SAN ANTONIO – Whether or not the calendar shows it is October 31, Halloween is never far from the thoughts of anyone who walks into a North Side business.
Stickers ‘N Stars, located on Thousand Oaks Road near Jones-Maltsberger Road, is filled with the images of every horror lover’s dreams.
The collections of masks on the shelves is almost like a Who’s Who among horror movie characters. (KSAT 12 News)
There are components of costumes as well as collectibles, most of which are modeled after and based on characters from popular scary movies.
“I always had a love to collect anything, like, horror-related,” Candy Dulxenia, the owner of the locally-based business.
Dulxenia, who said she, herself, is a vampire, decided to turn her love into a way to earn a living after seeing her corporate job disappear a couple of years ago.
“Covid took my job and kicked it down the street,” she said. “And then I developed this amazing place.”
While the merchandise that lines her walls is enough to cause nightmares, there is one other item that is not for sale which sends chills up people’s spines.
Known as “Sarah, the haunted doll,” the blonde-haired, blue-eyed, innocent-looking toy sits behind a curtain in the back of the business.
Dulxenia said she accidentally came to own the doll a while back when she bought a tiny viewing coffin from an oddities dealer.
The doll, with only its head visible through a round window, already was inside the coffin.
“We couldn’t get her out. The coffin is not just shut, it’s, like, sealed. It’s sealed shut,” she explained.
Things got even weirder, she said, as she started to drive home. She said she heard a knocking sound coming from the coffin.
Since Sarah’s residency inside the shop began, Dulxenia said there have been unusual occurrences, such as items inexplicably falling off shelves or being tossed across the room, and ghostly orbs showing up on surveillance video.
Based on her scary reputation, the doll has become a big draw for the business.
People regularly pay $5 for a chance to be in Sarah’s presence.
Just in time for Halloween, Dulxenia is offering people a chance to spend the night inside the shop while two different teams of paranormal investigators attempt to communicate with whatever entity might be inside the doll.
The “Extreme Haunt” event will take place the night of October 28. For more information, visit the Stickers ‘N Stars website here.