Trick-or-treaters score candy and frights in the Village of the Arts

Children and their parents slowly walked up the smoke and cobweb-filled path to the door, some a little scared and others in awe of the scene outside the Village Voices and Gallery.

To reach the treats, children had to walk up the path as they were taunted or delighted by howls and ghoulish heckles.

As her husband, Al, provided scary voices and sound effects on the microphone, Dona Lee Musitano greeted children at the front door with their treat.

“This is the third year the Village has done this, and it just keeps growing,” Dona Lee Musitano said. “It’s been amazing and I love it.”

As the sun set on Halloween, streams of trick-or-treaters made their way through Bradenton’s Village of the Arts with their parents. Gallery and business owners greeted the children with treats, and many in costumes themselves.

Having grown in South Florida, she said it reminded her of the Halloweens of her childhood to see all the children trick-or-treating with their parents.

“It’s safe and fun, and we just try to make it more fun,” she added. “We love Halloween.”

And the children weren’t the only ones having fun.

But the Village Voices and Gallery were not the only frights of the night.

Four-year-old Lennon Bitar stood still to one side of the sidewalk as she eyed another kid saying, “That’s a scary costume.”

Lennon, who was dressed as Wonder Woman, said she didn’t like the scary costumes. But she did like the Wonder Woman movie.

“I like Wonder Woman because she’s strong and saves people,” Lennon said.

Lennon wasn’t the only one scared by other costumes. Ten-year-old Alexa Rodriguez said she was scared when she saw one boy’s costume.

“He had a knife, but I knew it wasn’t real,” Alexa said. “But I was still a little scared.”

But Alexa had some blood dripping from her lip, as any vampire would.

“I just saw it and thought it was pretty,” she said of her costume.

Taylor Callahan, 13, was trick-or-treating with her little brother, Trent.

Seven-year-old Trent had his fill of ice cream and passed it on to his mom as he focused on his favorite part of Halloween: getting candy.

Trent also was excited this year because it was the first time he had carved his own pumpkin.

“You did a great job,” Trent’s mom told him.

This story was originally published October 31, 2017 at 9:33 PM with the headline "Trick-or-treaters score candy and frights in the Village of the Arts."