Editor’s note: Thank you to all who participated and voted this year. You all brought the spooky to Athens! The following winners were chosen by Flagpole readers. Happy Halloween!
1st Place:
Split between various scenes across the front of the house, this yard tells a story through ghoulish decor. To the left of the driveway sits a giant spider emerging from a tree and holding an unfortunate skeleton cocooned in its silken web. Spread across the larger portion of the yard lies an evil pumpkin patch, complete with the headless horsemen in the back of the scene.
The decorations span beyond the yard, however, as a skeleton is climbing down off the roof of the home and ghosts are hanging among the trees. Right in the middle of the yard, an impressive and haunting ocean display can be found. Monsters can be seen coming out of the fake water made from blue and white plastic. An eerie figure resides atop his boat in the center of the water, seemingly coming directly toward the street, sure to give those passing by a scare. [Jill Ward]
2nd Place:
An oversized skeleton, towering tall above the home’s windows, dressed in a purple cape and witch’s hat greets those who pass by. Real pumpkins and faux jack-o’-lanterns line the stairs leading to the front door, which trick-or-treaters will soon grace. Cobwebs strung throughout the bushes give an eerie feel to otherwise normal shrubbery.
For this home display, no space is left untouched. From up and down the driveway to the side yard, halloween decorations cover this home. Many inflatables such as ghosts, witches and jack-o’-lanterns flow in the wind. A jack-o’-lantern inflatable sits atop the porch, overseeing those going for a walk around the neighborhood. [Kendall Kelly]
3rd Place / Staff Pick:
The mailbox is smothered in a stretchy spider web. As you look closer, Michael Myers sits beside a werewolf that took his hands and is now sipping a Miller Lite. Nestled next to them on the front lawn sits a two-headed monster that looked to be covered in a blanket before rising from the dead. To the right, big black spiders are crawling towards a skeleton and human body part campfire. The spiders are roasting marshmallows. There is a mummy circled by miscellaneous characters reading a book titled People Stories. Looking past the front lawn, the front porch is lined with orange pumpkins and a spooky skeleton wrapped in a black cloth peaking out to the street. [Holly Kate O’Brien]
Home descriptions written by journalism majors in professor Lori Johnston’s home and garden writing class at UGA’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication.
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