It’s October in the Valley, which means Halloween costumes are flying off the shelves — most due to eager shoppers, but a rare few due to the ghost of Glen Stiteler, founder of Glen’s Fair Price, who still haunts our old building a few doors south of our current location. A reporter from The Breeze, James Madison University’s student-run newspaper, caught up with Melinda a few weeks ago to talk spooks of the make believe and real kind.
Melinda at the old storePhoto by Julie Mangin
[Melinda] Bare’s flair for the dramatic has proved useful not only in scouting costumes but in finding quality stage makeup to scare. The makeup selection is a big draw for employees for many of the Halloween themed attractions around the Harrisonburg area, such as DarkWood Manor and Fear Forest.
“I pretty much work with all of them,” Bare said. “If I’m not mistaken, each individual person has to fix their own costume, and they’ll come in and buy all kinds of accessories. So they’re in all year looking.”
The store hasn’t been known for costuming. When Bare and Gary Stiteler, another co-owner of Glen’s, inherited the store from Bare’s father, it was still a small store that mainly sold convenience products and cameras.
Bare believes that the ghost of her father still resides in Glen’s old location. As for Bare’s mother, she believes her ghost moved with the family to the new store five years ago.
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