Students house the Halloween spirit

Thursday, October 18, 2007

A black Ford Explorer slowed to a stop at the intersection of 12th and Tennessee streets. European techno blared out the windows, but the passengers weren’t focused on the music or the road.

Their attention shifted to the glimmering orange light illuminating from the house on their right,“The Halloween House”.

Photo by Katherine Loeck

Katherine Moore and Kacie McClusky, Overland Park sophomores, don't have Halloween costumes picked out yet, but their house at 308 W. 12th St. is ready for trick-or-treating. "If they come I'll have candy, just in case," McClusky said.

“Whoooo,” a girl yelled from the car. “That’s so cool.”

Kacie McClusky and Katherine Moore, Overland Park sophomores, showed their love for Halloween by decking out their house with $300 worth of Halloween decorations.

So what causes the orange glimmer?

Thirteen light-up jack-o’-lanterns sit on top of McClusky and Moore’s roof in the middle of 22 strands of orange lights. On the deck below the roof, a spider web complete with a fake scary spider and a light-up Happy Halloween sign complements an axe standing next to a door covered with bloody palm prints.

But the web, lights and jack-o’-lanterns aren’t the main attractions. That would be the 8-foot-tall inflatable grim reaper that holds its hand out like it’s waving to the neighborhood.

“Halloween rules,” McClusky said. “I always thought of Halloween as being with your friends and just a big party. You can go all out.”

The students’ decorating plans started when Moore took a trip down the Halloween aisle of a store. She returned home with 13 fake jack-o’-lanterns and an idea to turn their house into Halloween heaven.

By the end of September, Moore and McClusky had spent around $300 on Halloween decorations. They searched for supplies at several locations - Target, Michael’s, JoAnn’s and Wal-Mart.

“We pretty much figured we’re in college, and we live in a pink and yellow house,” McClusky said. “When we’re adults in suburbs, everyone will be all conservative, and we’d never be able to do this. So we thought, ‘Why not now? Let’s have fun.’”

The neighbors are having fun, too. People have yelled to them about their “awesome decorations” and applauded from their cars. One time, a family stood in front of their house and stared at the decorations.

“They’re fun,” said next-door neighbor Kyle Evans. “They made Halloween the new Christmas.”

And this is just year one. Moore and McClusky have big plans for the future. They want to decorate for other holidays such as Christmas, St. Patrick’s Day and Easter.

Of course, Halloween will still be their priority.

“It’s just going to get more excessive as the years go by,” Moore said.

Edited by Kaitlyn Syring

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