Halloween means a lot of things to a lot of folks – a lot of different things.

And, perhaps, in means more to Alisha Diehl than to most.

Diehl smiles when asked, “Why on earth would you do such a thing?”

The answer is simple. She loves Halloween.

“I’ve always loved Halloween,” she said. “I’m fascinated by it and, too, I love the season. The fall. Just everything about it.”

So, that explains it.

That’s why Diehl went under the needle to get a Halloween scene tattooed on her person. Not a pumpkin or a witch or even a lone goblin. But an entire scene with a “witchy” scarecrow, a jack o’lantern, a haunted house and a graveyard.

The spooky scene was a work in progress that was completed on Monday and just in time for Halloween.

The work of art is the handiwork of local tattoo artist Tim Watson.

“I didn’t want the kind of Halloween tattoo that is stenciled on,” Diehl said. “I wanted something different. Something that no one else would have – ever. So, Tim, has done the scene freehand. He started in April of last year – 2007, and it has taken more than a year but it’s been worth it.”

Diehl traces her childhood interest in Halloween back to Washington Irving’s “The Legend of Sleep Hollow.” However, it was movie she saw as an adult that inspired the Halloween-themed tattoo.

The movie, “Sleepy Hollow” is a horror film directed by Tim Burton that is based upon Irving’s “Legend.”

“The movie is wonderful and it inspired me to do something – different,” Diehl said.

The design for the tattoo is a mixture of her imagination and that of the tattoo artist. However, Diehl’s daughter suggested the jack o’lantern in the design.

“I have two daughters, ages eight and five, and they think the tattoo is kind of cool,” Diehl said and added laughing. “However, my stepmother said that it’s a little much.”

Probably for most people, a tattoo with a haunted house and a graveyard is a little much. And for some, a tattoo of any kind is a little much.

Just down the hall from where Watson was putting the finishing touches on Diehl’s Halloween scene, a young man was getting “fixed up” for Halloween with a tattoo of the Grim Reaper.

“There’s a lot of interest in horror type tattoos and not just around Halloween,” Watson said. “Tattoos are very poplar right now and a lot of the interest is generated by athletes who have ‘tough man’ tattoos and, too, tattoos have become popular with women. Right now, tattoos are big.”

And, the thing about tattoos is that they will not be one of those here today and gone tomorrow crazes. Tattoos will be with the “tattooees” always whether they want them to be or not.

Diehl said she’s not sure what her grandchildren will think about their granny with a graveyard tattoo. But, if they’re like most kids, that will be just another thing that makes their granny special.