Festive fright

Don and Lisa Billips have been decorating their Church Street yard and home for Halloween every year since they moved in about a decade ago. 

Each year, their decorations become more and more intricate, with more props, bigger characters and better ideas. Now, Don said on the afternoon of Oct. 22, “We know how to do this.” 

Also each year, the Billips family establishes a central theme or focal point for their decorations and builds around that theme. This year, Don said they found two giant, vicious-looking pit bull dog props and installed them to guard the front door. The dogs are held by the Grim Reaper, who stands atop the home with two chainlink leashes attached to the red-eyed canine guards. 

Tombstones, skeletons of all sizes, spiders and webs, and many other props combine in the Billips yard to create a spooky Halloween scene. Ghosts look like they are attempting to escape the home’s front window and skeletons hang in the tree branches that hover over the roof. 

At night, they turn on fog machines, sound effects and lights to add to the scene and bring attention to specific installations. 

The display has become big enough over the years that the Billips’ neighbors have offered space in their yards to accommodate the festive growth. 

“I’m a big kid at heart,” Don Billips said when asked why they pursue such an undertaking. They put an equal amount of effort into decorating their home for Christmas, he added. 

Billips added that his wife, Lisa, is possibly even more enthusiastic about the annual decorations than he is. 

Together, they enjoy bringing the community together through their festive home, welcoming kids and families to stop by and take a closer look at the decorations. On Halloween night, Oct. 31, they’re expecting significant trick-or-treating and sightseeing traffic. 

“We love it,” Don Billips added.