THUNDER BAY – Batman, Wonder Woman and a walking snack machine were among the costumed revelers who on Saturday descended upon Victoriaville Centre for its annual Halloween Spooktacular event.
Eleven-year-old Keeyla English was among the prize winners, painting an old cardboard box black and gluing a selection of Halloween candy bars to the front, a one-of-a-kind vending machine that quickly caught the eyes of the judges on hand, earning her top spot in her age group.
The youngster said the event was a lot of fun.
“You get to carve pumpkins and do a lot of other fun activities,” she said.
Seven-year-old Brooke Anderson dressed up as a corpse bride, plastering her face in a plethora of undead-inspired temporary tattoos and staining portions of her miniature wedding gown with fake blood.
“I wanted to be a dead bride for Halloween because I’ve always been a zombie every Halloween," she said.
Besides, zombies are cool, not scary -- and a lot of fun.
“They’re dead and I get to put blood everywhere,” she said, adding she loved the Halloween Spooktacular because it was a chance to meet new people and make new friends.
“It was really fun. I got to dress up. It was about Halloween and it was fun to see everyone in costumers,” Brooke said, noting it took about three weeks to put her costume together.
Victoriaville manager Brian Phillips said about 250 youngsters and up to 700 people overall took part in the free event, which included free treats at the end.
“It’s such a good event because the kids are super engaged in it. They dress up. They look forward to it every year and because it’s free, it draws them in even more,” Phillips said. “It’s something to do on a Saturday and it brings the community together at Victoriaville Centre.”
