1 of 9
Photos courtesy of Heather Skaggs and Paul Young.
Heather Skaggs, known as “The Mystic of Bluff Park Acres” at Halloween, entertains a child on the porch of her home.
2 of 9
Paul and Regina Young's house in Buff Park is gearing up for a massive Halloween this year. The life-sized pirate ship build is in progress, including a doorway to the interior where kids can go receive their candy. Submitted photo.
3 of 9
The yard of Paul and Regina Young at 140 Caliente Drive on previous Halloween holidays.
4 of 9
Photos courtesy of Heather Skaggs and Paul Young.
The yard of Paul and Regina Young at 140 Caliente Drive on previous Halloween holidays.
5 of 9
Photos courtesy of Paul Young.
Skeltons hang out in their yard posed as utility construction workers during a year when the neighborhood was disrupted by installation of fiber optic cable.
6 of 9
Photos courtesy of Paul Young.
A skeleton reclines on a hammock.
7 of 9
Photo courtesy of Savannah Schmidt.
Paul and Regina Young go all out to decorate their Buff Park home for Halloween each year. This year, they’re building a pirate ship theme.
8 of 9
Photo courtesy of Paul Young.
Jaws was the theme one year.
9 of 9
Photo courtesy of Paul Young.
Jaws was the theme one year.
It was a combination of his need for creativity, his love for the holiday, and his wife, Regina, that prompted Paul Young to begin the journey of over-the-top Halloween decor at his Hoover home.
“To put it simply, we do Halloween pretty big around here,” Young said. “I am a tax accountant by day and very regimented at work. I just need a creative outlet, so this is definitely my creative outlet.”
Paul Young said his wife often thinks up a particular theme or idea and serves as the inspiration for a lot of the scenes that they have created over the years at their Bluff Park home at 140 Caliente Drive. Once the couple decides what they are going to do, he turns the visions into reality.
“Over the years, we have had some pretty fun creations,” Young said. “When my wife and I start discussing these things, it is like a Congressional discussion we are having. One year, we thought it would be fun to create a display as sort of a joke because many of the yards in Bluff Park had been torn up so they could put the fiber optic cables in, so we created a display of skeleton workers dressed as construction workers, and it was a hoot. Everyone got a big kick out of it.”
Other past displays include runaway mine cars assembled to look like a train; the garden of good and evil; cowboys and aliens; a haunted tour; a “Jaws” display; attack of the spiders; and haunted fish.
Young has also used his own 1957 Chevrolet truck as a prop, where he placed skeletons in the bed of the truck to look as if the skeletons were watching an old drive-in movie.
“I am constantly watching YouTube videos to get ideas for things I could use or something I could create,” Young said. “I have a lot of fun with that. I think the best part is when I am out shopping for something to use, I will run into someone who has seen my yard. I was at Lowe’s buying some stuff and the lady was like, ‘I have been by your house, which was just the best.’”
This year, Young is hoping to build a life-size pirate ship. He started work on it in August.
“I want to have it be about 20 feet wide, and I will have it where the kids can walk through the ship,” Young said. “I am looking forward to seeing how it turns out.”
The creations and ideas don’t come without a bit of sacrifice, as Young said he sprained his ankle one year stepping into a large hole in his yard, and running extension cords through the displays is not for the faint of heart.
“I am thankful we don’t have a lot of rain because that might do me in,” he said. “But, I have been learning about lighting, and now that I know a bit more of what I am doing, we have a lot of crazy lights that just help everything look that much cooler.”
On Halloween, Young describes his home as a big gathering for anyone wanting to come by.
“We cook hot dogs until we run out, and Regina makes up bags of candy to give out to the kids,” Young said. “We really just have a good time with it all. I tend to leave the display up for a little bit after Halloween so people can come by if they didn’t get a chance on Halloween.”
Young admits he has always enjoyed Halloween, but it wasn’t until a few years ago he started thinking up fun and unique ideas for displays he could put in his yard.
“I would take a walk and find stuff and try to think what I might use to turn it into something I could use for Halloween,” Young said. “Our goal has always been to see a lot of people, make them laugh and have a good time. We get a big kick out of everyone that comes by, and we love hearing the squeals of the kids, and then to hear them say, ‘Can we do that again?’ I think that is the best and the whole reason for why we do what we do.”
More shenanigans
The Youngs are just one family among numerous Hoover residents who put a lot of thought and time into their Halloween creations.
Brooke Thompson and her fiance, Bryan Wadlington, have started creating larger Halloween displays in their yard in recent years.
They got inspired to decorate their Lake Crest home for Halloween after driving their 6-year-old around town to see what others were doing, Thompson said.
“A few years ago, we bought a couple of skeletons and put them out on the balcony. We have since had a display where we hoisted a skeleton so it looked like it was floating in the air,” she said.
Thompson said they love to work as a family to come up with ideas for displays each year.
“Halloween is the only holiday we decorate, so we really try to go all out,” she said. “We try to have a budget and don’t spend more than $300 to $400 on things, but we love doing it. It is a lot of fun for us.”
In Bluff Park, Heather Skaggs is known to many in her neighborhood and surrounding areas as the “Mystic in Bluff Park Acres.”
“I turn my front porch into a scene ‘adjacent’ to Madame Leota’s room in my favorite Disney attraction, ‘The Haunted Mansion,’” Skaggs said. “Although my head does not float in a crystal ball above my table, my crystal ball does come alive and glow on its own. It also talks. I have kids and parents sit with me at my table, and I speak to them. Depending on their age, I will do a ‘reading’ or talk and look at the crystal ball. The kids love the crystal ball. It is all kid-friendly.”
Skaggs has the background music from “The Haunted Mansion” playing while she performs her “readings” for trick-or-treaters.
She started the idea of the Mystic in 2017, and each year she has added a bit more to the concept or upgraded some of her decorations.
“I usually stay at my table for two to three hours,” Skaggs said. “Visitors are pretty steady each year. The only year there was a bust was when a tree fell on my house and we had no power, so I just had to sit out there with a flashlight.”
Skaggs said some examples of her “readings” include telling kids, “I see you are here searching for sweets” or something related to candy. She will also use ideas relating to kids’ costumes for inspiration.
“Last year a little girl was dressed as Snow White, and I told her I saw seven little friends in her future,” Skaggs said. “It has gotten easier each year, and the more people come, the more they play along. One girl, probably in middle school, asked me who her husband would be, and I did not really know what to do with that, so I told her some attributes of a good man, light-hearted, but hopefully that sticks.”
Skaggs said her love of Halloween has always stemmed from the clever things rather than the scary stuff.
“I grew up in a neighborhood, Mountain Oaks, with a lot of trick-or-treating,” Skaggs said. “My dad would dress up like classic Dracula as a character and hand out candy at the door. I loved picking out a costume each year, but I started making my own when I got a little older. We moved when I was in the fourth grade, and that street also had a lot of trick-or-treating. One highlight of Foothills Drive was a lady from England who dressed up like a witch each year. She was known as the English Witch, and people came from many streets to see her. She had a black dress and a pointed classic witch hat and broom. No unique makeup or anything, and not scary. It was the character that she played that made the theme because she was mysterious, calm and elegant, but could also break out in the best witch cackle.”
Skaggs said she drew inspiration from the English Witch, who would often talk to each child and ask about their costumes or why they visited her.
“Her voice was unique with her British accent, and I took a note from her with my character, the Mystic,” Skaggs said. “I did not want to be scary, but I wanted to be mysterious and the kids to be curious. You can kind of say I am continuing the family tradition from my dad.”
Skaggs said she will begin posting hints about her time as the Mystic on her Instagram and Facebook pages using the social media hashtag “sheshere” leading up to Halloween.
The “sheshere” is a fun way for her to interact on social media with those eager to visit her on Halloween.
“I will get lots of messages from parents saying their kids love seeing me,” Skaggs said. “It really is the best.”
Skaggs can be found in the Bluff Park Acres subdivision off of Farley Road. “They will find me,” she said.
