Rockport’s permit page lists an Outdoor Display Permit but does not say whether it applies to temporary displays at private homes. At Main and High streets, Ken Knowles’s nearly 20-foot Skull Shaker has become a Halloween landmark: a stationary roller-coaster scene he built for about $300, according to The Boston Globe.
“The coaster is really a sculpture. It doesn’t move, twist, or turn,” Knowles told The Boston Globe. The paper measured the structure at 18 by 20 feet and reported that six skeletons ride in its cars, with a clown named Pingus at the controls and purple and green strobe lights illuminating the scene. The Gloucester Times describes it as a two-story coaster built for a family of skeletons. The installation stands on a prominent corner entering town.
A Low-Cost, Hands-On Build
Knowles sketched the design in June and started construction in the yard the next month, the Globe reported. He and Ryan Davis assembled it in about five days, using inexpensive materials including luan, a plywood substitute. The Knowleses also reuse pieces from earlier displays to keep costs down. For the skeleton family’s elaborate hairdos, the Globe reported, they used super glue and chicken wire.
What Rockport’s Permit Page Says
The Town of Rockport’s Licensing and Permits page lists an Outdoor Display Permit among its applications, but it does not say whether the permit applies to temporary displays at private homes or identify safety rules for them.
Knowles, 58, is a lifelong Rockport resident and a landscape and marine life oil painter. The Globe reports that he credits his wife, Meg, with most of the ideas for their displays, which have grown more elaborate over time. The installation now blocks the couple’s front door, so Halloween visitors have to enter through the back. “You come into town, you’re gonna see my house,” Knowles said.
A Seasonal Tradition, With a New Theme Each Year
The Knowleses have decorated the outside of their home every year since moving in during the 1990s, the Globe reported. Last year, a life-sized recreation of Ozzy Osbourne’s throne anchored a rock-history theme. Knowles has hinted that next year’s display will draw on something important to Gloucester, but has not said what.
Elaborate Halloween yard displays are not unique to Rockport. In 2021, the Globe reported that Tewksbury residents Steve and Samantha Sardella built “A Nightmare on Carter Street,” featuring a 13-minute Halloween video projected onto their house. That year, Wilmington’s Maureen Lawson and Tim MacLean staged “The Ghoulgenheim,” with a skeleton enjoying a spa moment. The same Globe report cited a National Retail Federation survey projecting that spending on Halloween decorations would reach $3.17 billion in 2021, up from $2.59 billion the year before. Overall Halloween spending was projected at $10.4 billion, with 52 percent of Americans planning to decorate.
Halloween decorating in the national picture
The 2021 figure cited above was a projection that 52 percent of Americans planned to decorate; according to the National Retail Federation’s 2026 survey, 42 percent of consumers planned to decorate their home or yard. The figures are phrased differently and alone do not establish a long-term trend; the 2026 national result also does not show local participation.
For Knowles, the display is also a way to bring people together. “When you get involved with your community, it makes a difference,” he said, adding that he hopes it inspires other people who like to decorate. The Skull Shaker will remain up only briefly after Halloween before the Knowleses turn to winter holiday decorations, according to the Globe.
