While Marblehead might not have any haunted houses, what it does have are houses trying to at least look haunted.
Local residents have transformed their homes into festive landmarks, each one a reflection of family traditions, neighborhood joy, and the irresistible pull of the spooky season.
Clair Pappas at 49 Humphrey Street takes Halloween decorations to the next level.
Since Pappas’s birthday is only the day before Halloween, it has always had a special place in her heart.
She makes most of her decorations, such as the Michael Myers, the larger-than-life spider, and the werewolf. Pappas said it takes the entire day to set up the decorations, “I start at 7 a.m. and sometimes don’t finish until 4 p.m.,” she said.
Her son helps her carry out all of the decorations, some stored in her third-floor eaves, others in the grade, but she likes to set it up herself to get it just right.
“I love to do it and I know the kids love it. We sit out on the front porch and watch all the kids come up to the house — they just love it,” she said.
Pappas added that once the leaves starts to change colors families who are walking by with their children ofter ask, “When is the haunted house going up?
“I do it for the kids,” Pappas said.
At 19 Orne St., Lauren Alan’s decorations went up in just about an hour. “We just love to get into the season. There are a lot of little kids that love it in the neighborhood, and we have a two and a half year old son now that loves it too.”
A few blocks away at 143 Green St., Pamela Feliz keeps her front yard festive thanks to her 10-year-old daughter’s enthusiasm.
“My daughter is super into Halloween,” she said. “Her birthday just passed, and she loves the season. So she always likes to put up stuff.”
Feliz has always decorated for Halloween and enjoys seeing the community response. “We’ve had a good share of people come by when it’s a night off,” she said. “So we’ll put candy out, too.”
Her neighbor at 141 Green St., Tammie James, has also embraced the spirit in less time than most. “It took about 15 minutes,” she said of her setup. “The last couple of years we have. I have kids, a 2-year-old and an 8-year-old.”
James and her family plan to spend the evening trick-or-treating before heading to the big local game. “We leave out a little bucket of candy for people,” she said. “Sometimes it’s gone. Sometimes it’s not. I don’t know if there’s been as much. Who knows about this year, too? Because it’s the Marblehead football game.”
At 285 West Shore Dr., Allison Taylor, right across from the Waterside Cemetery, said her family turns their yard into a playful cemetery scene each October. “It’s usually like a whole afternoon,” she said of the setup. “My son has some friends who come over and do it with us. It is really fun.”
Her yard includes props that “make noise when you walk by,” and she adds more lights and strobes on Halloween night. The display, she explained, is for everyone who passes: “I feel like it’s fun for us, but it’s fun for people to drive by. Kids love it. The bus stops right here.”
Taylor doesn’t get as many trick-or-treaters as she once did.
“We moved here from Orne Street, which is like Halloween Mecca,” she said. “We got like 400 when we lived there, and I think maybe we got four last year. I know, it’s so sad, but yeah, we still do it anyway. It’s so fun, and it’s something happy for people.”
“When we moved here, the side yard was kind of perfect for a little, creepy graveyard,” she said.
Not far away, at 314A West Shore Dr., Nick Ily gestures proudly at a towering skeleton.
“That’s my neighbor’s skeleton over there, but we kind of share it,” he said. “It lights up at night and everything. It is probably 12 feet tall.”
Halloween at the Ily household is a family affair.
“My wife and my four kids decorated these pumpkins,” he said. “We do every year. My daughter decorated Snoopy.”
Each display captures something essential about the season, the way Halloween brings people together, one plastic skeleton and pumpkin at a time.
