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Grand Forks bus driver spooks up her rig before Halloween

The scares were real enough, you’d think they were undead
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Trail Bus Co.’s Valerie Horkoff added a spooky touch on her Transit bus leading up to Halloween. Photo: Laurie Tritschler

Bus driver Valerie Horkoff pulled out all the stops on her Boundary route in the lead up to this year’s Halloween.

Horkoff said she’s been shuttling folks between Grand Forks and neighbouring Greenwood for six years running, going as far as Rock Creek on Tuesdays. She decorates her rig every year, she said.

The bus was strewn with ghosts and spider-webbing when The Gazette came aboard Friday, Oct. 30. An Egyptian mummy was strapped upright behind the steering column, life-sized but deathly.

Horkoff’s passengers were greeted by this life-sized mummy on their way from Grand Forks to Greenwood Friday afternoon, Oct. 30. Photo: Laurie Tritschler
Horkoff’s passengers were greeted by this life-sized mummy on their way from Grand Forks to Greenwood Friday afternoon, Oct. 30. Photo: Laurie Tritschler

A ghoulish creature looked out from under a brown fedora from a dark rear corner, its blue eyes bulging from its sunken green eye sockets. Each figure was firmly rooted where it stood, but Horkoff had positioned them in such a way as to encourage that willing suspension of doubt that lives even in seasoned riders.

The Gazette was most spooked by the ghoul pictured behind Valerie Horkoff Friday, Oct 30. Photo: Laurie Tritschler
The Gazette was most spooked by the ghoul pictured behind Valerie Horkoff Friday, Oct 30. Photo: Laurie Tritschler

Passengers could see the creatures weren’t going to leap out at them, but it wouldn’t have been hard to imagine they might, especially after hearing the mummy’s spooky moan.

“It’s about seeing the reactions on the kids’ faces,” Horkoff explained. “It’s neat to get on the bus around Halloween and see decorations.”

A ghost hangs from the buzzer chord aboard Valerie Horkoff’s Transit bus Friday, Oct. 30. Photo: Laurie Tritschler
A ghost hangs from the buzzer chord aboard Valerie Horkoff’s Transit bus Friday, Oct. 30. Photo: Laurie Tritschler

“I just like the way they dress-up nowadays. Back when I was a little girl, if you decided to go out on Halloween, you just found your dad’s old shirt and a pair of pants and you went as a hobo.”

A mother of twin 17-year-old boys, Horkoff said she still enjoys giving out candy at her Grand Forks home.

“I give out full chocolate bars,” she said.

The Gazette wishes Horkoff and all of you a safe and happy Halloween this year. Be scary and be well.


@ltritsch1
laurie.tritschler@grandforksgazette.ca

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