True Indiana Horror

Many were aware, or even in attendance, of Horror Hound Weekend Indy this past labor day weekend. Injecting their own blend of horrific scares and frights, it's an odd and welcome dose of scary for sleepy Indiana. I myself wasn't in attendance this weekend however as I ventured out into Northern Indiana to take in the true horror of the Hoosier Heartland, the ubiquitous Labor Day festival!

Picture if you will some 500,000 people packed in shoulder to shoulder in a small town park in 90 degree weather. Such is the scene that I found myself thrust into against my will. (Note: For my wife's sake, I went for the food!)

Aside from the sea of people that managed to wander aimlessly in shifting crowds of mouth breathing and drool, it was akin to a scene from "Dawn of the Dead" as we watched people blindly consume anything they could get their hands on! Wooden works of art declaring 'the pool is open' or dubbing their own backyard 'Margaritaville', there were some truly high class works of art on display.

Among them were the carnival rides. Borrowing from the loveable troll that has captivated both young and old, 'Shrek' was transposed from dopey and loving to pretty damn intimidating with the few strokes of the air brush.

The fashions on display were quite impressive as well. Large number 3's could be seen as far as the eye could see, oftened emblazoned with the tear jerking phrase 'Never Forget'. Many Nascar drivers can rest assured that their visage and brand lives strong in the heartland of Indiana! Despite all this, there were many classy offerings available to adorn yourself as you made your way through sweltering heat and body odor, such as this classic:

The "Are you trying to piss me off?" Tshirt not enough for your fashioned minded senses? Don't worry folks, you're at the 'Blueberry Festival'! You are surrounded by a cornucopia of accessories to top off your fashion ensemble! How can one be complete without wearable bottle cap art?

The 'Blueberry Festival' (I put this in quotes because in the 20+ years that I grew up in this town, I only knew of 2 blueberry farms in the whole county) is an annual tradtion that has been going on for over fifty years and packs thousands from all over the state into our tiny park. With the random people that you see wandering by, there are tons of other sites to see as well!

This year we had many new features, such as:

Colliding hot air balloons:

Creative car trailers:

Beauty Pagent Queens in military vehicles:

And the random cool thing that shows up out of nowhere, such as the hearse from the Niles, MI Haunted House!

In the end, it was a rather exhausting weekend packed with frights and scares to outdo even Horror Hound weekend as far as true 'horror' goes! Where the Indianapolis convention always packs in plenty of scary stuff, they fail on the horror; I always feel welcome and loved at HHW! At the Marshall County Blueberry Festival however, I constantly fear for my life and the cultural taint upon my daughter!

Regardless though, it was still nice to visit with old friends and family and pack in some of mom's good old fashioned home cooking. (It's no secret, I'm a good eater!)

Regardless of how fun it was, it is with great sadness however that I have to report that my entire family didn't make it through; in fact, i was the only survivor. As you can see below, my wife succumbed early on to 'country culture' and my poor 8 year old daughter wasn't too far behind her.