Parker Brothers Jack-O-Lantern Target game, circa 1914. Made of cardboard and wood, this home version of a carnival game allowed Halloween partygoers to knock over scarecrow and pumpkin heads with a ball for a prize.

“We have two original Harry Roseland paintings. He was veryimportant for the fact that he painted black people as people andnot as caricatures. Roseland did a whole series of the blackfortune-teller with the Gibson-type girls, and we have two of thosepaintings,” notes Apkarian-Russell.

Fortune-tellers play an integral part of this holiday, and the museum houses several items, including teacups, games and booklets pertaining to this mysterious practice. One of the more charming objects is a deviled egg plate from the 1930s that features fortunes printed within the concave bowls that hold the eggs. When the tray was passed around, people would take an egg and read their fortune.

Contrary to what some might assume, the museum is not a haunted house where skeletons pop out from behind hidden doors or high-pitched screams pierce darkened hallways – this house of treasures takes its mission seriously. Even the building, which might seem a bit intimidating at first, is quite harmless. It is located in the former Boggs Run Elementary School that was built in 1929 to educate the children of this former mining town. One would expect an abandoned school to have a few spirits hanging around, but, according to Apkarian-Russell, this is not the case.

Work is underway to renovate the building’s façade into what Apkarian-Russell amusingly refers to as “gothic pile.” “We are in the process of adding gargoyles, green men, angels, Pan figures, nymphs, angels and other assorted items to the building,” explains the Halloween Queen, in an effort to present the holiday in all its splendor both inside and out. Even a circa 1890s doorknocker has been secured to the front door for vintage gothic effect.

The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 are crucial historical events that deserves prominence in such archives. “We have a tremendous collection of Salem witch collectibles that show how important it was to American history,” she said.

The Castle Halloween Museum features the works of Robert Burns, who, according to the curator, can be considered the father of Halloween. “Burns wrote two poems which are very important to Halloween in this country. His poem ‘Tam O’Shanter’ is probably the definitive ghost story poem and then ‘Halloween’ was about how the day was celebrated and the importance of Halloween back then,” she said.

“When the Celts came over to this country, they brought Burns’s poems with them. At the harvest festival they would emulate some of the things in the poem ‘Halloween,’ like the fortune-telling. They would also recite the two poems, and so as other Celtic groups like the British and Irish came here, they also picked up on those poems and they added their traditions. The Germans brought the Black Forest traditions in, the talking trees and those things,” she said.

German-made composition Pumpkin Head Veggie doll with articulated arms and legs, circa 1905.

Still under renovation is the museum’s library, scheduled toopen in 2006. It will house thousands of books and will beavailable by appointment only to researchers interested in suchtopics as the paranormal, witchcraft and genocide. It has 1,500books on antiques alone. Also included will be science fictionbooks and many children’s books centering on fantasy, witches and,of course, Halloween. “We have books dating back to the1690s/1700s,” notes Apkarian-Russell. “We’ve got broadsides andpaper items that have been framed up, Mother Shipton’s work and herprophecies.”

Along with objects and books spanning several centuries, visitors bear witness to this ever-evolving holiday. They can trace Halloween from its early fears and rituals to more modern times when the holiday began to morph into clearer perspective for today’s visitors.

“The trick or treating and the parties that we know of doesn’t start until the Albany Carnival around 1900. That’s when society comes in and takes it from the rural people who had been celebrating it. People would go from house to house and partook of their food and brought things because it was the night of sharing and showing how much they had and how good the winter would be. Friends would come and they would have their ghost stories and their parties, but it was also for people to eat. When poor people came, they would be given little packages of food to take and it was a way of sharing one’s wealth – and food was wealth,” says Apkarian-Russell.

While there are ample displays of the boxed costumes of recent memory, the museum houses a wonderful collection of vintage outfits. As Apkarian-Russell explains, “The papier mache costumes have a history. Dennison Manufacturing was the first company to really start pushing the making of them. They did books, like the Dennison Party Book and the Dennison Bogie Book, and these little booklets would not only tell you about the costumes and things that you could purchase, but they would also tell you how to make and decorate with them.”

Among the more precious items in the museum’s collection, the early costumes stand out for their unique styles and personalized touches. There are several black and orange dresses that were made up with wacky little hats. These handmade outfits are decorated with the original Dennison stickers of witches and black cats. Some have been adorned with bells – reminiscent of another tradition that can be traced to the origins of this holiday. Bells, like masks and even that jack-o’-lantern sitting on your front porch, originated to scare off the evil spirits. They are all part of the various disguises so the spirits will not know who you really are.

In modern times, Halloween has become more about candy than rituals passed down through Burns. Candy containers played a large role in the holiday, as well as in the museum’s collection. Jack-o’-lanterns, pumpkin-headed policemen and witches bearing sweet gifts under their heads or hats became popular among children at the turn of the Twentieth Century.

As Apkarian-Russell explains, “Candy containers began before 1900. The Christmas ones were much earlier and they were made for hanging on the tree. Where the celebration, commercially, of Halloween is later than Christmas, it picked up its usages and different items like the candy containers.”

A paper fan with paper hair from the 1940s and a composition and wood witch noisemaker, circa 1915.

During that golden era of Halloween, the holiday became asgleefully anticipated as Christmas. “The candy containers startedoff on the tables for each guest, along with the place cards sothat each person could have a little takeaway gift,” saysApkarian-Russell. Each candy container is as unique as the next ina variety of forms. “You start with the really heavy compositionones – those made of combinations of plaster, paper, chalk and someother items – and then much later on, they go into cardboard andpapier mache.

“The early ones weren’t so much filled with hard candies but little homemade things. I’ve never found an early one with any residue in it, leftover candy and stuff like that; later ones, yes, but not the early ones. So I’m never quite sure what they put in them, candywise. There’s not really a lot of room in them, so you wouldn’t want to waste space with a napkin or cellophane or something like that.”

Currently, along with various artifacts and holiday memorabilia, the museum has exhibitions highlighting Harry Potter as well as Tim Burton’s A Nightmare Before Christmas that features a place called Halloween Town in the film.

“We’ll be having changing exhibitions,” says Apkarian-Russell, noting, “At Easter I want to do a large exhibition featuring Easter witches and Norwegian trolls. The Easter witches come at Easter and they sit on your roof, drink coffee and they bring you good luck. And that’s how you get your kitchen witches. Edward Gorey did a tremendous amount of books and illustrations that were humorous but also ominous and somewhat sinister. His drawings were used in the opening of the Public Television show Mystery.”

In the meantime, however, there is something unusual to see at every turn, including the troves of candy containers and boxes with advertising on them. “The tin ones are from about 1905, and some of the cardboard and papier mache boxes are from between 1905 and 1910. Some of them have the store names on them; some are decorated on the cellophane and some still have their advertising on them. There are also numerous examples of posters that show how the candy was sold, much of which was festively decorated little witches or jack-o’-lanterns on the boxes.

We want our elder visitors to say, “‘Oh my God, I remember those from when I was a kid!’ And I want the kid who’s 5 years old to come away with a nostalgic feeling for Halloween,” admits the Halloween Queen of her castle.

The Castle Halloween Museum is at 577 Boggs Run Road. For information, 304-233-1031 or www.castlehalloween.com.