Bewitched Local Homes Bring Frights and Delights
October 26, 2024
• In the weeks preceding Halloween, Needham residents find community and celebrate the scary and silly through elaborate outdoor displays.
Some dress up in costume, some hand out candy and some adorn their porches with a pumpkin or scarecrow. But others take Halloween very seriously, and their enthusiasm takes shape in their extensive and impressive decorations.
Needham Local spoke with four families who find inspiration in the holiday and make it their own.
SKELETON ANTICS
In the final hours of September, hidden in the shadows, the Rockwoods moved quickly around their front yard, setting up a surprise for passers-by. But most of their neighbors likely knew what they’d find outside the family’s Great Plain Avenue home the following morning.
For the month of October, the Rockwoods welcome two members to their family: a set of poseable skeletons who play Jenga, go surfing, read the morning paper and get into other hijinks. Skeletons — they’re just like us!
The tradition started in 2022 as an effort to bring joy into her three sons’ lives, mom Jill Rockwood said, but the antics soon grabbed the attention of the neighborhood, which has now come to expect a new skeleton scene each morning.
“Over the course of a few days, we started moving them around, and the neighborhood started noticing, and so then it continued,” Jill Rockwood said. “I’ve always loved Halloween… For me, it’s the creative part. You can be anybody you want to be for one night, and nobody can say anything about it.”
For their grand entrance this year, the skeletons rose from the ground and a coffin — and then subsequently replanted the grass they dug up. The skeletons also helped the Rockwoods fix a shutter on their house last October, though Todd Rockwood deserves most of the credit.
And for those following the skeletons’ storyline: after their engagement and wedding last year, the happy skeleton couple recently announced they’re expecting a skeleton baby.
The family’s three sons seem to prefer the more action-oriented skeleton activities, including a jousting scene and axe-throwing.
On Halloween, the family dresses up together in a group costume, portraying the Ghostbusters, pirates, “Harry Potter” characters and more. This year, they’re going as characters from the movie “The Nightmare Before Christmas.”
Despite their home’s prime location, Todd Rockwood said they previously didn’t get many trick-or-treaters, but the skeletons seem to have boosted their visibility.
“Before the skeletons, we didn’t get any trick-or-treaters,” he said. “We did the skeletons last year. We left my dad here to see if there are any trick-or-treaters, and sure enough, the whole town came.”
While sometimes exhausting, the daily skeleton shenanigans persist.
“The skeletons, so far, are here to stay,” Jill Rockwood said.
A HAUNTED HOUSE — FOR A CAUSE
From the outside, the elaborate Halloween decorations at 10 Great Plain Terrace appear pretty kid-friendly. Some spooky lights, skeletons, and tombstones cover their property and entice trick-or-treaters and onlookers to approach.
But for the real thrill-seekers and horror lovers, the Droney family will deliver some real Halloween frights in their own makeshift haunted house.
Inspired by scenes from the cult ’70s film “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” the PG-13 walk-through experience starts at a gas station, and participants end up in the cannibal’s lair before escaping. Fair warning: jump scares, chainsaws and lots of human limbs! The haunted house will run Saturday from 6 to 8 p.m.
Mike Droney estimates about 1,000 people stopped by the house last year, some of whom offered them money or gifts as a thank-you for their efforts. That, plus the family’s love of Halloween, motivated them to set up the haunted house. Proceeds from the haunted house and a bake sale will benefit the Needham Community Council.
“It’s for a good cause, and I think it’s coming out great,” Mike Droney said. “I think you’ll enjoy it. Then you have another horrible movie to add to your watchlist before Halloween.”
Before moving to Needham, where Mike Droney grew up, he and Christine lived in Orlando, where their neighborhood went big with holiday decorations. That competitive spirit carried over to their current home, where their festive displays become more elaborate each year.
Their front yard is themed around the Haunted Mansion, which is Christine Droney’s favorite ride at Disney World. Iconic characters from the ride make an appearance, including Madame Leota in her crystal ball, a horseless carriage and the axe-wielding bride.
Her teenage sons, however, lean away from the fantastical and more toward the terrifying. A recent trip to Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios — which includes haunted walk-through attractions — led to the family’s own DIY version.
Her 16-year-old son Ryan — who appeared in a Leatherface mask during this interview — is at the helm of the operation.
“After years and years of watching horror films, he really took it by the horns,” Christine Droney said of Ryan.
The family recruited high school volunteers, as well as friends, to act in the haunted house alongside them. The Rockwoods, who live just a couple doors down, plan to play feature roles.
That’s part of what Christine loves about the season.
“It’s just everybody coming together and mingling around,” she said, “and you walk down the street and you say hi to friends that you might not have seen in a while. Everybody’s out and about.”
ANIMATRONICS & INFLATABLES GALORE
Joe Sorrentino’s obsession with Halloween began 15 years ago, when he first set an inflatable cat outside his home for the holiday.
In the years since, the cat has found company in a skeleton rock band, a vampire-skeleton hybrid, a giant spider and other spooky figures. It’s clearly an expensive hobby, but one fueled by his love for the season and the positive feedback from the community.
“I have to [limit my spending] or my wife will kill me,” said Sorrentino, who lives at 183 Central Ave. “We went a little crazy this time. Home Depot really upped their game this year.”
Some of Sorrentino’s decorations have been enhanced by his own creativity — his inflatable dragon can “breathe” smoke via a fog machine Sorrentino runs up its neck, and a prop cemetery along his home includes a smoke machine, which he gerryrigged so fog settles low over the ground. Other features are repurposed or held together by duct tape and a dream.
Flanking his front steps are “the pumpkin twins” who talk to trick-or-treaters, and caution tape runs up the railing. Before ringing the doorbell, a gory lenticular Mona Lisa will greet the kids.
Sorrentino sectioned off the animatronics on his lawn by theme: the skeleton band in one space, a trio of skeletons in another, a group of witches and, central to his home, characters from Star Wars.
Before buying an official Darth Vader figure this year, Sorrentino made one himself out of a PVC skeleton, lightsaber and costume. His stormtrooper — with a prop gun he added — is also a new addition this year. The Yoda animatronic made his debut last Halloween, and the entire scene is complete with an R2D2 aboard an inflatable x-wing star fighter.
Luckily, the Star Wars area can bleed into the Christmas season.
“It takes a lot of time to set everything up,” he said, “so if there’s something I don’t have to put away, that’s a good thing.”
A complex network of wires keeps everything in check, and Sorrentino has all the moving parts on timers set from dusk to dawn. His inflatables, however, are up all day.
“That’s gonna kill me a little bit on the electric bill,” he said, “but only for a couple more days.”
Although effortful, decorating each Halloween is a feel-good for Sorrentino.
“It’s a win-win situation, because the town loves it, I love it. Everybody’s happy,” he said. “It motivates me every year to keep going.”
CHANEL THE PINK SKELETON
Besides the gravestones, skulls, spiders and ghosts, many front lawns are now decorated with 12-foot skeletons, thanks, in part, to Home Depot. At Sarah Friedberg’s house, however, “Skelly” underwent a colorful, sparkly makeover.
Her Fairfield Avenue home is also home to Chanel, a giant pink skeleton covered in hundreds of thousands of reflective tiles.
The idea for the project derived from a TikTok post, wherein another Halloween decorator glued mirror tiles to a skeleton. Given how common the tall skeletons now are, Friedberg decided to upgrade hers with a cute twist.
Chanel — or Chanelly the Skelly, if you will — stands out amongst the crowd, and her unique appearance inspired Friedberg to conceive an entire backstory for the skeleton. She takes to Facebook to share short chapters of Chanel’s journey leading up to Halloween.
“I came up with a story about her and how when she was growing up, she did not feel accepted because she was very different being pink and sparkly,” Friedberg said, “and how currently, she’s on a journey to find an accepting place where she will be appreciated for who she is.”
Chanel is accompanied by a giant skeleton dog named Hermes and a skeleton horse named Dior — sensing the theme?
The entire experience has been “community-building,” Friedberg said — kids and adults have stopped by to visit Chanel, and Friedberg set out candy and Pokemon cards for kids to take before the official trick-or-treating begins. Friedberg also invites any kids, particularly those overwhelmed by Halloween night, to stop by for a trial run at her home or simply to trick-or-treat early.
Apart from Chanel, who really steals the show, Friedberg set up inflatable tentacles coming out of her second-story windows, as well as a fog machine cauldron and other skeletons. She also set out her dead Christmas trees, recycling them for another seasonal display.
Up and down the street, her neighbors are also getting into the spirit, and her three children have enjoyed reveling in the spooky season.
“There’s that funny joke, like, once your neighbor mows their lawn, you have 24 hours to respond,” Friedberg said. “As soon as somebody put up one small decoration, we all started putting them up all at the same time, so it’s really fun.”
