Codi Andrews has always loved Halloween. When she was young, it always thrilled her when her parents and neighbours would make the extra effort to make it spooky and fun.
Now raising her own children in the same area of Coldbrook, N.S. where she grew up, Andrews sees fewer trick-or-treaters and neighbours taking part in Halloween festivities.
“Part of the reason I’m so enthusiastic is to get people out in the community and inspire them to take part, have fun and keep that sense of wonder and excitement for the kids that I remember enjoying so much,” she says.
Melanie Burry of Mount Pearl, N.L. is also a Halloween enthusiast, saying she loves anything scary, including paranormal and horror movies. Burry decorates her house with a different theme each year, usually around a scary movie or show. In the past, she has done IT, the Bates Motel, and The Conjuring. This year will be a 13 Ghosts theme, with Burry dressing as the jackal and placing the other ghosts around the house.
“I can say that I easily spend close to $500 each year. I’m keeping my receipts this year so I can track it,” says Burry.
Each summer, Burry picks the next theme and starts planning. She watches the movie for ideas then hits up Value Village for cheap clothes and props to use.
Christine Townsend and her husband Jonathan will be decorating the outside of their new home in Winsloe, P.E.I. for the first time this year, although they have always decorated the inside of their previous apartments.
The couple owns Junkerneckers (https://www.facebook.com/junkerneckers/), a small junk removal business, so they get a lot of items that can be repurposed rather than throwing them out.
“We try to recycle rather than buy new,” she says.
For cost and storage reasons, Andrews reuses decorations, but every year tries to change things up and adds a new element in some way. It might be a new decoration found at the dollar store or a DIY she came across online that she creates with existing materials, such as re-purposed pallets or items found and reused from fall clean up.
Kelsey Sooley and her husband Russell of Southlands, N.L. also opt to add to the same theme each year when decorating.
“In terms of buying, if we see something after Halloween is over for the next year, we do buy it, however. We always have Halloween in mind,” she says.
How to get started
Burry recommends looking up ideas on the internet, and then getting creative. For example, she says Styrofoam heads covered in modelling clay are great for making characters while EVA foam is great for creating their bodies if they will be standing up.
For people wanting to start building their own collection of Halloween décor, Sooley says you just have to dream big and start with the things that can stand alone for now and build from there. For example, if you want a graveyard, start with the tombstones. If you want a hospital, start with a patient and build out, adding things like fog machines and lights afterward.
“We would spend all we make on Halloween, so our rule is one new animatronic per year, so we don’t go overboard,” says Sooley.
Before making a purchase, study it carefully, looking at how it packs away for storage, advises Sooley.
“I mean, some things are to cool to pass up, but the flatter it packs away the more room you have to add to your collection,” she adds.
Andrews doesn’t find her electricity costs go up at all this time of year, largely because many of the items are battery-operated. Solar lights, along with strategically-placed glow sticks, also help keep costs down, resulting in only a couple of extension cords being needed.
Decorating for kids
Sooley says part of her husband’s joy in decorating for Halloween is watching the reaction he gets when he frightens people. They are cognizant, however, of young children.
Each year, the Sooleys create a graveyard that comes to life but say they tone down the animatronics in the early hours of trick-or-treating for the young kids.
“Even with it toned down, we do get some kids too scared to come up, but I usually try and catch those ones and go give them a treat anyways,” says Sooley.
Burry mostly decorates her house with her annual Halloween party in mind.
“I hate to scare kids, but it is Halloween, so it’s supposed to be scary,” says Burry, noting that if the parents allow them to come in, she will give them a tour.
Last year, when Burry dressed from the show The Nun, she wore glow-in-the-dark contacts and was holding a lantern, playing the creepy soundtrack from the movie. When trick-or-treaters came by, some teens were so scared they refused to come in. Meanwhile, kids in the eight to 12 age group loved it.
“I made a trick-or-treater cry, not my proudest moment, but it was pretty creepy,” she says.
This year, because of COVID-19, Burry is still willing to give tours of the inside her house, as long as people arrive in small groups before 8 p.m. and are in masked.
Townsend is planning a trick-or-seek on her property. Instead of having children go door-to-door, they could go to the house and find the treats laid out in spots in the yard and not have to have contact with as many people.
Wondering if it’s worth decorating this year? Andrews says yes.
“My advice for anyone thinking of decorating for Halloween is to just go for it,” says Andrews. “You don’t have to pay for expensive decorations, it just takes some planning, time, and imagination.”
