For more than 20 years, a Halloween display at a home on Lakeside Avenue in Bloomfield has drawn thousands of visitors in the two weeks before Halloween, with the elaborate haunted attraction stretching from the side yard to the back of the property pulling in a few hundred people on a typical night. This year, creator James Joanow says the tradition has come with a darker side: anonymous complaints to police about crowds and noise, and what he believes was an act of vandalism that left his own car with a flat tire.
Two Decades of Fog Machines and Fright
The display, created by Joanow with the help of friends and volunteers, has grown into a neighborhood institution, according to ABC7 New York. It includes animated displays, themed sets and a catacombs attraction that Joanow said captivates younger visitors because they encounter things not usually seen at other decoration sites. Per the Independent Press, the setup involves more than 200 figures, 20 to 30 animatronics, a dozen fog machines, and an array of lights and speakers meant to immerse walkers in the scene.
Joanow plans the display in late July and keeps decorating right up through Halloween night, the same account notes. That long runway lets him and his volunteer crew build out the sprawling attraction piece by piece over several months before crowds start showing up each October.
Complaints, a Flat Tire, and an Ordinance Debate
Not everyone in the neighborhood is thrilled with the foot traffic. Joanow told the station that officers informed him of a dozen anonymous complaints about too many people walking around and the noise at the site, even as he said the two officers who came to the property were respectful during the visit. He also said the display runs from 6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m., and that staying open until 10 is simply what the local ordinance allows.
Joanow said the trouble escalated beyond phone calls to police: someone put nails in his driveway, and his own car rolled over them and got a flat tire. The display is set to remain open through Halloween night, after which Joanow said he usually starts dismantling it around 11 p.m. and keeps working until 3 or 4 a.m. the next morning.
Not the Only Haunt Under Pressure
Bloomfield's long-running haunt is hardly the only backyard spectacle testing the patience of neighbors and local officials this fall. In Clifton, the creator of a popular display that had run for 25 years announced he was taking it down ahead of Halloween this year after receiving two city code violations, according to CBS News New York. City Manager Gary DeMarzo told NorthJersey.com that the city prohibits unauthorized objects in the public right-of-way, including the grassy strip between the sidewalk and curb, and a large portion of that display had already been dismantled by the morning of Oct. 27, though decorations remained on the property. The display's creator, Gangi, said the cornstalks in question were meant to act as a barrier keeping children away from busy roads.
Elsewhere, the mood around home haunts is far friendlier. In East Boston, Jimmy and Anna Magnasco have spent four years building out “Nightmare on Moore Street,” a Dracula-inspired display at their home that now features a giant pumpkin, moving and noise-making spooky creatures, fog, lights and an elaborate castle facade, according to Boston.com. That display has drawn visitors from as far as New Hampshire and Salem, with Instagram and TikTok posts about the castle racking up roughly 70,000 combined views.
Back in Bloomfield, Joanow's display remains a fixture of the season despite the friction. Whether the balance between beloved local tradition and neighborhood frustration holds for another year may depend on how the complaints Joanow describes are handled once the fog machines finally go quiet after Halloween night.
