If I decorate at all it's an uncarved pumpkin on my front step, mostly because I love orange.

The creepy garage door cover would be tempting just to get the HOA all worked up!

Nothing in the rules that would prohibit them!

We have a lot of retired people, but we are not a retirement or 55+ community, but you wouldn't know it from the few curmudgeons who always complain about the few families with young kids that actually decorate for holidays or want to add a basketball hoop for the kids.

Off to google creepy garage door covers! LOL

There’s a house in the New Orleans garden district that had many, many (100?) skeletons in all sizes. They had then set up in different scenes. It was fun to see. I saw it in 2017, but it was a local tradition then so I imagine it continued/continues.

Because I’m practical, or maybe I have a cold, dead heart, but my first thought when seeing any OTT holiday display is always ”where do they store all that?” My next thought is ”why?”

One house in our area has the giant skeleton, but the house is a modest Victorian, so the skeleton is truly massive. Another nearby home has turned into a broomstick flying academy (with sign). She has a number of the crashed witches on broomsticks all over.

I have no Halloween decor because I haven’t quite found what I want. I really want a couple of pairs of larger glowing eyes to put in our bushes and trees, but I want them to slowly fade in and out, not blink. Ideally, they would also have a motion sensor . The ones I have found so far just blink. I may end up with just googly eyes.

I don't decorate for Halloween either. Just my . Fall decor, pumpkins, Mums, that sort of thing.

What I'm seeing today would have been a real problem for my son.He was easily spooked.Thankful I don't have young children today. On the next street over, there is a house that goes all out for every holiday, But nothing they put out is at the level of that garage door.

Really inappropriate and wonder what message they are trying to send.

Halloween is a big deal around here, especially on my street. Some of the neighbors with young kids go all out. Honestly most of it is not clever, just excessive. My neighbors have about seven inflatable things, lights, spiders, the whole magillah. Same thing across the street.

I know people didnt go all out when my kids were young. I think we poured our creativejuices into costumes. My kids carved pumpkins and I had some mums .

Now I put little pumpkins on my fence posts. and I have a cute scarecrow on the bench by the front door with an artificial pumpkin.

I think the clown is a little creepy, but it wouldn't bother me particularly. I don't have young children, though. I don't know what my HOA rules are because I don't do exterior decorations. I would guess that any garage door decor wouldn't pass muster, though.

People do get carried away with the gruesome stuff, don't they?

I used to do this - simple handmade paper decorations...

And these - made from empty cat litter containers and glow sticks:

Nowadays I don't put up any decor outside at all - we're in a rented condo and they only allow wreaths on the doors. Besides, what's the point when nobody sees it anyway?

And I get to make all kinds of fun decorations with our play campers. We did these windcatchers last week...

I wonder where people store all this stuff in between times

It is a children's holiday. So the decor should not scare them!

I don't decorate because we get no trick or treaters and my house can't be seen from the street. I could decorate the front porch just for me and my grandson who is my most regular visitor, but we use the back entry and would never see them.

I wonder if the trend to over the top creepy hasn't been influenced by a generation or two who have grown up with an over abundance of creepy, scary movies and such? There were a few that I recall from my youth, not allowed for youngsters, but the stuff I see people letting their kids view these days kind of shocks me.

I agree..."it's a childrens holiday. The decor shouldn't scare them."

I purchased a pumpkin soap dispenser and a ceramic orange pumpkin...that sits on my black granite island. 🎃 I'm happy with a "little, cute" holiday decor....

We had one of those public storage units for a couple years, and a few times I saw people getting their holiday decorations out. That's the only place I'd have to store a bigger skeleton!

Today I saw something cute: a vintage white Beetle with a skeleton in the passenger seat with its arm resting on the open window. I'm pretty sure the driver was a human.

I regularly walk my neighborhood, and Halloween decor is mostly kid-friendly. A few exceptions are a house around the corner from me that has the creepiest doll hanging from a swing near the sidewalk, and another whose decorations are motion-sensored and go off rather loudly when people walk by. I should be used to them by now, but they still startle me... especially the doll. Its creeeeeeepy.

I'm partial to a few pumpkins and mums, and that's about it.

If that clown showed up on a garage door near my DD, she would move! She sbsolutely is creeped out by clowns and always has been. We don’t know what triggered her reaction to them, but her reading Stephen King’s ’It’ didn’t help. Fortunately her neighborhood is a kid-friendly family magnet and people decorate accordingly. Anything done with skeletons and such is clever and funny, not at all creepy.

If someone has seen the movie, it could trigger some pretty scary thoughts!! Pennywise is a pretty scary clown!

My oldest daughter loves Halloween (actually, both daughters do - I made a big deal out of Halloween when they were growing up - but not with scary decorations/activities). She actually worked several years for a company that is the world's largest producer/operator of live themed events + immersive installations = haunted houses/hayrides/various scary productions/etc.

A character that they made for their attractions was very similar to Pennywise (the clown from Stephen King's book, "IT" )- which caused a bit of an uproar from the copyright owners of the character.

I went to several of them over the years - it was amazing how scary they were! It took her all year to plan everything (and that's with having several assistants who helped) - the month before the haunted houses opened (typically around Sept 15th) she'd work 80+ hours/week + would be flying all over the country. The office shuts down for an entire week after the attractions close just so employees can "recover" from all of the work before + during the "open" season.

It really is surprising how much money can be generated because so many people love being scared! The company also owns some escape rooms + ax throwing bars that operate all year. However, 70-75% of the company's earnings are generated during a six week period each year! I was a bit shocked when I learned how much merchandise (sweatshirts/t-shirts/jackets/leggings/sweatpants/baseball hats/etc.) they sell during the six weeks that the haunted houses are operating!

About five years ago, I went to the infamous "Haunted Hayride" in L.A (set in the woods at Griffith Park). It is apparently a pretty "famous" attraction and has a huge maze + other scary activities - I was surprised at how many "stars" were at the haunted village that they set up! It was really good - and would be too scary for kids (and some adults!)

She works for a non-profit now = no more trips to various cities to see her work (we were always able to skip the lines also - which could be 2+ hours long!)

She decorates a lot for Halloween - both outside and inside her house! Not creepy/scary stuff (she has a three year old + a nine month old). The past three Halloweens, her and her husband dress up to coordinate with whatever my grandson is dressed as for Halloween. It's pretty cute.

HOWEVER - this year my daughter and SIL will be out of town on Halloween for a conference. So, I have the little ones for three days. My grandson decided he wanted to be Mickey Mouse - so, his baby sister is dressing up as Minnie. Over the weekend, he asked his mom what nana and papa Timmy were going to be for Halloween. My options are Daisy and Donald Duck OR Pluto and Goofy.

Your post just reminded me that Halloween isn't very far off - I need to start looking for costumes!!

I accidentally-on-purpose drove by the peeping clown house today, still creepy, but I notice that the house facing the garage is set back, has a lot of overgrown lilac hedges and trees and shrubbery in front, and frankly looks haunted itself, and is barely visible. It’s owned by an older pair (siblings) so I don‘t imagine it is scaring them.

isn’t Halloween historically about keeping the scary things at bay? Not scaring our friends and neighbors?

Halloween is for kids. Like so many things that statement is interpreted so differently by many in a free society. A big part of the mystique of Halloween is IMPO the innocent FRIGHT of being out at night, people in costumes going by. Anyone remember the movie "Meet me in St. Louis"? Halloween in that movie meant kids out alone, creating a bonfire of furniture in the streets. Blows the mind these days. Where is the line between not going so cutesy as to take away the scary but not so crass as to depict violence? It's been mentioned already-displays that include dead bodies. There's one I drive by that appears to be a wrapped body that fell out of a tree--like it had been dangling. Beyond the point of the night IMPO. Fantasy; ghosts/vampires/martians are plenty to be frightening we don't need to depict reality at its basest ever, when one doesn't have control of their audience, when children will see what they ought never have to.

Man, IDK I feel like y'all are some weenies haha

I have a 9 & 11 yo and they picked out one of those scary garage door covers. It hasn't arrived yet so IDK how it will look. But I remember lots of scary decorations from my childhood. People dressed up as dead folks with blood and knives sticking out of our heads.

Halloween is about dressing up so you don't stand out and get caught with all the zombies and ghosts and dead people coming out that night. Children are fine!

justcallmepool, LOL I admit I'm a weenie on "scary" stuff-not just at Halloween. However, my son turned out just fine and he and his friends did and saw all the "scary" stuff. I just personally, don't like anything "bloody". I do think the garage door in OP is really scary for little kids-scarier than a zombie or dead people etc. But again, I'm a weenie.

In my experience kids like to terrorize themselves a little bit and are pretty resilient, and most kids wanted to try and watch scary movies that they are too young to watch when I was growing up. I know when The Birds came on TV we kept sneaking downstairs to try and see parts of it, and I wasn't in 2nd grade yet, because we were in our old house. And we read all the Grimm's Fairy Tales and Hans Christian Andersen and OZ books with people being imprisoned by witches and poisoned and having limbs chopped off (How do you think the Tin Woodman became tin?) and freezing to death (The Little Match Girl) and so forth. And my children's bible had terrifying pictures of Lucifer being cast out of heaven, and Hell, and I used to love to scare myself by looking at them and slamming the book shut and running out of the room.

I was traumatized when I was about 4 when my neighbor's dad came over on Halloween and tapped on the front window. He was dressed as a green monster and had naked dolls chained by the ankles over his shoulder, covered with red paint. That was traumatic. But even then I realized they were dolls, I was just terrified that my neighbor's dad would want to turn into a monster. But I got over it. I am afraid we are raising generations of very wimpy kids who turn into wimpy adults afraid of their own shadows. A lot of 20 somethings are turning out very weird and socially awkward. A lot are Not, but a lot are.

It’s fine when we can scare ourselves, and what we are afraid of can really vary.

I think there is a difference between scary and threatening, and I find the creepy clown crawling out from under the garage whispering ”I see you” to be threatening. Everyone’s mileage may vary. A ghoul in a yard is scary, but a ghoul looming over the driveway or front walk with a scythe raised is threatening.

In elementary school a group of us would have sleepovers that always included watching a show called Shock Theater with the host Roland. He showed scary movies and did scary things like squish brain shaped jello with his hands. His wife was My Dear and his sidekick was Igor. We loved being scared to death. He was the predecessor to Elvira.

Here we are in our baby doll pajamas imitating Roland

We have mainly done pumpkins and have switched from carving pumpkins to ones we cook (Cinderella or Fairytale). The blood, gore and creep were never my thing and as the kids got older and cared less and the yuk factor got more so, I avoided it all the more. I have a sugar skull tablecloth I put on the table where we sit at the end of the driveway to meet trick or treaters -- a tradition our street started during covid. I've thought about getting or making a Dia de los Muertos wreath with the sugar skulls, flowers and butterflies. I prefer the bright colors and celebration, and remembering those who have gone before in a positive way is something I can embrace.

DH and DS are both on our neighborhood village association board. It isn't an HOA - just community and hosts a fall festival and a pool party each year. They do Halloween and Christmas decorating judging and last night they voted on the Halloween one. We have a small handful of folks who go through great effort and expense to put up a lot of decorations - and they all have a lot of skeletons and other grim creatures. They are the one ones they get considered. One house has a group of 8-12 skeletons they reposition each day. On the day the photo was taken they had a couple having a drink at a table and another group in a cheer tower pose - more humor than gore. DH voted for them, but they got honorable mention.

Personally, I don't really celebrate Halloween and don't do anything special to decorate for Halloween, but I have friends who are Wiccan and celebrate Halloween somberly as a time to honor friends and family who have passed on. I also know someone who sets up elaborate walk through Haunted Mazes with animatronics in his yard every year.. He spends a full year designing and implementing his design, opens it up free to the public for several days and gets hundreds of visitors. This year he built a pirate ship, past years included an Alien Abduction and a Salem Witch Trial (Pics below).

I have another friend who rides her big black Morgan horse through the streets dressed up as the headless horseman and throws out bags of candy to the trick or treaters.

Last year I made up bags with a variety of candy and baked goods and took them to a family where mom was going through chemo and dad was staying home with her and the kids. They couldn't go out, so I took trick or treat to them.

I love that I know so many people who have different thoughts and ideas and do things differently. It makes life fun and interesting.

Actually I know someone who had a real skeleton that they dug up when they were excavating for a building. There were a number of unmarked graveyards in my town.

There was one graveyard that was unmarked because a nearby farmer took all the headstones to make quicklime and slaked lime. And I think they found some headstones used as footers for a porch or something. In the late 19th and early 20th century I think things were pretty unregulated there.

Of course no one would think it was okay to have a dug up skeleton now.

This house is a few blocks from me and on my walking route. A couple of weeks ago, a mid sized u-haul was parked near it for a few days. It was funny to see all the zombies standing around in a tight circle outside the truck door waiting to be placed in their spots.
This is an older pic. The family has been doing this for years.

Halloween porch decor update:

Schoolhouse, I like the skeleton and all!

I’ve been seeing more and more skeleton scenes, they all sure look like they are having a good time.

Jennifer, your friend on her black horse reminds me of the year my friend and I went trick-or-treating as Alias Smith and Jones, which was a tv western adaptation of sorts of Butch and Sundance. We wore western garb and shearling jackets, and rode her two horses.

We had a couple of issues:

1: When we got to a house, we realized the horses wanted to follow us up to the door and try to walk IN, so one of us had to ring the doorbell while the other stayed with the horses.

2: No saddles, and I couldn’t mount without one, so it was always my friend who went to the door.

3: At one point, a car drove by and a passenger tossed an M80 or a cherry bomb or something and spooked the horses. I’m pretty sure my cousin was one of the passengers.

But in general, it was fun.

People used to really go all out decorating for Halloween in my neighborhood - many people had children (most were a bit older and prime trick or treating age - without needing mom and dad to go - I had two little ones). People would make mini "haunted houses" in their garages + every house (except a couple) would decorate their porch/house.

There was a neighbor who had an old pickup - from back in the 20 - 30's - he'd (I always assumed it was a dad) would dress in overalls and a flannel shirt + wear an old man mask + long gray hair - and drive slowly around the neighborhood playing scary music. It wasn't scary - just a bit creepy for the kids.

No one ever saw the truck except on Halloween.

If someone did that today, 911 would receive a ton of calls - and the police would show up in less than five minutes!

Oh bpath - what a blast from the past - I was a big fan of that TV show - had a huge crush on Ben Murphy 😃

So did my friend and I!

Sharing links to a couple of videos of my nephew's haunted pirate ship maze in Moorestown NJ. He has been creating public Halloween mazes for over 20 years - it is one of his passions.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DP4iPwADt1Q/

https://www.instagram.com/p/DP7iCtHieiP/

Quote from a visitor " It’s the perfect mix of spooky but not too spooky, making it great for younger kids. There’s no gore, just plenty of pirate-themed fun! My son walked through at least four or five times, and we noticed new details every single round. "

Oh my gosh, that garage door Halloween cover would totally creep me out, let alone small kids, I imagine. Wow! Autumn is my very favorite season and I love my wonderful decorations for it. Because we get no trick-or-treaters here along our dark mountain roads, AND because we have no grandkids yet, I just stick with my lovely Autumn decs until it’s time to decorate for Christmas.

Jennifer, how fun is that!

Cute Halloween decorations along the cart path at our golf course.

@bpath - just heard from my sister that they had over 150 families/groups go through the maze last night!

I took a 20+ mile bike ride yesterday and I can confirm that this year's Halloween decorating trend is GIANT skeletons!

Didn't spot a single creepy garage door cover!

Jennifer - that's quite amazing and such a lot of effort - but where does it all get stored??

3katz - love the Mozart decomposing!

Indigo, i’ve seen people fetching or storing their winter holiday decorations at the public storage, so maybe the haunted maze, too?

Tonight I drove through a neighborhood several towns away, half and hour drive. It’s a lovely neighborhood, a few decades older than mine, and the lots are small and the houses more compact. Decorations make a real impact! When you have a small porch or yard, a short front walk, it doesn’t take much, or much financial outlay, to pack a punch. The only oddity was a 20’ inflatable white werewolf. At first I thought it was the Abominable Snow Bumble frommRudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, it's that white.

This house is in a nearby neighborhood with my kids school. They’re excited to visit it!

At least the clown face isn’t on the door so you are walking into the mouth!

@Indigo Rose My nephew changes the theme of his mazes every year, so he builds what works for the current years theme a week or so before he opens to the public and dismantles it right after Halloween. He won't keep the pirate ship, just the skeletons, other props that will be reused time and again. He collects all the items for each years theme from junk yards, rebuild stores and thrift stores and will return useable items as donations.

Our indoor decor is more of a vintage cute Halloween style. We used to do a scary style outdoors. Once we moved to our current home we cut back on outdoor decorations. I miss them but no one comes trick or treating at our house, we live near the end of a very steep street. So I decorate the outside with pumpkins and fall flowers, it is pretty and lasts through Thanksgiving.

A close friend is very into the scary decor, so I get to enjoy finding things for her. Best of both worlds.

Well DH finally hung up our garage cover.

It wasn’t my first pick but my girls love it!

Bpath, I just saw that same garage door cover about a mile from our house yesterday. For a second, I wondered if you lived near me! But I guess there could be more than one. 😆

I took some photos doing errands today. This gives a sense of why I fell in love with our neighborhood, after a historic home tour we took here in Fall 2019!

Note the guy on the Vespa!

Love this pair of windowboxes!

My favorite part is the ghosts in the window!

Look at the arch they added around the door!

Me thinks the same neighborhood florist did more than a few of theses.

I took a photo of this yesterday thru my car windshield

I love Halloween so much. Thanks for sharing these pictures, all.

We have a pumpkin wagon driven by Skelly and pulled by spiders:

It’s lit up at night and the kids love it.

We have other decor scattered around and every year DH carves a ”house” with a little vampire pumpkin in it. There’s a little machine inside with a strobe light and fun scary noises. Nearly every trick or treater comments in awe of it. :) I wish I could post a video here.

Halloween night:

Out back after Halloween:

I can’t take credit for idea, I saw it years ago on the Williams Sonoma site, although we added the lights and sounds (and vampire face instead of just a smiley one).

Inside, my decor is more vintage and Folk Art Halloween decor.