The Standard’s news roundup gives you a quick hit of interesting, sometimes irreverent, and breaking news stories from all over the state.
More than 171 million Americans are expected to celebrate Halloween this year, spending a total of about $8 billion, according to the National Retail Federation. And with all those bones in play – the finance website WalletHub wanted to figure out which cities are the best for Halloween.
Jill Gonzalez is an analyst with the site.
“First we looked at how trick-or-treater friendly it is, how many kids are there, how many of the housing units are occupied … what’s the crime rate like as well,” she says. “We also looked at adult Halloweeners – so people who are looking for Halloween parties. … We looked at the Halloween weather forecast.”
And with that creepy criteria in mind, Texas cities scored high on the list.
“Laredo was top five, it ranked fifth best. Right behind that was Plano,” Gonzalez says. “It all starts with having a pretty big kid population, a nice trick-or-treater population, plus a lot of full housing units. So there will be a lot of trick-or-treater spots along the way. … There’s also a lot of family friendly parties that are low cost or no cost.”
Lubbock was the Texas town that landed the lowest in the rankings at 85th out of 100.
If you like Halloween but are a scaredy cat, a new online tour lets you explore one of the most haunted buildings in Texas – without having to get up close and personal with any ghosts.
That spooky site is the Magnolia Hotel in Seguin, built in 1840.
TV station WFAA in Dallas created an interactive map of the hotel.
Here co-owner Erin Ghedi tells the story of 12-year-old Emma who was mistakenly killed at the hotel. Erin explains how they know the spirit is hanging out in her room.
“When she does show up, she likes to entertain us by moving her ball. She also likes to use her pinwheel.”
You can take the haunted online tour if you dare – on WFAA’s website.
Maybe you’re not a fan of “Keeping Up with the Kardashians,” but a family outside of Beaumont took a cue from the famous reality TV family for their Halloween display: “Keeping up with the Bones.”
For the last two years, Amy Moses and her family have set up a group of skeletons in their yard. And every day in October she creates a new scene.
One day the Bones are kicking back on lawn chairs watching TV. Another day, Mr. and Mrs. Bones soak up the sun while their kids make chalk drawings in the driveway.
You can find all of the photos from October on the Keeping Up with the Bones Facebook page.
