Thread: Seeking story ideas

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Hello - I am new to the forum and have joined with the express purpose of finding some help in planning a children's Halloween event at my workplace, Reiman Gardens in Ames, IA.

In October we hold the two day event that is traditionally done in full daylight and has a few children's activities that have a very low "scare factor" and consists mainly of a storyteller and costumed mascots from local athletic organizations and businesses giving out candy to kids who attend with their parents.

This year, our theme is "A Celebration of Garden Ornamentation" and we have a display of garden gnomes, the World's Largest Concrete Garden Gnome, whirligigs, gazing balls, a flamingotorium, troll and fariy abodes, etc.

Since this is my first "Spirits in the Garden" I wish to tweak it a bit and also make it fit more into this year's theme. Therefore I am replacing the costumed mascots with faeries, a troll, a Greenman and some living statues. I've also moved the hours to include two hours before sunset and one hour after dark. I want the entire event to have a more magical, mysterious feel to it.

I am also interested in utilizing a boardwalk area that covers about an acre of ground, using storytellers every so often, or characters of some sort to recite something for the patrons. I want it to have a low to medium scare factor. (I don't want to send any small ones home crying)

Can anyone steer me towards short stories, poems, etc. that could be done by volunteer actors in costume? Things that are a bit spooky, but not terrifying?

Thanks for any and all help!

There are some good poems on here:

http://www.apples4theteacher.com/hol.../poems-rhymes/



I love these
http://ibiblio.org/eldritch/owh/bt.html#title - especially "The Broomstick Train" (I've got a recording of Vincent Price reading it and it is wonderful).

LOOK out! Look out, boys! Clear the track!
The witches are here! They've all come back!
They hanged them high--No use! No use!
What cares a witch for a hangman's noose?
They buried them deep, but they wouldn't lie still,
For cats and witches are hard to kill;
They swore they shouldn't and wouldn't die,--
Books said they did, but they lie! they lie!



http://www.vincentprice.org/audio/audio.html
Vincent Price recorded many spoken word ghost story albums - you can look through his recordings and give them a listen and then do a search to find the text to print out. (the Broomstick Train is in there under the "Tales of Witches, Ghosts and Goblins" album).