'Grave-On-Foods': Halloween display in East Vancouver plays on fears of inflation

Laryssa Gervan's latest Halloween display was inspired by rising grocery prices, and features a ghoulish "Grave-On-Foods" cashier.

After months of roaring inflation, what could be scarier than a nightmarish trip to a ghoulish grocery store?

That was the inspiration for Laryssa Gervan's latest Halloween display in East Vancouver, where she has been setting up macabre scenes based on real-world fears every October since 2020.

"I always try to play on current events and what is genuinely scaring people at this moment," said Gervan, who previously worked as a set dresser in the local film industry.

"This year, the economic uncertainty of the world is one of the looming threats people are thinking about."

Though inflation has started to slow in recent months, grocery prices were still up 11.4 per cent last month compared to September 2021. 

While mulling ideas for her latest Halloween display, Gervan said a single pun – “Grave-On-Foods” – popped into her head, and it was off to the races.

Her display features a grocery store checkout counter complete with an electronic tab that increases to the terrifyingly high total of $999.99.

"I had a programmer friend offer to program it so it goes up, and up, and up until it glitches out," said Gervan.

There's also a creepy mannequin customer being served by what the creator described as a "looming devil cashier" sporting a mane of fake $1,000 bills.

Gervan has been gradually piecing the display together since the beginning of the month, and just applied the finishing touches over the weekend. So far, she said the reception from passersby has been great.

"From inside, I can hear people laughing at it all the time," she said.

Last year's display featured a skeletal Bill Gates, playing on conspiracy theorists' fear of vaccines, while the previous year used the disembodied head of Donald Trump for a scene about xenophobia and immigration.

Gervan said her latest display, viewable at 715 Victoria Dr., will remain in place into November. 

 

 

 

 

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