It’s actually Halloween smack dab today and I thought what better 5-pound box o’ See’s Candy (the no-nuts version) treat to give my two loyal readers (“Brains On The Outside” Bernice in Castaic; Robert Ghoul-Lay in Valencia)? So. Here’s a little slice from Volume II of my Santa Clarita Valley History book, “Monsters.” Following are just a few of the strange and/or funny things in the historical record that actually happened on EVERY Halloween Day here in our riparian valley the past century plus.

TROUBLE A-BRUIN — Legendary cowgirl and miner Annie Rose Briggs was out riding on Halloween day in the late 1800s. Annie reported seeing grizzly footprints spanning 17 inches and scratch marks on an oak that were taller than she could reach — while standing on her saddle. The young Castaiceanite high-tailed it back home. It’s a terrible Halloween when you become the treat.

WITH APOLOGIES TO JOHNNY CASH’S, ‘I HEAR THAT TRAIN A-COMIN’ — In 1919, the worst train wreck in SCV history occurred in upper Canyon Country, south of Agua Dulce. Ten people were killed and 75 injured. Reports of the cause of the accident differed. Some witnesses said the Southern Pacific flyer was speeding to race a car. Others say the rails had become spread and the train simply derailed.

ALL-TIME AWARD FOR THE DARKEST SENSE OF HUMOR — Spotted Halloween, 1929, up Mint Canyon. A front-yard tombstone was inscribed: “Died, male; aged three months; unmarried.”

SPARE THE ROD. SPOIL THE MAYOR’S COUSIN. — Halloween 1932, Holmes Maclay of Newhall had an argument with a kid who........

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