[Fredslist] LI Halloween houses decorated for drive-by | Newsday; Queens rules with fearsome houses of horror - NY Daily News

Mon Oct 26 10:33:07 EDT 2020

Something for a drives-by next weekend (or sooner)

https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ny-queens-whitestone-halloween-house-of-horros-20201024-27xd4obdzrgzhm2eg3vxbba4q4-story.html

Queens rules this Halloween with fearsome houses of horror
Carla Roman
New York Daily News |

Oct 24, 2020 at 6:22 PM 

Halloween

This house is filled with outdoor decorations, located on Utopia Parkway and 22nd Avenue in Queens. (Gina Lachman/for New York Daily News) 
1 / 16
The real world might be scary enough this Halloween, but that’s not stopping some die-hard New Yorkers from tricking out their front lawns, stoops and storefronts.

The over-the-top displays are a way to keep the holiday spirit alive during some draconian new pandemic health measures, the decorating devotees told the Daily News.

One house of horrors at the corner of 149 St. and 18th Ave. in Whitestone, Queens, has been up since mid-September.

By day, the macabre menagerie includes an army of skeletons and pumpkin-headed ghouls haunting a field of dried corn stalks. The real show starts when the sun goes down.

“I turn the lights on at night,” the owner, “Big Tom” told The News. “I’ll have the creatures on starting at 10:00 and the lights on until midnight with the smoke.”

Tom — who didn’t want to reveal his full name — said he’s spent the past 12 years gathering his menacing monsters, and he wasn’t about to let the coronavirus crisis spoil his fun.

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A house on 149th St. and 18th Ave. in Bayside, Queens is elaborately decorated for Halloween, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020. (Gina Lachman/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS)
“We do it for the kids,” he said. “My son loves it. The last couple of years he’ll even hide around the lawn and scare people.”

About a mile away at Utopia Parkway and 22nd Ave. in Clearview, the outside of Dr. Michael Montalbano’s Community Chiropractic office was turned into the stuff of nightmares.

“It’s all for the kids. We all need some lightness in our lives, now more than ever,” Montalbano told The News, explaining why he pressed ahead with his tradition of terror.

“I remember when I was a kid, and you’d find a cool house. So I just wanted to be able to do something to give back to the neighborhood, for the kids. And the adults love it just as much,” he explained.

The Community Chiropratic offices on Utopia Parkway and 22nd Ave. in Clearview, Queens, is in the Halloween spirit. (Gina Lachman/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS)
“It’s gotten to the point that people come from all neighborhoods to see this,” said Montalbano, who will be dressed this year as Prof. Albus Dumbledore from the Harry Potter series. “Last Halloween, we had 700 children here.”

He said his “coolest” decoration is a creepy life-sized doll swinging in a tree. He spent years finagling it to maximize its fright factor.

“It’s motion and sound activated. There’s a sensor up in the tree, so as you walk by, that thing turns on, and she starts jerking and screaming. There’s a loudspeaker up in the tree,” he said. “That’s the one people take to the most.”

The display was a hit with a neighbor who was walking through the yard with his toddler.

“She wants to come four times a day,” the dad shared. “She doesn’t really like it when everything is on at night, but she likes it now.”

A Bayside homeowner, Daniel Gale, 47, is bringing the heat this year by turning his front lawn into a den of dragons.

For more than a decade, he’s turned his corner of 214th St. and 56th Ave. into a must-see stop for trick-or-treaters.

“I go through $1,500 worth of lollipops every Halloween. Families block the street and you can’t even drive through,” he recalled.

“Last year, no exaggeration, we had a 1,000 kids,” he said. “It’s word of mouth. They hear about it and the kids come.”

A set of houses on 214th St. and 56th Ave. in Bayside, Queens go all out for Halloween. (Gina Lachman/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS)
He personally designed the latest addition to his display, saying it took him days to build a dragon with a special fire feature he’ll unveil Halloween night.

His home is already known for its video projections showing zombies and ghosts in his windows and a horrifying Jack in the Box on his front lawn that springs open to scare visitors.

“I do it for the kids in the neighborhood and for my own kids,” he said, explaining one of his children is the perfect Halloween age of 6.

Gale, Big Tom and Montalbano all said they considered sitting on the sidelines this year, but then they doubled down on their decorating to give back.

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“The kids have nothing this year. They had no social life. They lost their parties and graduation. So this brings some fun to them and some happiness,” Gale said.

“If the schools are open, why can’t the kids at least have this,” he said, adding that his 17-year-old daughter’s friends plan to check out their display Halloween night.

The detailed decorators said as long as revelers remember to wear proper face masks and keep a safe distance, they’re happy to put in the effort.

“Originally I wasn’t going to do it this year because of the expense and everything else, but everyone was asking, ‘Can you do it again?’ So I did it,” Tom explained. “I’m going to put up a sign asking everyone to please wear your mask and do your best to social distance.”

Montalbano said he figured his “nice large corner” offered more than enough room for visitors to safely enjoy his handiwork.

“I was hesitant in wanting to make sure I was doing the right thing, but my feeling was we need some levity,” he said. “I figured we’d let people be adults about it and make sure they are doing the same things, taking the same precautions, as they are doing everywhere else.”

Carla Roman currently works for the Metro desk at The News and writes human (and animal) interest stories.

https://www.newsday.com/lifestyle/holidays/halloween/long-island-halloween-house-1.50043321?user=58dfa4e5d4cd6618158b4567&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Morning-Update

Long Island Halloween houses decorated for a drive-by
By David J. Criblez david.criblez at newsday.com @DavidJCriblez                Updated October 23, 2020 5:00 AM

Drive by this Oceanside home for a Sleepy Hollow-themed haunt.  Credit: Bruce Gilbert
Decorating for Halloween is an annual tradition in the suburbs, but some go beyond the pumpkins. On Long Island, certain homes get completely decked out to theme-park levels. Here are three haunted homes with handmade decorations that will give you both a smile and a scare:

THE HALLOWEEN HOUSE

For the past 25 years, Richard Dunlop has been putting out a Halloween display in front of his Farmingdale house. It started simply with a few handmade plywood cutouts.

"One day someone lost control of their vehicle and went across my lawn and destroyed all my decorations," says Dunlop, 53. "The next year I had to start over."

When he began to rebuild, Dunlop decided to ramp up his efforts by making monsters such as The Mummy, Frankenstein, the Bride of Frankenstein, Phantom of the Opera, the Creature from the Black Lagoon and the Wolfman. But, each year he adds something new.

"This year I put witches around a bubbling cauldron with fake fire," says Dunlop. "I also have these singing jack o’lanterns with actual faces projected onto real pumpkins making it look like they are talking to you."

Dunlop works as a taxidermist and he even tapped into his professional skills to build a smoke breathing dragon.

"It used to be the form for an elk," he says. "I used the inside insert, painted it green, put some eyes on it and turned it into a dragon."

LOCATION 131 Conklin St., Farmingdale

GEISCHEN MANOR

Joe Murphy annually builds his own Halloween scene in the front yard of his parents’ 1860 Victorian home, which he assembles over Columbus Day weekend.

When Joe Murphy grew up in Oceanside, he would ask his parents to drive by the Slade family’s home in Rockville Centre to view their detailed Halloween display.

"I looked up to them and wanted to be at their level," says Murphy, 24. "They gave me tips and tricks about how to make the bodies more lifelike."

Today, Murphy annually builds his own Halloween scene in the front yard of his parents’ 1860 Victorian home, which he assembles over Columbus Day weekend.

"We change it every year to keep the community on its toes," says Murphy. "This year I’m doing a Sleepy Hollow theme with the Headless Horseman and a graveyard on one side plus a witch scene inspired by the Hansel & Gretel story on the other."

Murphy makes each body out of wood, stuffing and old clothing.

"It’s something anybody can do," he says. "As long as you have some time and creativity, you can go a long way with it."

To complete the ambience, Murphy boards up the windows and uses effects like thunder, lightning, fog, strobe lighting and music to enhance the presentation.

"For myself, it’s an accomplishment to have an idea and then replicate it to a finished product on the lawn," says Murphy. "But the biggest thing for me is seeing the community enjoying it. Everything is viewable from the front of the house. You don’t even need to get out of your car!"

LOCATION 2526 Oceanside Road, Oceanside

SHIP WRECK COVE

For Richard Marte, Halloween starts at the end of August when he begins building his pirate-themed display for October at his Massapequa home.

For Richard Marte Halloween starts at the end of August when he begins building his pirate-themed display for October at his Massapequa home.

"I fell in love with the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ movies and I’m a big fan of skeletons," says Marte, 62. "My house is geared toward little kids. It’s not too scary, nothing bloody. It’s kind of like the Disney ride."

Marte utilizes this whole front yard and driveway including a pirate tavern and jail cell plus a 12-foot long and 8-feet high sinking ship on the lawn with a pier. Every year Marte and his brother Robert Marte and friend Tom Ciano dress up as characters from the "Pirates" films on four different dates.

"I put on a little show. I jump on the pier and we act like pirates," says Marte. "We have people taking photos and more come every weekend as word spreads."

This year Marte has built his own special effect for the ship.

"I have the Kraken, which is a mythological sea creature. There will be tentacles that wrap around the ship," he says. "Entertaining the neighborhood kids makes me happy."

LOCATION 30 William Road, Massapequa

David J. Criblez is a reporter for Newsday's exploreLI, covering entertainment-related events from local music to stand-up comedy to festivals.

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