Click on the link to visit The Gazette's Halloween Decoration Map - StAlbertToday.ca
Nearly 15 years ago Vincent Sinclair made a scarecrow at Prairie Gardens and now he’s known around the neighbourhood as "that guy who does the Halloween thing."
“So, when I did [the scarecrows], I put them in my yard — I had three guys. And then I just started buying stuff,” he said, standing in front of an elaborate display of skeletons and scary things.
St. Albert has no shortage of spooktacular houses to see this year and the people behind the de-frightful displays have a variety of reasons they chose to decorate.
Sinclair has a creative background, which has allowed him to explore his creative fun side.
He talked about doing a hockey theme for four years and this year he pulled all the punches to get ‘er done.
“What better thing to do than [a] cool hockey one, right? And then spook it up,” he said.
There are eight skeleton players on the rink in his yard at 3 Addison Crescent, each with their own jersey and spooky name.
Sinclair’s favourite?
“Of course, it's McGraved. Because he's the one, obviously, shooting the puck in the net,” he said.
A few houses away, at 21 Attwood Drive, Yvonne and her children Korah and AJ Bosiak have what seems to be a serious spider problem.
Cobwebs cover the yard, and a giant spider sits above the door.
Halloween is a big deal in the Bosiak household, as it is Yvonne’s birthday.
“My birthday is on Halloween so [the decorations] used to always be inside for Halloween parties. And then the kids got older, and I stopped having parties,” she said.
The Bosiak’s have been decorating their yard for the last five years. Yvonne said, although she was tired this year and did not want to decorate, her kids made her do it.
“And this one,” Yvonne points to Korah, “Was like, ‘The kids depend on you.’ And it’s so true. All the neighbours depend on it. Like they really do … that's why we do it. I don't want to do it anymore. It's so much work, but it is worth it once it’s done.”
Mother-daughter duo Natasha and Christa Balaski, only started decorating their house at 57 Forest Drive last year, but this year Natasha went all out.
“I started doing this because I wanted to, but then realized how much everyone else enjoyed it. Why not go all out?”
The yard is covered in creepy dolls and clowns that move and speak.
While the Balaskis were out decorating, two neighbour girls stopped by to comment on their yard.
“They're just like, ‘Your house was too scary. We didn't want to come last year.’ And then they run away. They come back and they're like, ‘Can you plug everything in so we can practice?’ It was so cute,” Natasha laughed.
Natasha said it was her mom who started her on Halloween.
“The first horror movie I ever saw was Chucky [Child's Play]. I was like eight years old. Oh my gosh … I remember all of my toys and dolls all went into my mom's room that night. Like there was not a single one in my room that night,” she said.
Marlene Serediuk lives next door to the Balaskis. She sees people drive by and take photos of the house and said the excitement, along with some of the decorations, has spilled over to her yard.
Last year Serediuk only had around 10 trick-or-treaters compared to the Balaskis' 100 trick-or-treaters because her house wasn’t decorated.
That problem has been solved, however. Natasha decorated Serediuk’s house this year, too.
Crystal L. and Cameron E. (who both wanted to leave their last names anonymous) of Sturgeon Point Villas also went all out with decorating last year.
“We did it because of COVID. We thought no one could go trick-or-treating. So that was our whole thing. Everyone in the building knows us, knows we're doing this,” Crystal said.
Halloween is Cameron’s favourite holiday. The decorations for the apartment are visible from the river-side path.
Residential units aren’t the only places getting in on the Halloween fun.
Haunted Stroll/Pumpkin Parade Oct. 29
The Ronald Harvey School Developmental Society is hosting a Haunted Garden Stroll and Pumpkin Parade in the school garden on Oct. 29. The event will be small, and child friendly from 4:30 to 6 p.m. and it will get scary after dark. Tickets for the timed event can be found on Eventbrite for $20.
