A grown-up kind of Halloween

» The best places to go on Halloween in the Lower Mainland

Benjamin Howard
Contrioutor

Owen trick-or-treating
and wondering what to do

on Halloween? If'so, here are
some events for you.

Embark on a journey into the
dark history of Vancouver's
Gastown by going on this
theatrical walking tour. Here’s
a quotation from its website:
“Venture into our city’s earliest
and most gruesome history
this Halloween season. A
time when Vancouver was the
Granville Townsite, a violent
frontier town of hustlers and
thieves, vagabonds, and bawdy
girls.” The tour begins at 8 p.m.
in downtown Vancouver at
Cathedral Square, which is at
Dunsmuir and Richards Street.
Be warned, you might want to
bring an extra pair of pantaloons!
The Chinatown Haunted
House. A haunted house with
a Chinese twist, the Chinese

: Haunted House is inspired by

: the macabre stories of detective
Judge Dee—a mysterious

: Sherlockian figure based off of
: real-life magistrate Di Renjie,

: who was a member of the Tang
: court. It features over 25 actors,
The Lost Souls of Gastown. :
: located at the beautiful Sun Yat-
: Sen Classical Chinese Garden on
: Carrall Street. It’s open from 7-10 :
: p.m., and tickets are $14.

dancers, and musicians, and is

Potter’s House of Horrors.

: Mentioned ina previous

: Halloween themed article, this

: attraction hosts two haunted

: houses. The first, The Ripper of

: Whitechapel, offers a terrifying

: walk through Victorian England,
: and is based loosely on the

: old Jack the Ripper legend.

: The second, The Swampin’

: Slaughterhouse, is set in an eerie
: Louisiana swamp, making great
: use of all the voodoo, zombie,

: and crocodile references they

: can. Tickets are $15 per haunted

: house. Potter’s can be found in

: Surrey at 12530 72nd Avenue, and :

: is open from 7-10 p.m.

The Parade of Lost Souls.

: The annual parade returns, this
: time with the theme of trickery.
: In keeping with tradition, the

: parade organizers will not

: announce the whereabouts until
: All Hallows’ Eve, but generally

: speaking, it will be somewhere

: in East Vancouver. The parade

lasts from 7-10 p.m., and best of

: all, it’s free and completely family
: friendly!

Fright Nights at Playland.

: Though it seems like a main

: staple on the majority of our

: Halloween themed articles,

: Fright Nights are guaranteed

: fun! Featuring 15 rides, seven

: haunted houses, fire dancers,

: and acomedic magic sideshow,

: Fright Nights have just about

: everything. Tickets go from $32-
: $37, so they're a little pricey when
: compared with the rest of these

: attractions—but who can say no

: to The Beast?

Happy haunting everyone!

 

Photo via Thinkstock

 

The unwanted spotlight

» A look at being self-conscious

Lauren Paulsen
Senior Columnist

Genns out. It’s something
the majority of us do not
want to do. It makes us feel
uncomfortable and self-
conscious. Whether we like it
or not, humans like to belong.
Individual expression is great
when you can control what
you want to stand out—not
having a choice, now that’s
another matter. I’ve always been
different from my peers, but it
hasn’t always been physically
obvious. | have an “invisible
illness.” I look normal and
healthy at first glance, but that
isn't the case. As a child, this
made it hard to keep friends.

I was small and underweight,
and couldn’t keep up with my
classmates.

=

I was bullied. : For example, I mentioned in an ey

But it wasn’t until grade : article I wrote last week that
six that it became really bad. : [now have to wear a mask to ——£
That was the year that] hadto —: keep myself from catching every :
begin toting around an N.G. : virus out there. I’m still finding
Tube, a long, thin tube that goes : it hard to wear it when I’m out
down your nose andinto your —_: in public. I feel like everyone y
stomach. This is used for feeding : is staring at me, judging me. It Zw

on hypoallergenic formula that
tastes too nasty to swallow.

It was meant to help me gain
some weight and nutrients
because I couldn't eat normally.

: needed it. I wanted to look

“normal” again. When I had to

: go back on the formula because
: my diet didn’t end up being

: sufficient enough, I refused

: the N.G. Tube and requested to
: have a surgical implant into my
: stomach—it would be invisible,
: and no one would know it was

: there unless I wanted them to.

: I did everything I could to hide
: the fact that I was different.

Of course, if you’ve read

: any of my other articles about

: my health, you’d know that

: didn’t really work out. Being

: chronically il isn’t something

: you can hide, and I have begun
: to accept that people may see

: me differently, but those are

: the people that know me. I’m

: still very self-conscious when |
: have to do something that I fear
: will make people stare at me.

: doesn’t matter that I know that
: is not true. I can't stop worrying
: about it, even though most

: people probably hardly give it a
: thought.

\

 

Unfortunately, it was also this Standing out when you don’ t
really obvious thing attached to: want to? It sucks.
my cheek. Young and oldalike  :

Photo via Thinkstock

For anyone that has gone

: : . : wearing my mask, takeadeep  : change howyoufeel when you : to realize that. You are stronger
stared at me. : through, or is currently going : : “17: , : .
: : . : breath and pat yourselfonthe : stand out unwillingly. Getting =: than you think.
I was absolutely thrilled : through, something that makes: : : . . :
: : back. Even ifyou know you are =: through this is a massive :

when I was told I no longer : them feel like I do when I’m

: being over-paranoid, it doesn’t : accomplishment and you need