For about 5 years now I have been passing a house near my office that goes all out for Halloween. Tonight I decided to head out there and get some photos. It felt strange taking pictures of someone’s house. I kept to the public sidewalk and setup my camera and tripod. Not too far into shooting, I could see people inside looking out the window at me. Just a quick glance and back behind the curtain they went. I waved to hopefully show that I was taking pictures of admiration, rather than disgust. Just a few moments later I was greeted by the creator of these decorations. I let him know that I was doing a photo project and just wanted to add his house to my collection.
It turns out that the guy was very hospitable and even offered to let me get a better shot up close. He talked to my girlfriend and me about how the decorations worked and that, closer to Halloween, each item would become animated. Apparently, his display has stirred up a bit of controversy in the past. While most of the neighborhood seems not to mind, some have been offended. He mentioned that the SJR wrote about it a couple of years back. Sure enough, a bit of Googleing led me to this article in the paper. He received complaints that he was being racist and insensitive to people who have had loved ones commit suicide by hanging. I have no doubt that some people would find the display offensive but there still seems to be a clear line between realism and fantasy.
I got the impression that his goal was to be spooky and to provoke a little harmless fear in us for October. The dummies are wearing masks and there are snarky tombstones sprinkled about the property with corny sayings written on them. This exposition seems to be all about fun and getting people out of their comfort zones rather than attempting to be intentionally controversial. Halloween is fun, so why not have a little fun with it?
