The perfect ride for Halloween

KELLOGG - Casey Duncan likes to be different.

While many people might go out and buy a boat or some flashy sports car to make them feel young and alive once they reach their 40s, Duncan kind of went in the opposite direction.

"A lot of guys have a mid-life crisis and go get a little convertible or something," Duncan said. "I got a hearse."

The 44-year-old Kellogg resident's dream car isn't about speed, and it wasn't about making him feel alive. Though, death isn't a topic you can shy away from when you cruise around in a hearse. It was simply something he has wanted since he was 14 and has been looking for since 2002.

But this isn't just any hearse. Duncan, a Dave Smith employee, has customized his 1995 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham hearse into a truly one-of-a-kind ride. The car features the traditional rear of a hearse, but then, things get a bit more creative.

Inside the rear end, Duncan, too, carries around a coffin. But this pine box isn't carrying anything other than a tune, as Duncan has installed subwoofers into the coffin-shaped speaker box.

On the outside, the silver hearse didn't get much of a paint job, but Duncan chose a graphics design that's actually quite fitting: skulls. Hundreds of skulls cover the sides and hood of the hearse.

"I didn't want people to think the hearse was still in service," Duncan said of his decision on the skull graphics job. "I wanted it to be something different."

His hard work to make this ride one of a kind has paid off recently. Duncan has entered five car shows across the Northwest and recently took home Best of Show at a show in Rockford, Wash.

"When you go to a car show, you see plenty of classic Corvettes and Mustangs, but I'm the only guy there with a hearse."

To compliment the graphics and get in the spirit of Halloween, Duncan has also recently added a new passenger to ride shotgun with him: a skeleton that's been quite popular.

"People will look at (the skeleton) when I'm driving by them on the interstate and have to do a double take," Duncan said. "I get lots of good reaction from people. They'll just pull up beside me on the interstate and start taking pictures."

And he's hoping for some more reaction on Halloween with some new customization plans, when he'll have his prize-winning hearse at "Trunk or Treat" in Kellogg Oct. 31. Duncan has installed neon lights in the back and said he's going to put a smoke machine in there as well to add more spooky ambiance to the intrinsically spooky car.

Duncan said the car has received mostly positive remarks from people, as the fans on the interstate would attest. While not everyone has been supportive, he said it's not about the morbidity of the car.

"I have people all the time ask if it bothers me that it carried dead people, but no one died inside the car. It just carried a them," Duncan said. "I'm not a morbid guy, I just think it's a neat rig, it's something fun."

Those looking to get a glimpse of Duncan in his hearse with the skeleton riding shotgun can try to catch him cruising around Kellogg or at Trunk or Treat on Halloween. But after Oct. 31, Duncan said he'll put the car away for the winter before he resurrects his monster machine next spring.