Cemetery creator hangs up his Halloween hijinks -- for now

BY MARCI LAEHR TENUTA, Oct. 28, 2001

Sunday, October 28, 2001 12:32 AM CDT

WIND POINT -- For 30 years, Nick Comande has had the spookiest house on the block for Halloween, despite several changes in address. His annual Hallow's Way cemetery has drawn thousands of children and adults each year for a good scare.

"Halloween was always one of my favorite holidays," Comande said.

When he outgrew trick or treat himself, Comande began to have fun giving out the candy. Comande started his annual tradition when he rigged a speaker to his mailbox and tried to scare people trick-or-treating. The next year he added a witch on a guide wire that would swoop down.

Each year, more props were added until the massive Hallow's Way cemetery emerged.

At their former house on Florence Drive, Comande and his wife, Lisa, used to spread the cemetery across three yards. They had a huge bell tower that attached to the top of their house that had bats flying around it.

"It keeps the old-time meaning of Halloween," Comande said. "There's no blood. There's no gore."

But it's still scary. Many trick or treaters will walk up through the cemetery to get their treat, he said. Others won't, and for them, the Comandes hand out treats on the corner.

In total the cemetery has more than 50 tombstones, each dedicated to a some of history and fantasy's most famous scary characters. Frankenstein, the Wolfman, Houdini and Sherlock Holmes are all accounted for at Hallow's Way. All were created by his lifelong friend Tom Cramer.

"Each year, he would add a few more tombstones," Comande said.

All of the tombstones are made of Styrofoam and spray painted, except one. "There is one real tombstone in the cemetery," Comande said. But he's not giving away the secret. He wants people to look and figure it out for themselves.

There is also a Styrofoam skeleton in a coffin and two Styrofoam gargoyles the Comandes have affectionately named Ricky and Lucy. "Last year we had 66 carved pumpkins," he said.

Then there is the donation stone, a large wood grave marker that collects donations for whatever cause the Comandes have chosen for the year. When coins are thrown into the top of the tombstone, the marker screams.

This is the eighth year the Comandes will be collecting donations for a cause. This year the money will go to the Fallen New York Firefighters Fund, said Comande, who is a Racine paramedic and firefighter.

The entire Hallow's Way takes about six to eight hours to set up each year, depending on the weather and how many people turn out to help, Comande said. He said one of his old Florence Avenue neighbors, Jody Hutton, still comes over to help set up each year.

During the rest of the year the many pieces of the project are stored in three different garages.

This will be the family's fourth Halloween on Maplewood Court.

"Through the years I've had people come back every year," Comande said. "Since 1987, we've had between 25,000 and 30,000 people."

Each year the total number of trick or treaters is usually about 2,000, he said. "We know because we count the pieces of candy we give out."

While trick or treat time is from 3 to 5 p.m., Hallow's Way usually stays open until people stop coming by. "In 1988 we had people here until 2 a.m.," Comande said. "We even had a wedding party come and get their pictures taken."

But as much as Comande loves his Halloween tradition, it has gotten really difficult to organize each year.

"It's time to take a break," he said. A new dad of his 13-week-old daughter Rachel, Comande said the annual cemetery has gotten to be much work.

But Comande isn't giving it up forever. He said he plans to put up the cemetery again when Rachel can appreciate it.

"I'll hang on to it," he said of his many props. "It'll be pulled out again in a few years."

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