Homeowners go all out for Halloween

The Halloween spirit is alive and well in Las Vegas!

From striking skeletons and eerie ghosts to wicked witches and mischievous trolls, yards across the city boldly display the season’s most iconic frightening figures. These captivating Halloween scenes not only attract trick-or-treaters but also showcase the incredible creativity of their builders.

The suburb of Plum Hollow in the gated Anthem Country Club begins this tale, showcasing two of the valley’s standout displays.

Plum Hollow

Carmen Benedict has made Plum Hollow her home for over 21 years. During that time, she and her four neighbors have transformed their quiet cul-de-sac into a magical Halloween-themed tradition, attracting thousands of trick-or-treaters.

“We had many kids coming through, so we got together and wanted to do something special,” Benedict said. “Each year, we develop a theme, and everyone creates their own interpretation or contributes to it. It’s about creating the right environment and ambiance. It doesn’t have to be exact; it just needs to capture the feeling.”

The neighborhood is so popular that one year, Benedict counted over 4,000 trick-or-treaters in an estimated five-hour window.

“I go through 10 to 12 of the largest bags of candy you ever saw,” said the Henderson International School Principal. “On top of that, people come to our house bringing candy for the cause. We go through a lot!”

This year, Benedict hinted that they plan to bring back an old-fashioned Halloween but wouldn’t divulge any other details. The neighborhood keeps it secret until the day of the big event.

Like a mayfly, the themed décor lives one day to maintain its mystery. The decorating starts on Halloween morning and is ready for early visitors. The festivities continue until 9 p.m., and then, following the last trick-or-treater, it’s torn down immediately.

“We go all out on the day of Halloween,” Benedict said. “We’re up at 6 a.m. and going until 3 p.m. By 9:30, the place is dark again. It’s so much fun because we wait until the last day. People drive up and down the street to see if anything is up and what the theme is this year.”

Over the years, the Anthem Country Club neighborhood has been transformed into a spooky pirate cove, a Western ghost town, a vibrant circus tent and a ghoulish wedding. Other themes brought to life include Disco is Dead, Halloween through the Decades, Alice in “Hollowland” and a Haunted Tiki House.

For the Western ghost town theme, Benedict rented a mechanical bull and placed it in the middle of the cul-de-sac.

“I just looked up mechanical bulls for rent and they came,” Benedict said and laughed. “We had everybody from 2-year-old babies to 80-year-old grandmas riding it all night.”

Some of Benedict’s favorites include a Day of the Dead display, where the neighbors created a cohesive theme by using the same color palette and hanging bright paper lanterns throughout the neighborhood.

“It was an example of something we had to work on together,” Benedict said. “We draped fishing line from the edge of each house to a tether ball pole we put on a table in the middle of the cul-de-sac. We then strung all the paper lanterns.”

For her display, Benedict created a large ofrenda, an altar adorned with photos of the deceased, candles and colorful skulls. The altar comprised stacked cardboard boxes covered in black velvet and filled with different artifacts.

“The Day of the Dead was impactful because of the color,” Benedict said. “It was very elaborate.”

For the wedding theme, each household depicted a different aspect of a traditional wedding, including the bachelorette party, wedding ceremony, reception and honeymoon. Benedict’s yard was the main event, complete with a skeleton bride and groom exchanging their vows in front of a yard full of seated skeleton guests.

“I thought the wedding one was great,” Benedict said. “Because it literally looked like going from venue to venue. People would take pictures like they were at a wedding. It was great.”

Over the last 20 years, the group has amassed a collection of props that are repurposed every year. Between the holidays, each neighbor is given something to store.

“Someone stores all the rats, another the lights,” Benedict said. “It’s crazy but a lot of fun.”

While watching the parade of trick-or-treaters, the group talks about the following year’s theme.

“We’re sick that way,” Benedict said and laughed. “We start talking about it as we enjoy the fruits of our labor.”

Anyone who’s followed the neighborhood tradition might not realize that it’s not the original group transforming the cul-de-sac. Two of the four households changed owners several years ago, and the new owners came into the neighborhood wanting to participate.

“We’ve gotten to see the kids grow up,” Benedict said. “And a whole new generation of kids is starting to come. It gives us such joy to make a memory for someone else’s kids.”

Northside Massacre

Our tale now turns north to visit a northside couple who have proven it’s possible to transform a tiny yard into a spine-chilling Halloween display.

Shay Kwasneski and Bryan Belch re-created a scene from the classic horror “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” on an 8-foot-by-10-foot platform in front of their home.

The chilling scene depicts fictional murderer Leatherface, clad in an authentic costume handpicked by Belch. Leatherface looms in a red doorway, chainsaw in hand, while an unfortunate victim lies sprawled on the floor.

A retro console TV loops ‘70s music videos, adorned with an old-fashioned camera. As sensors detect the presence of spectators, the lights darken. A chilling graphic takes over the TV screen with a warning. The camera flashes repeatedly. Chilling screams fill the air. A phone rings, heralding Leatherface’s menacing descent from the doorway. Brandishing his chainsaw, smoke billows from his feet and head. The unforgettable experience is amplified by eerie music and the chainsaw’s roar.

Grandpa Sawyer (another fictional character from the movie) sits in a chair on the ground, near the platform. Ominously, a bucket of bloody matter sits in front of him. The lifesized figure’s head turns from side to side while his body shakes with an unsettling rhythm, adding to the scene’s tension.

“We always do a temperature check with our neighbors,” Kwasneski said. “We don’t want anyone to have nightmares over it. Our neighbors love it and encourage us. They’re out here every night looking at it. We’re lucky to live in a great community.”

Preparation for the display begins months before Halloween. Kwasneski, who works for the Clark County Department of Environment and Sustainability, wants everything to be repurposed, recycled and affordable. This leads the couple to scout area thrift stores, second-hand shops and used goods outlets such as Facebook Marketplace months in advance for authentic period pieces.

“We don’t want to keep using new stuff and being wasteful. I’m weird about that,” Kwasneski said. “We’ll go to numerous thrift stores to find exactly what we need.

“We want to show people you can do this affordably,” she added. “Obviously, there is a cost when you first start out but after that you can reuse everything.”

Belch, an HVAC technician, tirelessly spends hours handcrafting every detail of the horrifying scene. He built the animatronic characters from electrical piping, aluminum, pool noodles and motors.

After Belch brings his characters to life, he programs the entire scene. Controlled by a smart device, a central console equipped with computerized relays allows him to layer effects.

The system’s adaptability allows him to make swift changes. He does this several times over the season, creating shorter scenes to intermix with the main show.

“I’m tweaking all the way up to Halloween,” Belch said. “I’m always adding to it.”

In addition to creating the main characters, Belch modifies different props to incorporate into the scene. Belch installed an auto headlight to generate a blinding light for the camera flash.

“The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” movie depiction is the fifth themed display the couple has created since 2020. The first year was inspired during the pandemic shutdown to raise the spirits of their neighborhood. Belch created a smaller display showing Michael Myers in a scene from the slasher movie “Halloween.”

“Everybody was in a weird funk,” Kwasneski said. “We thought we’d liven things up. People loved it. Now we’ve gotten to the point where people expect things.”

Since then, the couple have been upping their game, generating more elaborate scenes from some of their favorite horror movies. This inspired Belch to build the wooden platform to provide more space to create their terrifying scenes.

“This is our favorite time of the year,” Kwasneski said. “There is something about Halloween and its horror aspect. I think it’s because we grew up in the ‘70s and ‘80s when horror movies were at their prime. There is a bit of nostalgia behind it.”

Once Halloween is over, the couple transitions the set into a Christmas theme, using several of the same elements. Last year, they were nominated among the top three best Christmas displays.

“It’s fun to watch the reactions,” Kwaskenski said. “People have fun with it. It truly is a labor of love.”