The towering ghouls and leering skeletons loom over 155 Highland Avenue in Franklin, foreboding sentries for unwary passersby.
Cobweb-covered corpses rise from rickety wooden coffins. An otherworldly tarantula clambers over the fence. One unfortunate figure finds itself elbow-deep in toxic waste.
Matt Conner has unleashed the nightmares from his imagination into a tangible display taking up most of his property. But for all the horror on display, his intentions have the greatest of good behind them — he and his wife Laura raise money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to help defeat childhood cancer.
“It’s for the children,” he said. “If the community likes it, and we can do something positive with it, why not do it? God knows there are so many sick little kids. It’s heartbreaking.”
Conner is one of many Johnson County homeowners who have turned their yards and homes into haunted attractions this Halloween season. Story-high skeletons march across grassy lawns. Demons and devils peer out from underneath tattered capes. Motion-sensitive ghosts serve up frights for every pedestrian who crosses their paths.
Where such extravagant displays have long been the domain of Christmas, fright fanatics have brought the same enthusiasm with a dark twist to late October.
“It’s enjoyable, something we do every year. It’s really fun to put it all out there and see how people react to it,” said Tina Brown, whose home at 2353 S. CR 510 E., Franklin, is all decked out for the holiday.
Halloween has become a prime time for decorating. According to the National Retail Federation, total Halloween spending is expected to reach a record $12.2 billion — far outpacing last year’s record of $10.6 billion. The federation’s research found 53% of people will decorate their yards this year.
Going all-in for Halloween started gaining popularity during the pandemic and continues to resonate with consumers, according to the federation’s report.
For Tony and Tina Brown, the Halloween season is a chance to flex their creative muscles. Tony Brown decks out their rural Franklin home in everything from inflatables to pumpkin-headed monsters to illuminated skeletons.
Many of the decorations he makes himself, fashioning a vicious scarecrow — a nod to the monster in the “Jeepers Creepers” movies — as well as a bloody guillotine.
Not everything is so horror-centric, Tina Brown said. The yard is also decorated with wooden “pumpkins” made from tree stumps. The Browns enlisted their grandchildren to help them paint the gourds with spooky and silly faces, and they put them out each year.
“They really enjoyed that. It’s something we put out every year,” Tina Brown said.
Conner has been decorating for Halloween since he was about 12 years old. Nearly 40 years later, he’s still caught up in the spooky season spirit.
But in recent years, he’s tried to channel his enthusiasm into a good cause. He is part of Skeletons for St. Jude, a nationwide fundraising effort of Halloween home haunters that use their holiday displays to raise money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to support children and their families impacted by childhood cancer.
“Here in the last couple of years, we’re doing it solely for the purpose of taking donations for St. Jude,” he said. “We’ve been decorated since the middle of August because that’s when the St. Jude campaign kicked off. And, I’ve had two donations in that entire time.”
Conner hopes to scare up some attention for the tragedy of childhood cancer and help generate money to fight it. Outside his display at 155 Highland Avenue, banners with QR codes take people right to St. Jude’s fundraising website. People can also go to St. Jude’s fundraising site and search for his name or display, “Screams on Highland.”
He started setting up on July 3 — “I know people think I’m crazy out in the 90-degree heat setting up 12 feet skeletons,” he said.
His display belies his enthusiasm for the cause. Nearly every inch of his yard is covered in ghosts, ghouls, pumpkins, tombstones, witches and other avatars of the season.
And there’s more to come.
“What I have out now is only about half of what will be out there on Halloween,” he said. “I’ve been keeping a close eye on the weather, and everything else I have can’t get wet. So far, they’re saying Halloween is going to be dry. So if it is, we’ve got a lot more.”
