Halloween knows no bounds — other than storage space — for these Savannah families looking to scare and delight
Written by ANDREA GOTO
Photography by ROBIN ELISE MAAYA
NOT EVERYTHING WAS BETTER in the ’70s and ’80s — we had to get up to change the TV channel, and phones were tethered to walls — but Halloween most certainly was. Sugar-seeking costumed kids ran wild through the neighborhoods, filling their pillowcases with candy. Parents weren’t concerned about kidnappers, nor did they inspect our candy before consumption, and yet, most of us managed to survive.
Not all is lost, however, because in some select corners of Savannah, the spirit of Halloween past lives on like never before. It’s a labor of love for these festive families, requiring ingenuity, time, effort — and a whole lot of storage space.
This Town is Our Town
The Olde Towne neighborhood on Wilmington Island has built a legacy around Halloween, welcoming hordes of kids to their decorated doorsteps each year. And central to that celebration is what’s lovingly known as “The Hell House.”
“I’m a 1970s Halloween kid who grew up in California,” says Susan Mason, who, along with her husband, Don, are proprietors of The Hell House. “We went to a party in Olde Towne and they said Halloween here is like being in the 1970s. That’s when we realized we had to move here.”
The first five years, the Masons escorted their daughter, Sam, as she and her friends trick-or-treated in the neighborhood, but at 13, Sam outgrew going door-to-door and suggested they instead focus on going all out with decorating.
Most of the year, The Hell House sits unassuming on a circle of quaint houses with tidy yards. But come September, it begins to transform into a devil’s playground of sorts: skeletons hanging from trees and crawling out of the ground, an oversized throne and archway inlaid with skulls and corpses skewered on stakes. Then, on Halloween, the real magic happens when Don, dressed as Satan, eerily lights the yard, plugs in the hologram and industrial fog machines, and cranks the heavy metal music, indicating that The Hell House is officially open.
The Masons clearly aimed to entertain the teenagers and adults with their real-life zombies and gargoyles, a goat man on stilts and eardrum bursting music, but they say most of the little kids love it just as much. Many even pose for pictures with Satan on his throne.
“The kids from the neighborhood come by the whole month of October as I’m working on the house,” Don says. “I’ll let them sit on the throne and show them that it isn’t real.” He brings his Satan mask out for the kids to see and touch it. “Some kids even help build stuff,” he adds.
Don, a mechanical engineer at Gulfstream, makes nearly all of the props, while Susan sews the costumes and applies the makeup. “I really enjoy the people who come up and want to take pictures,” Don says. “But I also like the production part of it. It’s just a big party.”
Devilish Design Inspiration
But it’s not a competition. Don says he enjoys inspiring other neighbors to up their Halloween game.
“The Masons really inspired me,” says Ben Kozlowski, whose massive handmade props and creative storytelling quickly put his house on Halloween’s must-see map. “It’s such an important event for our neighborhood, and it’s kind of what we’re known for. Now we’re adding to the enthusiasm.”
When the Kozlowskis moved to Olde Towne in 2016, they were unprepared for just how big Halloween would be. Ben’s wife, Randi, recalls having to beg him to decorate that first year. “We started off with the tiniest wolfman stuffed with pine straw,” Ben says, laughing. “And we thought that was everything.”
The purchase of a 12-foot skeleton from Home Depot moved the needle. “I thought, ‘That guy’s coming home with me.’ It was the skeleton that kickstarted everything,” he says.
The imagination grew from there. “Now it’s something special,” Ben says. “And it has to be different every year.”
He builds around a theme. “I start planning in late July because I have to know what I’m getting myself into,” Ben says. He sketches out his design and begins building in August. Meanwhile, Randi says her role is to figure out the theme for the family and to give Ben a budget, which he always breaks.
This year, Ben’s working on a gigantic “pumpkin man” with smaller pumpkins and vines that run up the house and all the way to the street. He’ll start arranging the scene the first of September, though he knows it will be a work in progress. “He’ll put it up, and then he won’t like it, so he’ll move it around,” Randi says.
“I ask myself, ‘What would the Masons do?’” Ben says. “They’re my inspiration. They truly are.”
If You Build It …
For Savannah natives Jessica and Jimmy Coleman, Halloween has always been a big event, even before their two daughters were born. “In fact, one of our bridal showers was a Halloween theme because my sister-in-law knew how much I love it,” Jessica says. There was also a Halloween-themed baby shower when Jessica was pregnant with the couple’s first child.
“Halloween has kind of percolated throughout our lives,” Jessica says. So, when they bought a historic colonial home on Victory Drive, it seemed natural to go all out with the decorations even if they wouldn’t see the numbers Olde Towne does. “I said, ‘Let’s just do something really fun and awesome, and even if we don’t get trick-or-treaters, at least we’ll bring some enjoyment to people as they pass by,’” Jessica recalls.
Jessica employed the help of her sister-in-law, Caroline Coleman, who is also an event planner, to create an installation that not only catches the attention of passersby, but invites trick-or-treaters on a Halloween hike of sorts through their spacious yard, which they transform with strobe lights, spider webs, fog, animatronics and dozens of skeletons into a winding wonderland of spooky scenes.
“It’s very intentional,” Jessica says of the design. “Caroline and I sit down and plan out what we think would look appropriate and how to balance it out.” She gives Jimmy some creative license when it comes to placing his beloved animatronics along the path, but Jessica says she sometimes has to rein him in.
“If my husband were given free range, it would just be a whole bunch of stuff,” she says. “That’s how we have a ridiculously huge inflatable cat that I’m desperately hoping will die.”
Decorating’s Darker Side
That “bunch of stuff,” or “yard vomit” as the Masons jokingly refer to it, is something all three families try to avoid. “I think it’s funny when you go by a house and see every kind of theme available,” says Susan. “You’ve got a dinosaur with a spider and a Mickey Mouse wearing a witch hat.”
They also feel the same about inflatables, though Jessica sheepishly admits to having “a good bit of them.” “It’s really because it’s the easiest way to cover a large amount of territory and can easily be packed up and stored,” she says. “But I don’t want just a yard full of inflatables.” And as for the 20-foot behemoth pumpkin on their roof? That just makes sense if you’re looking to catch someone’s attention.
As rewarding as decorating for Halloween can be, there are some notable challenges. The time it takes to plan and execute is one thing, but there’s also the issue of storage. The Colemans are still trying to find a place for two 12-foot skeletons that are currently living in their backyard. “Some
of our neighbors think it’s hilarious,” Jessica says.
The Kozlowskis admit to be bursting at the seams. “Shelves in the garage specifically made for this stuff are now overflowing,” says Ben. “I have no more room for another decoration, and I plan on adding at least two more this year.” To which Randi adds, “We don’t park in the garage.”
The Masons are meticulous about storage, neatly placing their props in what used to be Don’s woodshop and is now referred to as “The Hell Hole.”
And what goes up, must come down. It takes the Colemans up to two months to put it all away. “Usually by the end of Halloween, we’re just so exhausted from doing it all. And now that we have young kids, we’re going to take a week off before we even start to think about taking stuff down,” Jessica says.
At the Masons, everything comes down the day after Halloween and is put away by noon. This is where the Kozlowskis break their what-would-the-Masons-do mantra, taking the month of November to take down their decorations. “Every November, once I get it down, I think, ‘Man, I am never going to do that again. It’s so time consuming,’” says Ben. “And then I’ll get an ad sent from Home Depot …”
Perhaps the hardest part is living up to everyone’s expectations once the bar has been set. “I can’t let anybody down,” Ben says with only a hint of humor. “I need to continue to grow and get bigger.” The Colemans stay inspired by the growing number of trick-or-treaters they get with each passing year. “Now we have families that come back year after year and take pictures,” Jessica says.
As for The Hell House’s 13 years and counting? Don says he’ll retire from Gulfstream next year, so it’ll probably be a few more years before he passes Satan’s staff along. And when he does, the Kozlowskis will be waiting.
After all, it’s not a competition.
