The end of October signifies many things; not only does everything suddenly get a pumpkin spice variant regardless of whether you want it, but the leaves change color, the nights get longer and of course, Halloween descends upon us.
Celebrated for countless centuries and possibly influenced by Celtic harvest festivals, today, in modern culture the day set aside to remember the faithfully departed tends to be more about having the chance to be creative. Whether it’s costumes, cosplay or fancy dress that can be worn while trick or treating or building a lavish display with gravestones, ghosts, ghouls and goblins in the front yard. And residents of Santa Monica offer impressive examples of the latter, year after year.
A leisurely cruise 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, Kimberly of 16th Street, told the Daily Press how this was just her second year participating in the annual appreciation of all-things afterlife. "We started with the skeletons last year, and then decided to beef it up even more. Our hope every year is to build and add a little bit, but we were told when we moved in that we lived on Halloween Street," she laughs.
She says that the giant 15-ft skeleton in their front garden was originally animatronic, which is a mildly terrifying thought. But tragically, the mechanism has developed a fault, which has yet to be fixed. However, that won’t stop the hordes of candy-obsessed children.
"Even though I bought over 2,500 candy bars last year, but [my husband and I] realized that won’t be enough, so this year we filled four shopping carts with candy bars," Kimberely said, adding, "It was like a production line out of the front door, giving out all that candy. So, we have friends over and enjoy ourselves the night before usually, and then spend Halloween itself treating the kids."
Cathy, also from 16th Street, also has an impressive bare boned-themed display, but her fleshless frames are toasting marshmallows in the front garden. "We bought over a thousand dollars worth of candy and people come from all over Santa Monica to this section of the city each and every Halloween. There are literally buses full of kids that arrive here throughout the evening."
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.
"This is our 27th year," said Katrina, adding, "Last year, we hired 18 actors that were both inside and outside as we have a very big party in the backyard. And we get to raise money for local schools and the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and it’s really about having a big get-together for everyone in the community."
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 and episode 32 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 (SMPD) 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, SMPD 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.
