"Nightmare on Clinton Avenue" Headlines Local Halloween Fare

Tonight hundreds of ghouls, goblins and maybe a Rocket Racoon or two will all turn out—rain or not—for the annual Clinton Hill Halloween celebration. Headlining the evening’s activities, as it has for the past 13 years, is a live, Broadway-worthy performance at 313 Clinton Avenue. In a look back at the history of past extravaganzas, Janna Hyten, Claudia Howard and their crew of Halloween 313 volunteers will reveal the secrets of their stately, but haunted, Clinton Hill townhouse.

For children and parents wishing to be fully immersed in Clinton Avenue’s extensive Halloween festivities, 5:30 p.m is the start time at Pratt-Clinton Hill Community Garden (DeKalb Avenue and Hall Street). Trick-or-treaters will get maps of the walking route featuring Halloween highlights: local homes giving out candy, live performances—in addition to the show at 313 Clinton, there is the Brooklyn Halloween Show at 227 Waverly Place—and houses decorated for the occasion.

But the evening’s capstone are live shows performed in half-hour intervals by Ms. Hyten, Ms Howard and demented locals.

The 313 Clinton Avenue Halloween tradition started 20 years ago with a graveyard in the spacious front yard of Ms. Hyten’s building. The arrival 13 years ago of Ms. Luscombe—a writer and director—to 313 Clinton Avenue transformed the operation from passive decorations to an active, engaging and ultimately harrowing performance opportunity.

Since then, the size, scale and quality of productions has grown, so much so that Time Out Kids New York—among others—regularly lists the performance as one of the best ways to celebrate Halloween in NYC

Ms. Hyten and friends continue to add tombstones to their faux graveyard, choosing people they either “completely hate, disagree with politically or honoring somebody who’s recently passed.”

This year, the National Football League is in the graveyard—presumably for their indifference to domestic violence.

Even though each passing year brings an ever more spectacular performance, the inaugural live show still holds a special place in locals’ hearts.

“Everybody still talks about Zombie Science School for Ghouls” Ms. Hyten said.

According to the Halloween 313 website the star of this year’s show may be the house itself:

Legend has it that there are some dark secrets lurking in the walls of 313 Clinton Avenue, the creepy white house with a gruesome past. Late one Halloween night, following a mysterious disappearance, two unlucky neighbors learn the truth—that the things that go “bump” in the night are much more than figments of a paranoid imagination.

Passing in front of the gate of this ’haunted mansion,’ you’ll see Clinton Hill residents whispering spooky stories to each other—rumors of the ghost sightings and paranormal activity that seem to be the only explanations for the mysterious things that happen there. But the ghost stories couldn’t really be true, could they?

According to Hyten, this year’s show should resonate with locals on many levels.

“For most of the people who’ve lived in the neighborhood and seen the shows, there will be a lot of things that they’ll recognize from past shows,” Hyten said. In a nod to reality, the show is centered on a ”crazy asylum keeper—Anastasia Hangbody—who makes inmates of the asylum do shows on the front lawn every Halloween.”

PHOTO CAPTION: Performers in last year’s Halloween 313 performance, ”20,000 Screams Under the Sea: A Steampunk Adventure”

PHOTO CREDIT: Chris Franko