Community mourns death of neighborhood fixture, co-founder of 30-year-old eastside Costa Mesa Halloween tradition

The creator of a homunculus with a bulbous, wart-covered snout that has been spooking local kids as part of of a nearly 30-year old Halloween tradition in one Eastside Costa Mesa community died unexpectedly Wednesday.

Since 1995, Dale Parker and his wife Colleen Hanson, along with their children Davis Parker and Josh Hanson, have been staging an elaborate display in the yard of their home at the corner of Wilson Street and Westminster Avenue that has come to be known as the Picklenose Halloween House. As many as 3,000 people have shown up in their quiet residential neighborhood each Halloween in search of family-friendly jump scares.

The event gets its name from one of the ghouls that calls the set of the annual horror show home. Picklenose is a small, turquoise and lavender-furred gremlin hidden in the display each year who telepathically (via a secret loudspeaker) taunts children from his coffin. He was made by Parker, as were many of the other skeletons, witches and ghosts that take up residence on his family’s lawn each October,

“Dale put so much love into our Halloween decorations, aiming to bring spooky laughs to the community,” his wife said in a post on the Picklenose Halloween House Facebook page. “It’s a family event that takes a month to put together.”

Dale Parker and his wife, Colleen Harper, pose for a photo in front of an annual Halloween display at their home in Costa Mesa. Parker died Wednesday after falling from a ladder.

(Courtesy of Briana Harper)

He was constantly out front decorating his yard or working on projects, usually in flip-flops with a lit stogie in hand, neighbors Briana Harper and Elizabeth Reed said. The woody, sweetly acrid smell of cigar smoke became a familiar calling card to children curious about the next holiday display and other neighbors eager to chat with him.

“Whenever you walked by their home, you could always count on him to say hello,” Reed said.

Parker was busy with yardwork Monday when he fell from a ladder, injuring his back, his wife said in a Facebook post. He fell into a coma and then died on Wednesday. He was “surrounded by his loving family” in the hospital in his final moments.

Friends created a GoFundMe page shortly after Parker was injured with the intention of covering part of his medical expenses. But now any funds raised will also be used to help support his family as they plan his funeral.

Parker’s neighbors have been in shock in the wake of his death. They described him as a beloved, constant fixture in the community and say they can hardly fathom his absence.

“You just always knew that if he was out there and on patrol nothing was going to happen to your house,” Reed said.