- May 9, 2025
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The SeaSucker VW draws a crowd at BooFest on Oct. 25.
Photo by Lesley DwyerThe vacuum mounts that normally hold down the wheels of a bicycle hold down the skeleton's legs instead.
Photo by Lesley DwyerEnsley Romdenne and Brooklyn Stosick pose with Beetlejuice at the Adjust Your Life Chiropractic tent.
Photo by Lesley DwyerColonel Sanders makes a cameo at Boofest. Braden Woods resident Dot Turpin is riding the chicken, and Blane Turpin is the colonel.
Photo by Lesley DwyerLakewood Ranch's Florence and Juliette Roy are not only in costume, they're in character. Florence Roy is a creepy doll, and Juliette Roy is the Corpse Bride.
Photo by Lesley DwyerLakewood Ranch's Olive Holmes, 7, climbs a tree while waiting for BooFest to start.
Photo by Lesley DwyerLakewood Ranch's Lakeland Dunigan, 9, and Elle Filarski, 3, arrive to BooFest early.
Photo by Lesley DwyerSavanna's Caroline Caldwell, 2, can't take her eyes off the inflatable dinosaur skeleton.
Photo by Lesley Dwyer
Preschool teacher Jasmine Oliver says the Baby Fox Academy's tent gets bigger and better every year.
Photo by Lesley DwyerAmazon sells everything, including this ghost buttondown Lakewood Ranch's Kevin Goutos is wearing at BooFest on Oct. 25.
Photo by Lesley DwyerPam Truitt is one of six photographers taking photos at BooFest for the Lakewood Ranch Photography Club. With all the great costumes, she's up to 250 photos in just over an hour.
Photo by Lesley DwyerBartender Kaylee Matherly and manager Erin Scott pass out candy for Pinchers.
Photo by Lesley DwyerEd Houghton pushes 22-month-old Lucas and Noah. The twins are dressed like Dalmatians.
Photo by Lesley DwyerRobert Remington and Wendy Jones have passed out 20 pounds of candy at Remy's on Main so far and have another 10-pound bag waiting.
Photo by Lesley DwyerGuests are dared to enter the haunted tunnel.
Photo by Lesley DwyerEyeballs await the trick-or-treaters at the Milbank Team at Compass tent.
Photo by Lesley DwyerBradenton's Savanna Byers and Sophia Sedillo stop dancing to Taylor Swift, so Byers can spread her wings.
Photo by Lesley DwyerThe hardest part of attaching a giant skeleton to an old VW bus is figuring out how to drive without an obstructed view.
Getting the oversized bones to hold in place had to be accomplished with vacuum mounts, manufactured by SeaSucker. Owner Chuck Casagrande said normally the mounts would hold down a bike instead of a skeleton leg.
This is the VW’s second drive to Lakewood Ranch for its annual BooFest, which was held on Oct. 25 on Main Street.
The skeleton was last year’s new edition to the VW. This year’s add-on was a rooftop coffin.
The perfectly peculiar bus drew a crowd all night, but the scaredy cats stayed back as clowns jumped out at the brave.
For a less spooky Halloween experience, the Baby Fox Academy operated its bubble machine.
Owner Laurie McCracken wore an inflatable fox costume and danced around, handing out bags of candy.
The academy set up two tents and handed out 800 bags of candy in under an hour.
“I sent my husband to the store,” McCracken said. “We don’t just give out one piece of candy, there are five pieces in each bag. And we add an inflatable every year because it’s a favorite picture spot.”
