A free, hand-built haunted house on Moore Street in East Boston has exploded in popularity this Halloween season, racking up hundreds of thousands of views online and pulling in crowds far beyond its usual few hundred visitors. Jimmy Magnasco, the newlywed homeowner behind the display known as Nightmare on Moore Street, completely transformed his home's exterior for the first time this year, and the results have gone viral on TikTok and Instagram.
Magnasco built almost the entire set himself, buying materials from Home Depot and spending months planning, painting, carving and constructing the pieces, according to MassLive. The display, located at 35 Moore St. in East Boston, features an eerie horse-riding skeleton, devilish animatronic characters and a giant jack-o-lantern with shifting expressions. It is open from 5 to 11 p.m. nightly, and Magnasco plans to add more pieces before Halloween arrives.
From a Few Hundred Visitors to Thousands
In past years, the crowds were modest by comparison. Magnasco told Boston 25 News, “We typically get 300-400 people that come by every year,” describing the annual effort as a family affair that takes the whole month of October to pull off. This year is different. Magnasco initially expected roughly 2,000 visitors for Halloween night, per MassLive, and now expects an even larger turnout given the display's online reach.
In a 2024 interview, Magnasco told the same station, “This year is the most we've ever done, so we're hoping to have a lot more people visit,” referring to the 2024 display. Magnasco and his family turned the home into a free Halloween attraction, and on Halloween itself the display becomes a full walk-through haunted house with live actors, the MassLive report notes.
A Four-Year Tradition Rooted in Family
This marks the fourth consecutive year Magnasco has built out the display, according to Caught in Eastie, which describes this year's setup as including inflatables, light installations, crawling spiders and singing pumpkins. Past themes have varied: the display featured an extraterrestrial motif in 2023, and last year's version included a giant jack-o-lantern. Magnasco has said simply that everyone involved has so much fun putting it together each October.
The attraction has also earned recognition beyond East Boston. Mommy Poppins named Nightmare on Moore Street its pick for Boston's best display for serious scares in a 2026 Halloween guide, calling it an elaborate home haunt known for its custom-built decorations and effects. The guide describes this year's promise of a free walkthrough with live actors, animatronics, projections and photo opportunities, and lists Moore Street itself as the street to see in East Boston this season.
Getting There and Giving Back
With crowds expected to swell well past prior years, logistics matter. Street parking near the display is tight, and MassLive reports that visitors are encouraged to take the Blue Line to Wood Island and walk from there.
The display remains free to attend, though visitors who want to support the project can make a donation, per MassLive's reporting. As the display's online following continues to grow, Magnasco's backyard-engineering approach, including hand-building most of the set and painting and carving pieces, has become part of its appeal, turning a modest neighborhood tradition into one of the city's most talked-about Halloween stops.
