Take a drive down Highland Avenue in Franklin and the house with 12-foot tall skeletons, a flying witch, ghosts and graves can’t be missed.
The house at 155 Highland Ave. is known for its yearly elaborate Halloween display — but this year it’s more than that. This year, the Conner family is using their spooky display to gather donations for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
For Matt Conner, Halloween and horror are more than just a once-a-year holiday to him. He’s liked scaring people since he was 12, he said. He visited his first haunted house as a child at Camp Atterbury, and he’ll never forget the experience.
“That was my introduction to haunted houses, and ever since then, I’ve been hooked,” Conner said.
Beyond the yearly Halloween display, Conner is a horror fanatic. One wall in the Conners’ living room is dedicated to memorabilia and photos of horror personality Sammy Terry. A bookshelf in the corner is stocked with horror movies and shows, from “Halloween” to “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” On top of the bookshelf sits a collection of masks of Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger and Leatherface.
Conner and his wife, Laura, have lived on Highland Avenue for eight years, and Conner’s Halloween collection kept growing over the years. This year, he spent a record nearly $4,000 on his outdoor display.
Outside, the small front yard is covered top to bottom with ghoulish décor. Dozens of skeletons infest the yard, with some climbing up the house, hanging on the roof and sitting on the porch.
Towering over everything are four at least 12-foot tall skeletons, and a flying witch hung with wires. A webbed awning stretches over the driveway, covered in large spiders. A graveyard sits on the right side of the house, with tomb stones paying tribute to real-life horror legends such as Wes Craven and Vincent Price, and fictional characters as well, including Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees.
What is outside is only a fraction of what Conner has in decorations, he said. His collection gets bigger every year. He also has at least 24 life-size animatronic figures, including witches and werewolves. He keeps those inside typically until Halloween, to protect them from the weather.
The display on its own is impressive any time of day, but 155 Highland Ave. comes to life as a real haunted house on Halloween night, Conner said.
“I’ve got the stuff that is six, seven foot tall — that’s the wow factor. Now, what everybody does out here on Halloween night, that’s the scare factor,” Conner said.
Lights, smoke machines, sound effects, music and people dressed in costumes bring the house to life on Halloween. Conner’s friends and family join him on Halloween dressed as horror characters to scare those who dare to visit.
Conner described the experience as “not for little kids.” Scare actors dressed as horror characters Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees and Leatherface stand outside with fake chainsaws and weapons ready to scare visitors at the house. But if smaller kids want to come to the house for candy on Halloween, Conner makes sure to not scare them, he said.
Conner also has a walk-through haunt set up planned in the garage. He plans to have one of the three rooms set up as a swamp, using an effect with lasers and fog to make it look like guests are walking on water.
The house is free to visit, Conner said. Accepting donations for St. Jude is new this year, though. Anyone can donate by scanning a QR code on a poster set up at the front of the house. The code goes right to the official St. Jude fundraiser page, so any money donated goes straight to the hospital.
Conner chose St. Jude to give back to an organization that’s helped heal local children.
“I’ve known little kids here in Franklin who have died from cancer … that’s why I chose St. Jude,” Conner said.
The fundraiser page is dubbed “Screams on Highland,” and just over $400 has been raised so far. Conner’s Halloween display is one of the hundreds participating across the country in the national Skeletons for St. Jude fundraising effort.
Skeletons for St. Jude started in 2020, when it raised just over $8,000. It shattered its goal the following year, raising $151,000 in 2021. The goal set for this Halloween was $100,000, which has already been passed with over $125,000 in donations so far, according to the campaign website.
Conner hopes to get more donations on Halloween, when typically a few hundred people visit the house.
“You know, there are going to be a lot of little kids that are going to be in St. Jude on Halloween, and not out trick or treating,” Conner said.
The Halloween night event for trick or treating and scares at 155 Highland Ave. kicks off at 5:30 p.m. Monday and goes until 10 p.m.
How to donate
All proceeds are donated to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital as part of the national “Skeletons for St. Jude” fundraiser.
Visit the “Screams on Highland” house at 155 Highland Ave., Franklin and scan the QR code on a poster at the front of the house.
Donate directly online here: bit.ly/3DCwDxD
