Brooklyn Center Halloween House Offering Sights and Frights for Neighbors
One house in Brooklyn Center is not for the faint of heart this Halloween season.
For the family that’s lives there, it makes for a frightfully well-decorated holiday tradition.
Michael Crenshaw, who’s decorated his home on 5313 68th Avenue N. for Halloween for years, has a flair for the unsettling.
“Starting in September, literally [neighbors] will stop by and ask ‘what are you doing for Halloween this year?” Crenshaw said.
Every year, he tells them to just wait and see as he transforms the natural into the supernatural.
“Its just kind of festered into what you see behind me today,” Crenshaw said.
A Fright to Be Seen
Nearly everything in his haunted lawn is made by hand. That includes the fencing, which he calls the starting point, and the characters.
The fencing is made up of PVC pipe.
Michael Crenshaw stands in his lawn decorated for Halloween in Brooklyn Center.
Crenshaw said the piping is “cheap, easy and it’s actually held up for many, many years so far.”
He repurposed items collected from friends and neighbors. For instance, he used an old cart to make it a ride for skeletons.
“One of my friends actually had this,” Crenshaw said. “He said ‘I’m not using it anymore,’ and I was like, ‘I’ll take it!'”
Daylight gives neighbors an opportunity to see the details and mechanics of Crenshaw’s handiwork. But it all becomes spookier when the day turns to night.
“Everything kind of transforms,” Crenshaw said.
The handmade displays light up, and some even interact with visitors. Crenshaw uses fog, lighting and sound machines to create an ambiance. In some cases, he also dresses up as creepy characters. For visitors, it almost appears real.
Celebrating Halloween at Scary Brooklyn Center Stop
Crenshaw uses lighting, fog and sound effects to create a spooky ambiance.
Crenshaw’s son is in on it, too. He said every year is fun.
“To see the kids’ reaction when they show up. They go ‘what?’ This is so cool.’ They get so much joy out of it,” he said.
Crenshaw said they want Halloween to be celebrated as it’s intended — together, with a little fright.
“[We’re] trying to entice people to come out, you know, and enjoy the spirit of Halloween,” Crenshaw said. “As families should.”
Crenshaw’s family display is located in west Brooklyn Center, at 5313 68th Ave. N. Anyone can visit for a scare. Though the display is running now, there will be one special character that visitors will only be able to see on Halloween night.
