When you think of Halloween, you probably think of ghouls, goblins, and ghastly scenes – zombies and decapitated heads and whatnot (depending on just how disturbed your imagination can get, or how recently you’ve seen an episode of the Walking Dead.)
But there’s an undercurrent other than fun and scares to this tricksy holiday, one that’s typically reserved for holidays later in the year – and that’s family.
For Doug Cobb and his wife Christina, Halloween is a family affair. Together 21 years, they traditionally throw a huge spookfest for their daughter every year; this October it’ll be for her 14th birthday.
“She loves it,” says Doug. “My wife and I have fun planning it for her every year. It’s tradition.”
But it’s not just about blood relatives. Doug met his best friend Matt Ellis at a Bossier haunted house in 1994, and the two have been upping their Halloween game every year since.
“We like Halloween, because dressing up and having fun with it means getting to be ourselves,” Doug says. “Every year we try to improve and do something different than the last year.”
And thus Olive Street Oddities was born. Featured on the 400 block of Olive Street (directly across from Vessel Vintage and The Sleepy Hollow), Doug and Matt have for the last two years opened their Spooktacular Haunted House to the public – for free – asking only for donations to keep their project going.
“We’d like to make it bigger and better every year, and all the donations go straight toward that effort,” says Doug.
“It’s for all ages,” says Matt, who dons his “Stitches” the (very) scary clown outfit year after year. “We tend to crank it up for adults, but this is really for kids from all over Shreveport to be able to come and enjoy Halloween and have fun with it.”
Walking through their field of screams, it’s easy to see how talented and passionate these two artists are. This year’s theme features “Sawbones” and the “Big Top BBQ: Cannibal Clowns,” with life-sized figurines and even functional guillotines handmade by the duo from scratch.
“We find scraps from all around and use them to make the pieces,” says Doug, as he walks us through a backyard full of handmade masks and hallways full of original artwork. “I’ve always been an artist and had a creative side, and this allows me to pursue that.”
Though they have been putting on haunted houses for years, this is only the second year that Olive Street Oddities is open to the public. Last year the duo scared 1000 people, and they hope to top that number this year.
“We pass out candy, and we keep it free so nobody feels left out,” says Matt.
It’s clear that these friends and their family do what they do not just for the thrill, but for the benefit of the surrounding community. It’s enough to make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside… until Stitches rears his sinister head.
Olive Street Oddities will be open:
Friday, October 30th: 7 p.m. to midnight
Saturday, October 31st: 8 p.m. to midnight
Free to the public / Donations welcomed
www.facebook.com/oliveoddities
Photography by Maddie Laire