365 Challenge, Day 66: Scare Zones

The Halloween season is approaching, and it leaves me a little depressed. Our friend Dan throws an awesome Halloween party every year. To him, Halloween is Christmas. He's a creative guy (he designed the logo for this blog) and goes all out for the event. He will come up with a theme, make decorations, set up lighting, go to work in the wood shop, design costumes, whatever it takes to set the right mood. We missed his party last year due to our Paris vacation, and this year we will miss it because, well, we're here. I wonder if we will always miss it now? Sigh.

Another reason that I'm feeling bummed is that we won't have the opportunity to attend Universal Orlando's Halloween Horror Nights, or Busch Garden's Howl-o-Scream. We always went to the former with our roommate, Kris. The latter is a buried treasure that we discovered just last year with our friends Alfie and Silvio. These Halloween events are always a mixed bag. Sometimes the houses are scary, sometimes they're not. What you can always count on, however, is that there is more to be afraid of than what's inside the houses. The event planners set up "Scare Zones" around the park and between the houses. What this means is that there's always an opportunity to pee your pants waiting just around the next corner. The scare zones consist of fog machines, hay bales, rusty cars, dumpsters, bushes, whatever it takes to set the mood.

I may not be able to attend Dan's party. I may not be able to enjoy the fun at Universal or Busch Gardens. But I can always enjoy a good scare zone.

These dumpsters have been inconveniently parked in some 50-odd parking spaces surrounding the apartment complex for almost as long as we've been here. They are a constant reminder of the never ending construction that is occurring around us. During daylight hours, they are but a nuisance.

At night, it is terrifying to walk past them. Can you say rape/rob/murder? They are the perfect complement to the cemetery right next door (NOTE: To be fair, I am not aware of any violent crimes that have occurred as a result of these dumpsters. All I'm saying is they sure look like the perfect crime scene...).

Oh, and straight out of the Alien ship, take a look at the ceiling of the 7th floor hallway...It's been like that for more than a month now.

I guess I've been kind of hard on Oakwood the last couple of days. Check back later this week or next, when I hope to show a less biased view of the amenities for those of you that may one day call Oakwood your temporary home.