Haunting season: Some tips, some movies, some lore for Halloween

The witching hour is at hand.
The witching hours – actually, the official trick or treat hours – will be 6-8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 31, in Berwick, Patterson and unincorporated areas of the parish. As of Wednesday, Morgan City had yet to make the final call.
If trick or treating seems too scary, you can check out alternative events such as trunk or treats on our Facebook page.
Here’s a collection of information about Halloween, near and far:
Ghostly highways
Bayou Sale in the Franklin area is in a collection of roads with haunted histories across the country, compiled by Gunther Volkswagen Delray Beach. The list is based on a survey of 3,000 drivers.
Bayou Sale “is haunted by the tragic story of a mother searching for her lost child. Drivers have reported seeing ghostly apparitions emerging from the swamp and eerie fog rolling across the road, obscuring their path. The dense vegetation and isolation of the area make this stretch of road particularly haunting.” It ranks No. 5 on the list.
Also on the list are La. 359 in St. Landry Parish at No. 4 (“Drivers have reported sightings of a young woman in a vintage dress, silently pointing toward the woods as if trying to convey a message”) and the Old Spanish Trail in Lafourche (“Once used by pirates, this road is said to be haunted by the ghosts of pirates who buried treasure nearby”) at No. 27.
The No. 1 scary highway on the list is Route 9, Sleepy Hollow, New York. “This legendary road takes you through the haunted heart of Sleepy Hollow, home to the infamous Headless Horseman.”
Halloween safety
Acadian Ambulance offers these tips:
—Teach children to make eye contact with drivers before crossing in front of vehicles and have them hold hands with a trusted adult while crossing the street.
—Always walk on sidewalks or pedestrian paths. If there are no sidewalks, walk facing traffic as far to the left as possible. Children should walk on direct routes with the fewest street crossings.
—Don’t be distracted by earbuds or electronic devices while out and about.
—Watch for turning or reversing vehicles. Teach children to never dart out into the street or cross between parked cars.
—If you’re driving, go slowly, anticipate heavy pedestrian traffic, and turn your headlights on to spot children from greater distances.
—Children under the age of 12 should always go out with an adult. If kids are old enough to go without supervision, they should trick-or-treat in groups and stick to familiar areas that are well-lit.
—Decorate costumes and trick-or-treat bags with reflective tape or stickers and, if possible, choose light colors.
—Skip masks that can obstruct your child’s vision.
—Never accept rides from strangers.
—If you are handing out candy, keep your front porch light or garage light on
.—Candlelit jack-o-lanterns should be placed on a sturdy table, away from curtains and other flammable objects, and should never be left unattended.
—Offer non-candy goodies for trick or treaters who may have food allergies. Items like glow sticks, spider rings, vampire fangs, pencils, bubbles, bouncy balls, finger puppets, whistles, bookmarks, stickers and stencils make fun treats.
—Don’t eat any candy until you arrive home and can inspect it. 
Scary movies for Halloween
(but not for the little ones)
Casino experts VP Grinders compiled this list:
The scariest movie of all time was revealed to be “Don’t Listen (Voces)” (2020), a Spanish-language horror with 27 jump scares.
In second place is “The Evil Dead” (1981), the joint-oldest film on this list, which stunned viewers with its extreme gore, as director Sam Raimi reported approximately 300 gallons of fake blood were used during filming.
In third is “Evil Dead” (2013), one of the more recent installments of ‘The Evil Dead’ franchise, which once again sees five students take a trip to a remote woodland cabin and uncover an old book that awakens an evil entity.
In fourth place is “The Beyond” (1981), the joint-oldest entry on this list. A young woman inherits an abandoned hotel in Louisiana, but as she attempts to get it back up and running, she learns that the building was built over a gateway to Hell.
With a staggering 27 jump scares in less than 90 minutes, this is not a film for the faint-heated, labeled "creepy" and "gory" on the Scary Meter.
Reaching the top five, “It” (2017) is a modern adaptation of Stephen King’s classic horror novel, following an ancient evil presented as a shape-shifting clown, who returns every 27 years to torment and feed on children.