PRINCETON, W.Va. (AP) — A family home on Park Avenue in Princeton goes all out in Halloween decorations with a display of several full body mannequin horror icons, and they have been doing it since they first moved to their home six years ago.
Their decorations include characters such as Leatherface, Pennywise, Beetlejuice, Pinhead from the movie Hellraiser, Freddy Krueger, and Jason just to name a few, and the really unique thing is how the collection of these characters started.
“I basically had a 3-year-old daughter who wanted an “It” (Pennywise) for her bedroom,” said Kurt Rice, owner of the Princeton home. “That’s where it all started.”
Though his daughter is 12 years old now and has grown out of her horror fan phase, the family has continued the tradition of collecting a new character every year with this year’s being Beetlejuice.
“It’s just what we’ve done since we’ve lived here, and it’s really fun for us,” said Rice.
The family doesn’t set a budget for their displays because they collect what they need all year around.
“We shop thrift stores all year round,” said Rice. “Most of the costumes come from thrift stores, all their pants and boots, and clothing for the most part, though some of them are store bought.”
The money spent on the characters is not in vain as they keep them displayed in their house all year.
“We have a hot tub room that’s like a sunroom at the back of the house, and they just kind of hang out in there during the rest of the year,” said Rice.
He also said that it’s definitely a funny sight to see guest reactions to seeing them in that room during the year because they don’t expect to see that just in their house.
Rice said the family really enjoys the attention that the decorations bring to their house because they like knowing that they are doing something that the whole community can enjoy.
“We have people stop and look at the decorations all the time,” said Rice. “I would say that we’re the most photographed house in Princeton.”
He also said that Halloween night tends to be pretty busy for them and that they go through lots of candy throughout the night.
“Last year I’d say we had about 200 kids come by,” he said.
Rice added that they usually stock up on candy, so they know they won’t run out on Halloween night; although, this year they will be doing something a little different.
“This year though, we’re doing the little jug drinks instead of candy,” he said. “We’ve got two skeletons holding a coffin, and that will be in the driveway full of drinks.”
Rice said that his family decided that the drinks would be something fun and different for them to do, and it could give the kids an opportunity to get some refreshments during their walks throughout the night.
Rice said the family is not horror super-fans, but they like the tradition that they’ve created in getting the decorations .
“We do it more for the entertainment value of it, and we and the kids love it,” he said. “We also slow the speed limit down on Park Avenue quite a bit with it, so that’s a pretty good thing too.”
The family is still looking for ideas for next year’s new addition, but they have all year to think about it.
Rice finished by saying that he hopes people enjoy their Halloween decorations and to come by during Christmas as well because they have around 50 inflatable decorations for that holiday too.