Spooky legends of Halloween gathered on Main Street in Saint Charles for their eighth year of haunting.
Every year during the Halloween season, Legends & Lanterns brings Main Street to life with its ghoulish spectacles and mystical characters roaming the street.
Ryan Cooper, festival director and creator of Legends & Lanterns, said that there are 76 members of the cast and crew working for the event this season.
The event started its planning at the end of January for a “post-mortem,” Cooper said.
From there, organizers decide what characters will roam the streets, who will fill the roles and what storylines will take place.
In September, decorations were put up and the festival began.
“It’s a proud papa moment to say this started on a piece of paper with a few scratched lines and now it’s living and breathing and people are coming to it,” Cooper said.
With characters ranging from Beetlejuice to Edgar Allen Poe, Legends & Lanterns livens up the Halloween season with witty characters and enriching Halloween history.
This created realm takes attendees through Halloween lore, allowing characters to interact with the viewers and tell their own stories of origin.
The shrieks, hollers and banter of the characters can be heard from all around, making the experience more interactive, Cooper explained.
Fredericka Black and Mary Lueckenhoff, residents of Saint Charles, attended their second year of Legends & Lanterns together and praised the dedication of the Halloween characters.
“The characters are a lot more involved and they stay in character. It’s a lot more personal,” Black said.
Luecknoff, who was dressed as a witch, said that she loves that “there’s more mystery involved in this event, it’s not something you see everyday.”
Legends & Lanterns does not stick to the cliché Halloween personas. Some roles require the viewer to do a double take.
There are historical characters such as Lizzie Borden and Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley and fictional ones like Captain James Hook and the Queen of Hearts.
“This is something we wanted people to enjoy whether you’re 4 years old or 104 years old,” Cooper said.
The Halloween characters are not the only ones who dress up. Attendees are seen wearing jack-o-lantern earrings or shirts with Halloween legends on it.
Many people wear their costumes as well. There were numerous people dressed as Jack and Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Black and Lueckenhoff donned witch outfits, painted their faces green and waved their brooms around at the festival.
Black said that she encourages everyone to attend this festival because “it awakens the child in you, it illuminates the imagination and I think adults can definitely benefit in that aspect.”
Cooper hopes that this event will draw people from across the St. Louis region to explore Main Street.
“Main Street is beautiful all year round, but there’s a haunted elegance to it. It’s like walking down a movie set,” Cooper said
For more information about the event and when to visit in October, click here.
