'I just love them.' Stark County residents decorate for the Halloween season
Ryan Downey is like most Americans. He loves to decorate for Halloween.
A recent survey by Lombardo Homes found that 79% of U.S. residents say they will put up decorations for Halloween and spend on average $87 to do so. Consumers are expected to spend a record $12.2 billion this year on Halloween, covering everything from decorations to costumes to candy, according to the National Retail Federation.
Downey, 15, choreographs a mammoth display — called, "Ryan Downey's Haunted Acre" — in the yard of his parents' home in Jackson Township. The display is visible on Strausser Street NW near High Mill and it has more than 150 Halloween inflatables.
"Every day, I have people slowing down, or stopping, or pulling into the neighbor's yard to take pictures," he said.
There are small inflatables, less two feet, and giant ones, 18 to 20 feet tall. The display includes characters from the movies, "The Nightmare Before Christmas" and "Ghostbusters." He also has a giant Frankenstein, a Haunted House and a spooky carriage.
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"I've never really had a definitive answer for why I love them. I just love them," Downey said.
He does know when it started. That was age 4. His parents bought some inflatables for Christmas and he was hooked.
Ever since, Downey and his parents have built up his collection, spending several thousands for Halloween and other holidays. He also has inflatables for Christmas, Easter and Fourth of July. He said he plans to add Valentine's Day in 2024, and St. Patrick's Day in 2025.
"This was my hobby," Downey said. "Then, in 2019, I started getting in contact with people who actually make this a tradition for them to drive by."
He recently made the display walkable with a lit path, and offers free tours on select dates. The next tours are 8 to 10:30 p.m. Oct. 28, and 7 to 10 p.m. Oct. 29 in the 10000 block of Strausser Street NW. Parking is limited.
The family has installed cameras for security purposes.
Spooky fun at the Tudor Rose
Many Stark County residents have an affection for Halloween decorations, like Downey.
Peppered in neighborhoods are pumpkins, graveyard scenes, spiders, ghosts, skeletons and monsters. Some are simple designs. Others are intricate, conveying a story. Still others are either gory or tastefully macabre.
The Tudor Rose estate in Canton mixes graveyards and skeletons with an old-timey circus. In the backyard and inside the mansion, David and Christine McFadden, with daughter Alexandria, 28, have built an elaborate big top circus display for a private party. The front yard has graves and skeletons.
Retired military, the McFaddens have owned the historic Ridgewood estate on Market Avenue N since 2019. They also have a 26-year-old son Nicholas. The couple said they love to decorate for Halloween because they can be creative with it and the theme changes annually.
"We joke that some people have antique cars," David McFadden, 57, said. "We have an antique house as our hobby."
It started 12 years ago, while they were living in Virginia in a neighborhood that took its Halloween seriously. Most homes there decorated. Natives of the Stark County area, the McFaddens made the choice to move back home, bought the Tudor Rose, and brought their Halloween spirit with them.
"We enjoy it," David McFadden said. "It's a great excuse to get family and friends together. We all grew up going to Halloween parties, dressing up. Why not do it as adults?"
They invite neighbors and people they meet in the community to the party, which is not a public event.
"It's always been an important part of bonding for us with our new neighborhood to get to know them," said Christine McFadden, 54.
Reach Benjamin Duer at 330-580-8567 or ben.duer@cantonrep.com. On X (formerly Twitter): @bduerREP
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Ryan Downey celebrates Halloween with 150 inflatables in Jackson Twp.
