HALIFAX -- Maritime parents are aiming to keep spirits high while keeping COVID-19 risks low this Halloween including a handful of ghoulish neighbours in a Halifax-area community.

For the past three years, Neal Alderson has helped organize a surprise community-wide Halloween flash mob that typically draws an audience in the hundreds, but the pandemic put a pause on their live performance this year.

"Managing COVID has been a bit of an extra challenge," Alderson said.

Despite the restrictions of the pandemic, they've managed to find a way to press on with their annual event while following public health guidelines by going virtual.

Since September, about 30 ghouls and goblins of all ages in the neighbourhood have been quietly working away in the shadows, perfecting their socially "dis-dance" moves with a choreographer over Zoom.

"We had to make sure that we were following all the right rules like social distancing and wearing our masks when we needed to," said choreographer Jessica Cameron.

Instead of performing live on Halloween night, they've put together a pre-shot video to prove that not even COVID could stop the beat on this street.

"I think people will be surprised this year that we were able to pull it off," Alderson said. "Not in the traditional sense of doing it live on Halloween night, but none the less virtually so that everybody can have that little bit of fun that Halloween is all about."

In previous years, they've performed dancing through the ages in Nova Scotia as well as Michael Jackson's Thriller. While this year's theme is top secret, they're promising a memorable routine.

The flash mob video will be available to watch on Halloween via the Families of West Bedford Facebook page and on YouTube.