text: Halloween in a hotel, that’s what we’re doing this year since no one ever has enough room for the entire family to sleep. At first mom didn’t like the idea but she finally agreed, with the one condition that I had to do the planning, which I did. I found a gorgeous old Victorian home that was recently developed into a hotel and from the pictures I could just tell everyone will like it. It is in a safe area so the kids can go trick-or-treating. There is a charming brick fire place and a library to keep the adults busy. What was most striking to me while viewing the photos on the internet is that the interior looks so much like the Salvatore mansion from The Vampire Diaries. For all I know, it might be the place where the series was filmed. “Babe, we’re going to be late and you know how your mother feels about that.” Alex bursts through my thought bubble and through the bedroom door. “Just in time, please take my bag to the car while I grab my cardigan and vanity case. I’ll be down in a sec.” “Anna, do we really have to stay here? Look at this place! It gives me the chills.” Alex shrugs deeper into his jacket. “Look, I know you don’t like old homes but this was the only place I could find with fourteen rooms available and I already booked and paid all of them so there’s no turning back now” “Darling, you’re here! This place is amazing and the staff is so welcoming. Did you know the inside looks like the Salvatore mansion? I just knew I had to leave the planning in your hands.” Grace is clearly very excited. “Hi mom. Thank you, I’m glad you approve and yes I saw photos on the internet about the interior. Is everyone else here already?” I hug my mother and turn to grab my stuff from the car. At the top of the stairs of the wooden porch, lit up by tea light candles in mason jars hung from the ceiling, we are greeted by an elderly man who takes our bags. “Good evening and welcome to Happy Holidays hotel. You must be Anna and Alex, I’m Wilson. I am the butler and here to makes sure everything in the hotel runs smoothly. Come now; let me show you to your room.” Walking through the door I am amazed by how beautiful the place really is. The photos don’t do it justice. There are 8Cherry-wood furniture where you look and the most amazing rugs and carpets that simply invites you to lie down. Around the corner from the living room there is dark wooden spiral stairs which Wilson starts to ascend. Three storeys up, at the very top of the tower situated in the middle of the house, a huge solid wooden arched door awaits on us. Wilson opens the door and I’m left in awe. My focus is immediately pulled to the high four-poster queen-size bed in the middle of the room, complete with beige and blue Victorian bedding. In the far end a big cherry-wood vanity and chair. I step into the rom spinning around slowly taking in all the sights and smell. I smell coffee and get pulled back to reality. “Thank you Wilson, this room is fit for a queen.” I still can’t believe my eyes an feel a little absent-minded so much so that Wilson had to repeat himself. “Dinner is in half an hour if you want to freshen up. Are you alright, miss?” I simply nod and walk towards the bed where Wilson put our bags. Everyone is already seated at the large mahogany dinner table when I walk into the dining room. Everyone looks very festively but there’s something missing. “Wilson? Why didn’t you put up any Halloween decorations, it is all Hallows eve after all.” I ask while taking place at the table. Wilson smile and clap his hands together two times and like some sort of metamorphosis the house starts shifting. The kids scream, at first frightened but when they realise what is going on they start giggling. The table turns into a giant tree stump as the rest of the house, everywhere spider webs appear with realistic looking plastic spiders, in one seat at the table a skeleton falls into place as well as on one of the sofas in the living room. Wilson puts a cape on and show his vampire fangs and I can’t be sure whether or not it is real but it really looked that way. “It’s not Halloween if you don’t experience the transformation yourself, miss.” Wilson says while taking his seat. “Thank you Wilson, it was a nice surprise. Trick-or-treating is at seven right?” “That’s right miss, I’ll stay here and hand out candy.” The kids plunge down on the sofa when we get back to the hotel. Walking around the neighbourhood for an hour is not easy even for me but it was a lot of fun. There were some cute angels, a few ghosts and Frankenstein’s and even a devil and so much other monster and fairies and princesses. There was also one family the dressed like goldilocks and the three bears. The kids received a lot of candy and other treats toys and ghostly story book and as a tradition mom took everything so it can be divided equally between them and so that the amount of candy they eat can be controlled. “Come on kids. Fun’s over. Time for bed you know the rules and don’t forget to brush your teeth.” At once they all get up dragging their feet with their bag of treat under one arm but eventually they were all in bed. I decided to follow by example and head upstairs as well except I can’t manage to fall asleep. I can hear the floorboards creek throughout the house and somewhere a ghost is howling but that has to be my imagination right? Eleven in the evening, Alex is out like a log and my imagination is running away with me. A thousand thoughts and questions cross my mind but one remains - Is Wilson really a Vampire?