BRICK – Zombies, ghosts and ghouls are taking over Brick Township, as these locals bring the “scare” to life with their over-the-top Halloween displays.
Trick-or-treating isn’t for everyone, but residents are sharing the spooky spirit with their eerie and spine-chilling decorations.
For one Brick family, their Halloween tradition has been scaring residents of Lake Riviera for over 20 years.
Mark and Kathleen Strittmatter started their epic Halloween display for their nieces and nephews when they were younger. Now, the couple maps out their extensive decorations every year to add something new.
“My husband does the bulk of the decorating. It takes a good three weeks to get it up and going. We started a little bit earlier this year thankfully,” Kathleen said. “Usually, we do the front of the house and lawn but this year we’re going all the way around. It’s a little more work but Mark started in September. A lot the heavier items are already out, but now we have to put together the little tedious parts.”
Kathleen said the main feature of the display is the cemetery on their front lawn. When you walk up to the house, located at 326 Evergreen Drive, the front gate opens up to a big cemetery with zombies and other monsters. This year, the display will feature a walk-through full of surprises.
“We usually try to sneak in a couple of new and different things each year. This year we went overboard so we’ll have a whole walk through in the back yard. We’ll have witches and other crazy things back there,” Kathleen said.
Their dedication to decoration has even inspired their neighbors in Lake Riviera to join in on the scare.
“The funny thing is we’re in the heart of our neighborhood, so most of the people up and down our street all know and all participate. We get a lot of people that come from word-of-mouth. People say ‘I used to come here when I was a kid’ so it’s crazy to think we have people’s kids coming who were kids when they came,” Kathleen said. “It’s always fun to decorate. When you do it and realize people come because they want to see it and especially our next-door neighbors, they have little ones who are at our house every single day while Mark is decorating. They come and walk through every day because they want to see what’s going on.”
“Since it’s gotten so big, everyone up and down our street did a little something last year. Our one neighbor put in to have the street closed down to traffic so that we can have more of a safe area to walk around. It turned into a big event last year with so many people coming,” Kathleen added.
With all the traction they’ve gained over the years, the couple will be taking donations this year to raise money for a local cat rescue. During the week of Halloween, they will have all the lights on as well as the fog and animatronics.
“Mark is out there every night creating things. Halloween has always been our favorite holiday. We just love it. His favorite is classic Halloween themes,” Kathleen said.
In another part of town, the residents of 235 Cottonwood Drive have dubbed their display Walcott Manor.
Stephanie Walcott said they started decorating for Halloween when they bought their house in Brick 14 years ago.
“We gradually bought more and more items as the years went on. The display really began to snowball when we were able to get a life-sized zombie horse on clearance from Home Depot about four or five years ago. That’s when we decided to ‘go big’ with it,” Stephanie said.
The Walcotts work year-round to prepare for Halloween. They purchase new items every year and craft projects for their display.
“We really start scouting stores for new items in the summer. My parents also help by building some items and purchasing special little touches from antique shops. Even my niece has gotten involved by donating her ‘well loved’ and awfully creepy looking baby dolls,” Stephanie said.
She explained how their inspiration for decorations comes for TV shows, movies and haunts that they’ve attended. Some of their key features includes a life-sized zombie horse, 7-foot-tall reaper, animatronic fortune teller, life-size custom-made guillotine and much more.
Walcott Manor will be on display nightly from 6 to 10 p.m. until Halloween night, weather permitting. On October 29 and Halloween night, they we will be adding atmospheric music, fog and will project movies on the side of the house.
