The end of October means many things; not only does every food and beverage outlet offer pumpkin spice variants regardless of whether you actually want it, but the leaves change color, the nights get longer and of course, Halloween arrives.
Celebrated for countless centuries and likely influenced by Celtic harvest festivals, today, in modern culture the day set aside to remember the dearly departed tends to be more about the opportunity to be creative. Some opt for costumes, cosplay or fancy dress that can be worn while trick or treating, others build lavish displays with gravestones, ghosts, ghouls and goblins in the front yard. And residents of Santa Monica offer impressive examples of both year after year.
A casual saunter around the residential neighborhoods of our fair city will reveal many epic instances of alarming arrangements, from skeletons to giant spiders and dismembered zombies to evil, animatronic children wielding blood-soaked kitchen knives.
That said, there is one little corner of the city that seems to out-perform any other residential neighborhood in quite spectacular fashion and that’s between Montana Ave and San Vicente Blvd, between 14th and 26th Streets.
One resident, Sara of Pacific Street. Told the Daily Press that this was her family’s first Halloween since moving to Santa Monica from Culver City. "I have two little ones, aged two and five, so Halloween will be about fun, bouncy inflatables this year, rather than anything too scary," Sara said, adding that she would be taking her own children trick or treating this year around the Sunset Park neighborhood.
Cathy, from 16th Street, almost always has an impressive bare boned-themed display and this year is no exception. She says that every year, members of the family travel down to Mexico with their trusted home help to buy elaborate decorations and hundreds of dollars worth of candy to give out to kids who trick or treat around the Montana neighborhood. But this year, Juan Carlos Mendez suffered a serious stroke and despite making an excellent recovery, he was unable to complete the display himself, something Cathy says that he takes tremendous pride in.
"We’re very much hoping he will be well enough to come along to the Halloween party we have inside the house, so he can enjoy the atmosphere and celebration," Cathy said, "Usually, he’s the one who plans and builds the amazing displays outside the house, so we hope he likes what we’ve done."
The most magnificent monument to mortality however, is on Georgina Ave and belongs to the masters of Montana macabre, Ken and Katrina. The sidewalk is adorned with skeletons seemingly scurrying up and down and around the nearby trees and signposts and that’s before you even get to gaze upon the house itself.
It’s already so big that thousands of people attempt to enter the private party that the husband and wife team hold every Halloween. In years past, they’ve had to hire security guards and use a wristband entry system. Even former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has been known to stop by.
Both Katrina and Ken are very proud of the fact that they create the displays themselves without using any professional party display designers. They even have a podcast called Crazy Amazing Humans that tells the entire origin story of this spectacular and seldom heard-of offering on the altar of the undead.
In years past, the Santa Monica Police Department has closed a number of roads around this area to ensure the safety of candy-consuming, sugar-rushing children swarming about. However, this year, there are no permitted street closures scheduled to take place. Nonetheless, the Police Department encourages everyone to have a fun and safe holiday by following a few simple safety tips: walk safely and cross at designated crosswalks and traffic signals and crosswalks; put electronic devices away while walking; provide adult supervision at all times for the youngest of your group and perhaps most importantly, drivers need to slow down, particularly in residential areas because children are often erratic.
scott.snowden@smdp.com
