Committee on Spooky Sounds Bans Fog-Machine Airhorns in Residential Zones After 9 P.M.

GRIMSBY — The city’s Committee on Spooky Sounds voted 5-2 Tuesday to ban fog-machine airhorns in residential zones after 9 p.m., ending what chairwoman Ruth Delgado called “the loudest three weeks in Grimsby history.”

The fog-machine airhorn — a device that combines theatrical fog with a stadium airhorn, producing what the committee’s acoustic report described as “a haunted scream at 128 decibels, roughly equivalent to standing next to a jet engine that is also a ghost” — surged in popularity this October after a viral video showed one “enhancing” a front-yard display.

“Enhancing,” Delgado repeated, flatly. “The video has 2 million views. Our complaint line has 4,000 calls. You do the math.”

The committee’s hearings featured testimony from 60 residents, including 83-year-old Ethel Marsh, who told the panel: “I thought it was the end of the world. I called my children. They didn’t answer — they were at the display, filming it. My own grandchildren filmed the thing that gave me a heart scare.”

Manufacturers objected. “The FogHorn 3000 is a legitimate theatrical product,” said distributor representative Chad Billings. “It’s for haunted houses. Professional use. The box says ‘professional use.’ In small print. Very small print. But it’s there.”

The committee was unmoved, noting that 90% of complaints involved “residential deployment against trick-or-treaters under the age of ten.”

“A six-year-old does not need a 128-decibel ghost jet engine,” Delgado said. “A six-year-old needs a pumpkin and a juice box.”

The ban includes a grandfather clause for “one (1) professional haunted attraction,” which must apply for a Loud Spook Permit, submit to a decibel inspection, and “warn the neighborhood in writing, with apologies in advance.”

Violations carry a $200 fine and confiscation of the device, which the committee will donate to “the professional attraction, which can handle it, apparently.”

“We love Halloween,” Delgado said, adjourning the session. “We just want it at a reasonable volume. Is that too much to ask? The committee has determined it is not.”