With Halloween just around the corner, there’s a "frightfully" fun destination for the entire family.
"This little kid is Poison Ivy," said Kindergartner Khloe Smith, pointing to her head, and talking in the third person, while dressed head to toe in a green vine.
From super villains like Khloe (from the Batman comics), to little ones dressed like super heroes, to even politicians, you’ll see it all on fall weekends at the Brevard Zoo.
"I was thinking about being 'Hello Kitty' again. I became Poison Ivy,” Khloe confirmed when asked why she wanted to become a villain.
Khloe, along with her mother Natalie and big sister Keira formed a trio of super villains at "Boo at the Zoo."
"I like dressing up and I like doing it with my girls,” Natalie said after the costume contest.
At the Brevard Zoo, parents are welcome to dress up with their children, and enjoy an adult beverage after a long week at work. While some dads are in costume, others arrive fresh from the office, still in ties and visibly ready for the weekend.
The annual Boo at the Zoo event, which takes place at night, allows kids of all ages celebrate Halloween in a safe environment.
"It has lots of lights. Lots of people dressed up in costume, and their favorite characters,” said big sister Keira.
Some arrive to this ball on foot in their formal wear with glass slippers. Others looked like they crawled out from under a rock. And some convert a stroller into their own chariot.
"My mom went nuts trying to sew me a thing,” Keira Smith said of her CatWoman costume.
Before sundown, playing games is popular, along with spooky science demonstrations.
"These are sea bubbles,” says a high school student volunteering at the event. “They are made from dry ice and hot water."
The soap bubbles that look like plastic eventually pop, sending smoky dry ice to float away in the breeze.
Plus, what would a trip to the Zoo be without meeting animals like Rojo, a red snake.
"Did he eat recently?” Scott Fais asked.
"We feed them once a week. He did eat recently. So you don't have to be afraid; he's not going to eat you,” a zoo keeper dressed as a pirate said.
While Rojo the snake eats rats, you can eat plenty of candy. Treat stations promote environmental sustainability messages.
The haunted house sports scares for older brothers and sisters. Inside, await some creeps. And judging by those leaving, the screams are enough to answer the question is the experience frightening.
"Book at the Zoo" takes place Friday, Saturday and Sunday night, October 28-30, 2016.
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Scott Fais joins Travel Monthly
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