HALLOWEEN: GHOULS AND GOBLINS ADD FESTIVE TOUCH TO MANY YARDS

A few folks are getting into the Halloween spirit by decorating their yards with festive ghouls and goblins.

"It's tradition," said Nancy Quigley, who has been decorating the outside of her home at 3726 Hopper Road for three years. "I absolutely loved Halloween as a child, and I love doing this."

Quigley, along with her husband, Tim, and son, Jeff, have scattered tombstones around the yard, suspended a few ghosts from their large trees and strategically strung lighting to give the yard a ghastly appearance.

"The kids really like it," she said. "More trick-or-treaters come to the door because of this. I think the parents get more out of it than the kids."

Quigley said living on busy Hopper Road, she worries about motorists that slow down when they pass her home.

"I have a drive with an entrance and an exit," she said. "They can drive around and be back on Hopper."

Quigley encourages sightseers to drive up the driveway and make the loop back to Hopper Road.

Another Halloween decorator encourages caution when looking at his house on Rampart.

Kevin Groves shares Quigley's zeal for celebrating Halloween with outdoor displays. Groves is slowing traffic outside his home at 1852 Rampart with his scarecrow, tombstones and flashing-lighted pumpkins.

"None of the rest of us bother to put anything out because he outdoes us," one neighbor said.

Groves said he has put Halloween decorations out for the past five years. The last two years have been more elaborate.

"I make a lot of my decorations," he said. "This really grows from year-to-year."

Groves said his decorations encourage many more trick-or-treaters too. A few years ago, he said five or six youngsters would come to his door. Last year, more than 100 costume-clad children and adults rang his doorbell, he said.

"I don't know if the neighbors like it," he said. "They've never said. I don't even know if they get more trick-or-treaters because of me."

Groves said word-of-mouth advertising has increased the travel down Rampart and trick-or-treaters at his door.

"I get a lot of people who don't live on this side of town," he said. "They've heard about it and come by just to say they've trick-or-treated here."

Groves said his decorations usually take a few days to set up. He said after work on three or four days he likes to rake the leaves up, start setting the displays out and run the electricity to the lights and props. "It takes a while," he said.

Groves said as hard as he works on the decorations, he likes to see them put away soon after the holiday.

"I like to have it down the day after Halloween," he said. "And then I start thinking about Christmas. I would put up something for Thanksgiving, but I need the transition period from Halloween to Christmas to get ready."