Howl-O-Scream Fest haunts West Homewood Park

Goblins, princesses and movie stars flooded the West Homewood Park on the evening of Oct. 29 for the Homewood Parks and Recreation's Howl-O-Scream Halloween Festival. 

Previously known as the Homewood Fall Festival, which has been happening for over 20 years, this year's event saw some major changes. Instead of being held during the day, the festival was pushed to the evening to allow for greater Halloween activities.

"Everybody has their own little thing to do," said David Primus, one of the event coordinators. This year, by hosting the festival in the evening, Primus hoped to see more community involvement and to give the residents of West Homewood another opportunity to come out and see what the Parks and Recreation is all about. 

Using two of the baseball fields, the Parks and Recreation volunteers had games and activities aimed at pre-school, elementary school and middle school students with chances to win candy throughout. Trunk-or-treating was also popular throughout the night as costumed kids collected candy from local families and groups who decorated their cars for the event. 

For older and braver kids, the Howl-O-Scream Festival featured their first Haunted Walk, which traveled through the wooded portion of the park. Manned mostly by Homewood Middle and High School student volunteers, guests took a hay ride to the start of the walk and spent the next ten minutes wandering through the spooky trail. 

"[The festival] is really nice," said Cindy Humphries, a resident of Homewood who brought her daughters to the event. "We think it's just great."

All proceeds from the event go back into the general fund of the city, said Primus, so that they can do the event again next year.