WILLIAMSON, WV (WOWK) — Now that fall is here, many of us are looking eagerly towards the spookiest of holidays: Halloween.
According to the National Retail Federation, consumer spending on Halloween is expected to reach a high of more than ten billion dollars in the United States—up from around eight billion in 2020.
The love for the holiday was certainly demonstrated Thursday in Williamson, as one couple took the Halloween theme literally for their big day.
Many couples dream of their ideal wedding day: the venues, the memories to be made, the guests who came, and in this case—the horror movie character they’d most like to help them tie the knot.
“It’s definitely different! I’m getting married and Tony Moran, that played the very first ‘Michael Myers’ is marrying me,” says Kayla Milton, the bride of Grant Butcher, both of whom are being married by the horror movie icon.
It’s a new enterprise for The Old Hospital on College Hill, which is a renowned paranormal destination and the site of the spooky ceremony.
“We opened up in February and we wanted to offer a variety of things for people to do, not only just paranormal tours, flashlight tours, guided tours, but also birthday parties, and then…someone approached us about possibly doing some spooky weddings, so we thought we would give it a shot,” says Tonya Webb, co-owner of The Old Hospital on College Hill.
Thursday’s event will be their first ever, but it’s quickly become a highly sought-after booking.
“Today it’s one, but I believe for the whole weekend we have 12 couples. We thought, you know, what better way to go if you’re a horror to be married by one of the original Michael Myers at a spooky hospital so it was kind of like a win-win situation,” Webb says.
This is a sentiment the inaugural couple agrees with.
“We just thought it’d be a really cool opportunity to have a really unique wedding and me and her both really enjoy horror movies and the ‘Halloween’ franchise so it was just a really cool opportunity for us,” says Grant Butcher, the groom of Kayla Milton.
As for the spine-tingling wedding officiant himself:
“If I have fans that like me, and they go, ‘Michal Myers wants to marry me?’ I’m in! Did you see how happy they were? Are you kidding me I’d do that all day long,” said Tony Moran, who played Michael Myers in John Carpenter’s 1978 film “Halloween.”
Webb says they’ve already taken bookings for the rest of the year. They hope this destination continues to bring in tourists to Williamson and the Mountain State.
For more information on The Old Hospital on College Hill, visit their website here.