Old-school scary

Deirdre Newman

For some, Halloween is a time to throw a few cobwebs over the house

and call it a night. For others, Halloween decorations start to

materialize weeks in advance and take on the grandeur of a Hollywood

movie set.

“Decorations” don’t even begin to describe the macabre yet

humorous scene that Colleen Hanson and Dale Parker have concocted in

their front yard at 276 E. Wilson St.

Furnishing their front yard is more like it.

Parker has built structures such as a bar to go with one of the

scary vignettes dotting their lawn. And Hanson makes the scenes come

alive with about 80 spooky characters, such as Dr. Mel Pwaktis and

Nurse Juana B standing over Frank N. Stein with a nefarious look in

their eyes.

Hanson and Parker’s effort has evolved over the past 13 years

since they started with a coffin and two characters, Hanson said.

Their goal is to design an atmosphere that is long on scary and short

on gory.

“I think we’re trying to bring back how Halloween used to be in

the old days when everything was safe and fun,” Hanson said. “There’s

no blood here.”

To make the scenes more lifelike, Hanson equips some of the props

with motors to make caldrons simmer and toilets spin like the head of

the girl in “The Exorcist.”

Moving from one end of their L-shaped lawn to the other, you might

see a witch built like a linebacker stirring her smoky caldron. You

might hear a detached voice coming from inside a coffin suddenly

blurt out something to you. You might feel the prickly sensation of

being watched by skeletons with bright, bulging eyes.

And, you might laugh when you see a witch’s costume plastered to

the chimney as if she just crashed into it, above a sign that reads,

“Don’t drink and fly.”

“We have a really warped sense of humor,” Hanson said. “We make it

fun for adults and kids and try to get some messages out when we

can.”

On Thursday afternoon, Hanson and Parker’s scenes caught the

attention of 5-year-old Heather Roberts, who was walking by with her

two brothers in tow. Hanson said that between 2,000 and 3,000

Halloween revelers walk by their house on Halloween night.

The pair has been creating intricate scenes for Halloween for so

long they have inspired others to emulate them, albeit on a smaller

scale.

One resident they have inspired is Luis Zourelli, who decorates

his front lawn at 260 E. 19th St. with his eight-year-old son,

Andres. Luis Zourelli decorates his yard with whatever odds and ends

he can find, such as a rubber chicken he painted so it would

glow-in-the dark, his wife, Rosario, said.

“He and my son have so much fun that when October comes around

they’re chomping at the bit,” Rosario Zourelli said.

Luis Zourelli also adds a personal touch, such as building a

scythe to go with the Grim Reaper character.

With a tree as an anchor, the grisly scene includes menacing

spiders peering out from their webs, detached legs hanging from one

of the branches and a skeleton bride.

The scene is so dramatic at night that it literally stops traffic,

Rosario Zourelli said.

“You hear a lot of people come by, hit the brakes and then go into

reverse,” she said.

Neighbor Louis Nigro, who has lent his special effects expertise

to the Zourellis in the past, said he enjoys the Zourellis Halloween

spirit.

“People stop. Even the police slow down and do a U-ee,” Nigro

said. “I think they don’t know what to expect.”

* DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers Costa Mesa and may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at deirdre.newman@latimes.com.