An event hosted for two consecutive days at Columbia Park has become an annual tradition for the small town of Dunellen for the past six years. The founder of the Haunted Trail is a local resident of Dunellen, Mrs. Karen Seader. The Haunted Trail occurs from 7pm till 10pm and is a fundraiser for a community house that charges ten dollars per adult and five dollars for children under the age of ten to attend. This fundraiser has become a way to raise money in order to restore and refurbish a house on mountain view terrace that has been in Dunellen since the 1800s. The full intention of Mrs. Seader is to restore the house to its former glory and transform it into a museum and venue for the town of Dunellen.
Karen Seader also works amidst Dunellen High School’s Choir Teacher Ms. Phyllis Piano. Mrs. Seader and Ms. Piano work together along with countless other volunteers and actors to put the haunted trail together each year. In a recent interview, Ms. Piano said that what she was most excited for at the Haunted Trail this year was people seeing her horse. “It went really well. It was great,” Ms. Piano said, although she did mention that towards the end of the trail, her horse did become a little frightened. “At the very end somebody jumped out of the bushes on the side and she freaked out,” Ms. Piano said referring to her horse. Thankfully, she was able to calm her horse down and return home safely.
Ms. Piano has been helping out with running the Haunted Trail for the last six years. While it may not have been run by the town officially, Ms. Piano would host haunted trails at Columbia Park with her classes. She first started her own haunted trail with her class in 2003 at Columbia Park. Unlike the improved haunted trail run by the town as well as Mrs. Seader, the venue ( Columbia Park ) was not positioned the way it is presently. The Haunted Trail now is formed around the track circle but, before that, Ms. Piano would attempt to run the Haunted Trail through the entirety of the park.
While the tradition of Halloween seemingly hasn’t changed much over the years, young children used to dress up as saints to pay their respects and ask for “soul cakes,” a common pastry at the time. In the present time, kids dress up as all different types of creatures and fantasy characters from popular games and etc. According to Business Insider, Irish and Scottish immigrants actually started this custom of dressing as various creatures as a way of scaring the local townspeople. As the years passed, many others decided to follow their lead.
Many beliefs and traditions have changed for Halloween over the decades; including the name. Halloween was previously referred to as All Hallows Eve or Hallowed Evening, with ‘hallow’ meaning ‘saint’. While the costumes may change every year, one thing has not. Throughout all this time, people still to this day believe the veil between the living and the dead is thinner during this time.