Halloween with the McClains

Nicole's costume was five feet wide.

Can you guess who this is? We can! It's no other than Nexus 21's Nicole McClain! Everyone who knows Nicole knows that Halloween plans have been years in the making and it takes hours of preparation for Halloween night at the McClain household.

Nicole and her Mom, the Mad Scientist

"I've been doing this since I was a kid. The only way I can explain it is that our family feels about Halloween how most people feel about Christmas - it's huge. We even take a vacation day from work. We have boxes and boxes of Halloween costumes, strobe lights, and an awesome sound system to play music. I remember being a kid and watching a ghost swing down from the top window across the yard on a pulley. At the same time, a friend of the family was crawling out of a real coffin my parents had in the front yard. One year, my parents even had people walk through the house to scare them. Every year we seem to 'out do' the previous year."

Even the dogs love Halloween, pumpkin guts and costumes.

It seems like a lot of time and money for the two hour trick-or-treating window. What's the point? "To carry on the tradition that has been in my family for years. We carve pumpkins, cook food, and most importantly, scare kids! This year we scared a group of girls who walked up acting all tough and yelling they weren't afraid. When I jumped out in front of them, two girls toppled over each other falling on the ground and spilled their candy everywhere. We do have a heart for the really little kids though - we take our masks off to show them it's all just fun and games."

"The major problem this year was the time change - or should I say, the lack thereof? It was light through the first half of trick-or-treating which was disappointing. Halloween should be moved one hour later to compensate for the time change. Other than that, the hardest part is the cleanup but everybody pitches in."