Off the Couch: Spooky activities, Disney on Ice

BARRY COURTER: Lisa, we haven't talked much about all of the scary things going on around town. Now, I have to confess that ever since my older brothers forced me to watch "Frankenstein" when I was about 5, I've never been a big fan of the horror genre, but we have some pretty elaborate spook houses. These folks take this stuff seriously.

LISA DENTON: Yep, they'll do anything to scare the yell out of you, as they say at the Haunted Barn in McDonald. There's some truly creepy stuff out there. The Haunted Carnival at Sir Goony's has a whole crew of "fear engineers" in charge of the scares. The Haunted Cavern at Ruby Falls is 26 stories underground. Yikes.

I like how the Carnival of Carnage in Soddy-Daisy is doing lighted tours before the scares start to see the inner workings of a haunted house. That's perfect for wimps like me.

Anyway, I figure I can get in my last visits to the haunted houses this week so that I can devote Halloween to trick-or-treating. I'm thinking of taking the bloodhound. We'll go as Strawberry Shortcake and My Little Pony.

BARRY: Or you could go as Elly May Clampett and Duke.

LISA: That could be fun. I could wrestle everybody for candy.

BARRY: Speaking of costumes, Disney on Ice is coming back to McKenzie Arena starting on Wednesday. There will be plenty of people dressed up as favorite Disney characters from over the years.

Don't forget also that the characters at the Haunted Cavern put on a Freak Parade before opening, so if you get there early, some guy with his brains on display might meet you at your car. Cool, uh?

LISA: Cool, no. I'm going to need my brown pants for that. I can live with a ghost in my house, but I don't like things jumping out at me.

Maybe I should stick to concerts this week instead. There's a Motown show with the Tri-Octaves on Friday at the Tivoli Theatre, and Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith will be at Memorial Auditorium on Saturday with their 2 Friends Tour.

BARRY: And you know the bluegrass music of Bill Monroe is not my favorite, but we'd be remiss in not mentioning the big 100th birthday celebration going on at Southern Adventist University. They are bringing in Peter Rowan, Tony Rice and The Travelin' McCourys in to perform on Tuesday, and even I know those guys are top-shelf performers.

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