POT POURRI
Hometown of “Addams Family” creator becomes ghoulish Halloween attraction
in Washington, on Wednesday. (PTI)
WESTFIELD, Oct 29: Before there was “The Addams Family,” there was Westfield.
Cartoonist Charles Addams, who created the eccentric, fictional family, drew inspiration for his signature macabre style from the elegant Victorian homes, historic cemetery and other landmarks of his New Jersey hometown.
Today the affluent community, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) southwest of Manhattan, has embraced its ghoulish legacy, honoring its darkly humorous native son each October with AddamsFest.
Downtown storefront windows have been transformed into temporary canvases for seasonal scenes depicting Gomez, Morticia, Wednesday, Pugsley and the rest of the family. Throughout the month, there are Addams-themed events, including an art exhibit, a music and beer festival, a masquerade ball and a competition among homeowners for spookiest front lawn display.
“Everyone really gets into it,” said resident Kelly Heuschkel, whose young daughter is dressing up, appropriately, as Wednesday Addams this Halloween. “I think people decorate more for Halloween here than they do for Christmas.”
Joy Fox was among the visitors surprised that such a seemingly picturesque town could have inspired something so morbid.
“It looks like a very nice suburb,” the Cleveland, Ohio, resident remarked as she passed by Addams’ childhood home one recent afternoon. “I grew up watching the ‘Addams Family.’”
The monthlong festival, which is completing its ninth year, was launched when the town’s former mayor sought something uniquely Westfield for the town to celebrate.
Dawn Mackey, a former town councilor who helped found AddamsFest, admits that there was some initial skepticism when the idea of leaning into Addams’ lore was first floated.
“A lot of people didn’t even know he was from here,” she said.
But Mackey said she knew organizers had struck a chord when a visiting family once rattled off their three-stop Halloween itinerary to her: Salem, Massachusetts; Sleepy Hollow, New York, and Westfield. (AP)
This content is published by The Shillong Times and has not been created or edited by Hello Headlines. View original
