Halloween fans go all in on the holiday

Spooky ghosts. Disgusting goblins. Creepy spiders clinging to white silky webs. And of course, a jack-o’-lantern or two.

Drive through some of Spokane’s residential neighborhoods and you’re sure to see at least a couple of “those houses” – where the budget for Halloween decorations may be the highest expense that month.

On Spokane’s South Hill, multiple residents joined in on the holiday fun, with a carved pumpkin here or a cutesy decoration there. Others dialed it up to 11.

Susie and Allen Mourton are the latter. Halloween is the same date as Susie Mourton’s birthday, and as a New Zealand native, she didn’t really celebrate the holiday until she moved to America in 1993. Since then, it’s become her favorite by far.

“I have eight containers and boxes of Halloween decorations,” she said. “I only have one for Christmas. My husband always gives me grief about that.”

Each year, Susie and Allen Mourton and their children, 9-year-old son Jack and 12-year-old daughter Bailey, sit at home and prepare for the inevitable: the long line of trick-or-treaters sure to come. Their neighborhood on Manito Boulevard is “completely crazy” for Halloween, and Susie Mourton estimates about 800 kids line up at their door for a sugary treat.

“I keep buying more and more candy each year, but it seems like we run out at 7 p.m.,” Susie Mourton said. “So we bring out the bad candy after that, things like candy corn.”

This year (and every year) she’s dressing up as a witch – the Wicked Witch of the West specifically. Bailey Mourton is going as a character from a video game. As for Jack Mourton? He’s going political.

“Jack is going as Donald Trump. He’s got the superior costume,” Susie Mourton said. “It’s either that or a unicorn. We’ll see what he decides.”