tell you, their Halloween event is crazy cool – at least to history nerds like me.
Now let me geek out at you for a few paragraphs. Michael and I got there and we jumped right into the action, visiting each building where there’d be actors telling a story, playing a game or acting out a spooky tale. We started out learning about the legend of the Ban Sidhe (or banshee) and that woman could scream. She was so cool and I totally regret not taking a photo with her and her spot-on costume. On the plus side, I did get to hang out with this vampire. Terrifying.
Things got spooky when the sun went down. We checked out this haunted house. Ooooh spooky bride! It was totally my favorite vignette of the evening. Michael and I walked in, and we were greeted by a woman in mourning and she proceeded to tell us how her son-in-law just passed away and that Michael reminded her of him “only much less attractive,” and I had a good little giggle. And of course there was a good corpse bride scare.
We ended our evening with the tale of Baba Yaga and Vasalisa. The only thing I remembered of the folk tale was that Baba Yaga rides on a mortar and pestle, and if that’s not enough to send you into a Wikipedia wormhole, then you have higher standards than I do (but still check it out).
This is probably on the more obscure end of Halloween activities, but it was totally my favorite yet. If you’re intrigued, check it out! You’re last chance is October 31!