Haunted Market brings ghosts, ghouls, and witches to Town Commons

Story and Photos by Alice Gerard

Senior Contributing Writer

Grand Island’s Haunted Market, which introduced this year’s spooky season, attracted a crowd to the Town Commons on Sept. 13.

The event, organized by 15 Monkeys, featured more than 150 vendors, a witch dance performance by Be Witched Buffalo, a “Thriller” dance performance by Step in Time, six “Dawn of the Dead” actors, 10 food trucks, and a 26-foot gaming truck.

Be Witched Buffalo offered performances at noon and at 2 p.m. The witches danced with and without such props as brooms and bubbles to a variety of Halloween-inspired music, including “Come Little Children,” (“Sarah’s Theme”) from the film, “Hocus Pocus.”

Jolene Bryman, from Be Witched Buffalo, said, “We are a group of local Western New York women, who decided to come together and do something meaningful for charity. Every year, we pick a new charity. We’ve done White Whiskers Senior Dog Sanctuary. Last year, we did Butterfly Moon for infant loss. We’re supporting Haven House for survivors of domestic violence because everybody knows somebody who’s been touched by it.”

Bryman explained that, “Haven House works through the Family Justice Center,” adding, “They do wonderful things, not only for the person who’s going through it, but also for the children and the families.”

The dancers are nonprofessionals, Bryman said. “We have a lot of fun. We have women from all walks of life here. What we try to do is to empower women, help them stand in their power, and, together, we try to build community. We try to paint the witch in a beautiful light.

“We try to stay very inclusive. We welcome everybody. It doesn’t matter about their age, their physicality, their sexual orientation, none of it. We have one really sassy dancer, who is in a wheelchair, that dances better than all of us. Also, we have a legally blind dancer that dances with all of us, too. So, all are welcome in this group.

“What makes me happiest is seeing people smile and have fun. Also watching the women who come into our group. Some come very shy, and they gain a lot of confidence. It empowers them to go out and do more things.

“We have women of all different faiths, different ethnicities, all different walks of life. We come together, and it’s really a sisterhood.”

Ashley Sloier, owner of Nefarious Creations, was one of the vendors at the event. Her product was floral crowns, which she designs and makes.

“I started doing floral crowns as a makeup artist. I was doing a lot of Halloween makeups. I started doing that at a haunted house when I was 15 years old. I’m 35 now, so it’s been a part of my life for 20 years. I feel like (the crowns are) something that accentuates and affects makeup, but I also want to branch this out to people who are doing weddings, photo shoots, boudoirs, stuff like that. It’s really picked up here. It’s gotten popular.

“So far, I’ve had a lot of people come in. They want to try on the floral crowns. They ask what the inspiration was for them.”

Inhabitants of the haunted house welcome you to their dwelling.

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Sloier said she really enjoyed the setup that she was able to put together: “This year, we got to actually plan it out a little bit better since we were rookies last year. Actually, getting to plan this out and the set up are the most fun, for sure.”

Sloier, who works in the insurance industry when she isn’t designing and making crowns, said she listens to music for inspiration: “It’s therapy for me. I work a stressful job.

“That’s why you’ve got to do it. You’ve got to have that soul-crushing boring job that stresses you out and then you get to do this.”

This is Sloier’s second year participating in the Haunted Market: “I love it. This is the Super Bowl of markets.”

She said that the reactions to the floral crowns by visitors to the tent made her happy and added, “Happy Halloween.”

Bryman added, “I think this is the best market we’ve ever been to. There are so many different things to do. It covers every area you could possibly want to cover. It’s spooky, and it’s magnificent. There’s so much to do. There are so many nice people here. We just love it.

“Thank you to everyone who follows us on Facebook and Instagram and all the people who have donated to our charities over the last couple of years. We greatly appreciate you. I thank all my dancers. They are the most committed, wonderful, funny, warm group of women I have ever met in my life.”