Wild, wacky and worrisome Halloween

With barricades set up and crowds streaming beneath a full moon, Santa Rosa's McDonald Avenue had the feel of a giant neighborhood block party Saturday night.

However, those crowding the avenue came from around the city, if not from around Sonoma County.

Halloween 2009 once more brought hundreds to visit the city's stately residential street, a backdrop for such iconic but dissimilar films as Disney's “Pollyanna” and Wes Craven's “Scream.”

The sweet and the scary were well represented Tuesday, with princesses and ghouls aplenty.

But what made the scene surreal were the homes. Some had themes, such as one dubbed “In-N-Out Boo-ger,” with a menu featuring the “Booburger” and the “Oozy Burger.” Three lighted jack-o'-lanterns featured the letters “In,” “N” “Out.”

Across the street rock music throbbed from a home featuring lasers, strobe lights and a smoke machine. Two Mini Coopers and a sleek sports car sat parked on the lawn, near a sign that read “Highway to Hell.”

The weather was mild, and the trick or treaters got an early start.

“We've been here since 5:30,” said Noreen Carvolth, sitting on the front porch handing out candy with her masked husband, Rick.

Carvolth, a former Santa Rosa school board member, had started the night with 1,950 pieces of candy, “and we will run out.”

By 9 p.m. Santa Rosa police and other agencies reported that the night had progressed without major incident.

Earlier in the day, Halloween went to the dogs at the Humane Society of Sonoma County when owners showed their creativity in costuming their favorite pets.

Halloween didn't pass without controversy, however. A free haunted house sponsored by Potters House Christian Fellowship Church on Cleveland Avenue drew objections for showing a graphic abortion video.

The video, viewed by almost 270 on Thursday and Friday nights, “shows the body parts,” acknowledged Bob Hernandez, the church's pastor.

But he said the church had alerted visitors — and warned parents with children — that the haunted house at a small set of offices on Cleveland Avenue included unsettling scenes.

Hernandez justified the presentation by calling it “hard truth” that included depictions of suicide, depression and gang violence.

“The scenes are disturbing because that is a disturbing issue,” he said of abortion.