A Really Scary Haunted House

Happy Halloween Week Baltimore. A little rain delayed the Lantern Parade but didn't ruin it. I've heard from lots of people who were at Patterson Park Sunday and said it was a stellar event.

The folks working at the House of Screams haunted house in Essex on Sunday probably didn't have quite as good a time. This Associated Press report details how a Baltimore city police officer was charged with assault and reckless endangerment for pointing his service handgun at the worker, who was dressed as Leatherface, the killer from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

The officer, who has been suspended with pay, apparently didn't appreciate the work of employee Mike Morrison, who told police he followed the officer and several other people up a staircase to get "one last scream" out of them, police said.

When the group exited into a parking lot, the officer pulled his gun and pointed it at Morrison from less than 10 feet away, according to police and Morrison, who said he dropped the chain saw, put his hands up and backed away.

I loved this next line in the AP story: "The saw had no chain."

Maybe the officer, who according to charging documents "smelled of alcohol," wanted to give Morrison a dose of his own medicine.

"I started shaking pretty bad," he told The AP.

If after reading this you're still hankering for a scare in a haunted house, there are plenty of great ones all over the Baltimore area.

All I ask is that you please leave your firearm at home.