Halloween scene: Display is passion for Peccole Ranch resident

Rictor Riolo is out to frighten kids for Halloween with his spooky display at 9217 Buckhaven Drive.

“My goal is to have at least one child crying,” he joked. The fact that he usually dresses in a “Jason” mask inspired by the “Friday the 13th” movie character and brandishes a huge knife has nothing to do with that reaction.

The Halloween fun is scheduled to begin around dusk Oct. 31 and continue until 10 p.m.

He’s been adding to his display for the past seven years, increasing it 20 percent each time. It’s so all-encompassing, it takes him two weeks to set it up.

Riolo said Halloween is a favorite of his because he can lose himself in creativity.

“There’s that certain rush you get of fear, like with roller coasters,” he said. “Halloween does the same thing. … It’s fun, like stepping out of our own lives and having fun in the moment.”

His mother, Barbara, dresses as a witch to hand out little candies near the sidewalk. The brave children traverse the lawn and covered portico’s dark corridor all the way to the front door for the big candy.

Expect strobe lights, fog machines, animated characters, tombstones and coffins. Zombies have been known to jump out from a dark corner.

“What sucks is that Halloween is only one night,” Riolo said. “Why can’t it be a whole weekend? We need to start a new tradition.”

He estimated that he has invested $10,000 on the display. It takes up so much space in his garage, his car must be parked on the driveway.

He said children will always have an everlasting memory about one haunted house, and he wants his to be that house.