Stoughton’s ‘Haunted Monroe Street’ is a Halloween lovefest

This year, the Lyons’ home on Stoughton’s Monroe Street is home to a thrillingly gruesome circus scene, complete with a red-and-white striped circus tent masking the entire facade of the house. The garden is full of creepy sideshows: creepy clowns that talk. A wolf grilling human brains. A decapitated body squirting blood into a bucket.

And the Lyons don’t stop there. In fact, they’ve elaborately decorated three of their neighbors’ yards and inspired even more nearby homeowners to populate their lawns with spooky scenes and chilling effects.

Neighbors even agreed to sign a petition this year to close their quiet small-town street to car traffic on Oct. 31 so more trick-or-treaters on foot could stare at the horrific scenes as they snack on their sweets. pick up the door. -door.

Last year, more than 1,000 trick-or-treaters flooded their sidewalks on Halloween, the Lyons said.

Paul Shableski, a neighbor, disputes that number. He says he gave out almost 1,200 pieces of candy last year. His own house is decorated with an array of skeletons, including some swinging from children’s bicycles or doing wheelies against the side of a tree, and a huge skull floating above the garage.

Shableski caught the Halloween decor bug a few years ago, inspired by the Lyons’ efforts.

“We moved here in July 2016 and we heard this was Halloween Street,” Shableski said. “We wanted to join in the fun, so I started with just a few skeletons and added more and more every year.”

Sawyer Funk, 13, was thrilled when his mother moved into a house in Monroe identified by signs on the corner as “Haunted Monroe Street.” Funk has filled his mother’s yard with a series of sophisticated haunted house displays, where visitors enter through dark flaps and find themselves in a scene filled with terrifying animated ghosts, a hotel setting where a live actor hides in bed, a living graveyard, and more.

Sawyer’s high school friends will man the haunts on Halloween, dressed in costume and eager to scare visitors.

“I did it last year and I had so much fun,” said Sawyer’s friend AJ Stokstad, also 13. “I love scaring kids, and this year I’m getting a bigger role than last year.”

The Lyons family comes up with a new theme every year, which they plan months in advance. Jim Lyons will begin construction on some of the larger set pieces in mid-September.

“As soon as we get the wood out, people are coming over,” September Lyons said of the early fall excitement. “They come by every week or even every day to see what else we have released.”

From noon to 10 p.m., drivers slowly drive up and down the block to take it all in. Monroe St even has its own Facebook pagefilled with videos from visitors.

The displays will remain up at least through the weekend after Halloween, the Lyons said.

During the off-season, their Halloween items go to a storage facility. The Lyons have collected so much over the years that it made sense to start decorating the neighbors’ gardens as well. This year, for example, the couple arranged a large cemetery wedding on the lawn of a Victorian house on the corner. Next to the street near their own home, they created a vignette with zombie dolls and rocking chairs inspired by nightmares.

Another neighbor set up a sprawling tropical skeleton resort, complete with a Tiki bar, DJ booth and sandy beach, where Mr. Bones and his date kick back with their drinks. A total of seven homes along the 200 block of Monroe Street have exaggerated displays.

Newcomers to the street receive a warning if they buy something there.

“Their agents literally (tell) them, ‘We hope you like Halloween because your neighbors are decorating your house,’” September Lyons said.

On the 31st, Shableski’s friends from less Halloween-crazy towns arrive for a party and a fire pit in his driveway, with extra bags of candy to hand out.

September Lyons’ mother and grandmother – dressed in costumes, of course – will travel from out of town to help staff Lyons’ candy table. Jim Lyons is ready with remote controls to make creepy figures jump at unsuspecting passersby.

They rely on a friend in town to help with some of their set painting, and sometimes other Stoughton residents drop off a potentially useful prop.

“I once had someone take off a pair of legs,” September Lyons said. “Just mannequin legs, but I was like, ‘Okay.’”

Don’t worry, her husband said: “We’ll make it something fun.”