Jason Barr’s frightening animatronic arrangement spreads to garage, backyard in Northfield
NORTHFIELD — Jason Barr has outdone himself this Halloween season, expanding his annual haunted house from the front yard and basement to the garage and backyard.
The Northfield Community School third-grader loves the macabre and has been collecting creepy clowns, wicked witches, ghosts and goblins since he received a Chucky doll when he was 2.
“He was fascinated with Halloween and we had to go visit Halloween stores all the time,” said his mother, Lisa DiMario. “He decided … to make a Halloween haunted house for other kids to visit so he could share it with friends in the neighborhood.”
Passers-by on Walnut Avenue will notice something special. The front yard of his home is filled this year with witches, a giant inflatable skull — its red eyes keeping watch day and night — the headless horseman, jack-o’-lanterns, ghosts and black cats.
Especially spooky is the setup in the basement, where Jason has 20 or so larger-than-life animatronic clowns, skeletons and other ghastly ghouls set up.
Tall figures line both sides of a dark, narrow path, their hands reaching out to grab unsuspecting little boys and girls looking for candy. In a room off to the left, a group of scarecrows is gathered around a firepit, teasing the flames bent on devouring them.
One clown threatens to bring the bloody hammer down on heads passing beneath as smoke billows out, threatening to encompass anyone around.
“Starting in July, we start getting ready, taking all of the stuff out, going through it and coming up with an idea of what design we want,” DeMario said. “I have to give up my garage and my backyard, but it’s something that he really enjoys and uses his imagination, which makes me happy.”
This year, he moved some of his clowns (he has an abundance, and it’s no laughing matter) into the garage where he has set up a circus magic show complete with a popcorn machine.
The basement now has an Annabelle doll (maybe a girlfriend for Chucky), along with other frightening figures. Out back, a graveyard has popped up with tombstones, ghosts and bats.
The clinical social worker said Jason hosted classmates from NCS on Oct. 14 and kids from the neighborhood last weekend for a party. She said it helps build her autistic son’s confidence and self-esteem.
“It gives him a purpose and acceptance from the kids,” she said.
By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff
