My neighborhood Karen tried to shut down my Halloween display, but Im fighting back
The Craigslist ad was just three words: Free Halloween decorations.That was all Nate Taylor, 49, a part-time DJ and stay-at-home dad in Traverse City, MI, needed.He met the woman giving away a holiday collection spanning 20 years.“Really, ma’am? You want us to take this?” he asked.
She was downsizing due to a recent divorced, so the answer was a resounding yes.It took Taylor three trips in his truck to transport the animatronics and other decorations back home.He then set to work making a plan to display as much as possible in front of his Cape Cod-style home with a 40-foot-wide yard near Kid’s Creek Park.Most of the decor wasn’t really weatherproof, so Taylor had to construct a makeshift tarp, anchored by a sizable branch of a big tree in the yard.He was so proud of what he had though, in 2017, he invited passersby and neighbors to enjoy the display—and he had a decent turnout.Being located close to Munson Medical, the city’s biggest hospital, many visitors who stopped by had family members in the hospital.
As the display leaned more toward whimsical, not scary, it was a welcomed respite.“I’m not into blood and gore or jump scares,” Taylor says.Inspired, the next year, Taylor created a bigger covered area and put out more decorations, including a big graveyard with headstones.Word had begun to spread, and out-of-town guests were starting to arrive to see his display.Year after year, Taylor and his wife kept building on the display.
By 2021, they started going “all night,” which started to draw anywhere from 30 to 40 visitors are night, by their estimation.“That doesn’t sound like a lot, but for a seasonal display, it is.”They wanted to share the joy with even more people, especially neurodivergent and special needs kids and groups.Taylor has two kids on the autism spectrum, and had long been disappointed that during Halloween, there is “nothing for special needs kids to do overall.”That’s really his goal in doing this–to cr...