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StoryCorps: For His First Halloween in The U.S., This Man Took a Stab At Scare Acting

Kate and David Heathcote at their StoryCorps interview in Denver, Colorado on Sept 18, 2024.
Esther Honig
/
StoryCorps
Kate and David Heathcote at their StoryCorps interview in Denver, Colorado on Sept 18, 2024.

Kate Heathcote met her husband David while living abroad in the UK. He introduced her to English culture and in exchange she taught him about American traditions, including her favorite holiday, Halloween.

Growing up, David didn’t celebrate Halloween. Most of what he knew came from watching American horror flicks. The first year they lived together Kate convinced David to build elaborate lawn decorations and host a costume party. The next year they built a haunted house in their yard and wound up in the local paper.

As a couple, Halloween became their tradition and they loved going all out with costumes and scaring the neighborhood kids.

David and Kate Heathcote in costume for a zombie-themed 5k run in England, 2018.
courtesy of Kate Heathcote. 
David and Kate Heathcote in costume for a zombie-themed 5k run in England, 2018.

When they moved to the U.S., Kate wanted David’s first American Halloween to be special, so she signed him up for a part-time job at a haunted house.

“I had in my head that it would get you in the spirit of things. And I thought it would all be a positive thing,” she remembers.

Recently the two came to StoryCorps to remember David’s stint as a scare actor.

This broadcast is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Originally aired Oct 25, 2024, on NPR’s Morning Edition.