CHARLOTTE, N.C. Local Charlotte News – In just about a week, the candy will be flying out the front door as kids arrive in full costume. This time of year, some Charlotte neighbors go all out to make their home into a house of Halloween horror for visitors.
FOX 46 Photojournalist Terry Allen and Reporter Brett Baldeck explored Charlotte neighborhoods in search of some of the best Halloween displays. There was no plan. The two just jumped in a car and drove around to see what they could find.
On Club Road in Plaza Midwood was a familiar face in one front yard. A homeowner took the iconic picture of Mick Jagger hanging out at The Thirsty Beaver and made it into a Halloween display. A skeleton is leaning up against a wooden railing, complete with a Jagger-like-looking wig and a beer in hand.
Mick Jagger at the Thirst Beaver Halloween display. (Photo by Brett Baldeck)
Just down the road on Morningside Drive, they met one neighbor whose yard is like a graveyard, but you won’t find any of the decorations he used in stores.
“We enjoy doing it, building all these projects,” said the homeowner.
Hundreds of hours of hard work are spent perfecting his yard and the display isn’t even complete yet. The men behind the madness, complete with homemade tombstones and a spooky wooden fence, don’t consider the project hard work.
“Being that I am home all day, I cannot keep myself away from here,” said one man
A friend down the street on Commonwealth Avenue had the same idea, making much of his display by hand. He created his own Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde science lab, complete with beakers and a chalkboard.
“We try and make it as realistic as possible without being too scary. I try and walk that fine line so I don’t terrify you so that you are scared the rest of your life of Halloween,” he said.
Humorous, not scary, seems to be the case throughout Plaza Midwood. A close look at some homes may have you doing a double-take at times, but all the horror themes have a hidden meaning. “This gives us 2 times out of the year where we get to mingle with the whole neighborhood and get together and have fun,” said one neighbor.
The homeowner on Morningside Drive tells FOX 46 he plans to have his front yard open to visitors on Halloween as well as the Saturday before.
