Local haunt in Blair grills and chills

BLAIR, Neb., Oct 24, 2008 (Omaha World-Herald - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- RHT | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- A downtown bar and restaurant has turned into this town's main attraction for scares, frights and eerie sounds.

For five years, the owners of Main Street Bar and Grill have turned their business on Washington Street into a full-fledged Halloween extravaganza.

Owners Greg and Julie Anderson spend September decorating their business with haunted graveyards, moveable Grim Reapers and giant plastic skeleton hands with long fingernails dangling from the 14-foot-high tin ceiling.

"People always ask me, 'What's next?'" Julie Anderson said. "It's just a way when you work so hard to have a creative outlet. I like building stuff, and being in a small town like this, everybody talks about this and their costumes for months."

The restaurant has more than 20 life-size character props, including Frankenstein; his relative, Herman Munster; a creepy butler; green-face witches; and screeching mummies. Freshly cut trees decorated with fake cobwebs, fake spiders and plastic ravens hang over the dinner tables.

"We wanted to find the creepy, dead-tree look," Greg Anderson said. "I went down by the Missouri River and found these trees."

Blair Area Chamber of Commerce director Harriet Waite said the Main Street Bar and Grill has gained quite a following as the premier Halloween attraction in this Washington County town of 8,000, north of Omaha.

Because Blair doesn't have any businesses operating Halloween haunted houses, lots of families pop into the Main Street Bar and Grill every October to see what the place looks like, Waite said.

"It's a drawing card for people to come here," Waite said. "I think it looks great, and it just adds a lot of fun to the downtown. They go all out with sound effects on the outside of their building. The other day, I was walking downtown, and I heard screams in the back alley. It turns out, they have a sound machine outside doing Halloween sounds and ghoulish noises."

In October, the bar draws a wide range of groups -- from out-of-town motorcycle clubs on weekend rides to 20 Red Hat Society ladies from Burt County.

"People are just in awe, and they love it," said Jeanie Molander, a part-time employee. "The little ladies with the Red Hat club loved it, and they were all taking pictures by the monsters."

Molander said some regular bar patrons spend hours trying to identify ghouls, spiders and other Halloween memorabilia disguised on the dark walls, rafters, lights and ceiling.

"It's been such an attraction, and I think it actually has been a business builder," said bar patron Andrea Madsen of Blair. "It's just different, and it's a must for families to come and see it. Even the old people love it. The atmosphere, it's not overwhelming. It won't scare the kids, but they'll have a taste of Halloween."

Julie Anderson said the spirit of Halloween is in her blood.

Her birthday is Oct. 30, and in 2006, she married Greg on Halloween and celebrated their reception back at the bar with a costume-theme party. Every Halloween, their establishment holds a large costume contest for adult customers.

"I am definitely a Halloween-driven person," Julie Anderson said.

When she's not at work, Julie Anderson said she's often out buying new Halloween decorations. She is a regular shopper in Omaha at Nobbies, Mangelsen's and Goodwill. She tries to make sure her decorations are "not too gimmicky and not too gross."

"We want to make sure that everyone feels comfortable with it," she said. "I usually add one new major piece every year," she said.

This year's addition is "Dead Fred," a 6-foot-long mummified corpse hidden behind the bar.

"Someone said that we should put an upside-down coffin hanging from the ceiling," Julie Anderson said. "So we're thinking that might be a good spot to put Dead Fred next year."

--Contact the writer: 444-1056, john.ferak@owh.com

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