Many dressing up their houses and grounds for Halloween, too

By Lee Roberts

Sunday, October 30, 2005 11:42 PM CST

RACINE COUNTY - For some, Halloween creativity extends way beyond the costume. More and more homes can be found decked out in twinkling orange lights and elaborate seasonal decorations at this time of year. And some of their occupants take the challenge of creating a spooky atmosphere - not only for themselves, but for the public - pretty

seriously.

On Coolidge Avenue, for instance, a bright orange glow emanated from two houses in the 2200 block last night. Here, at the homes of K.C. Hutchinson, Judi Grant and Shane Cates trick-or-treaters found a jack-o-lantern extravaganza, created with 160 pumpkins of all shapes and sizes.

These neighbors, along with a few of their friends, carved and lit more than 30 of the pumpkins - some of them with very elaborate designs. All of the pumpkins, along with other seasonal decor, are creatively displayed throughout the two adjoining yards.

Some of the most impressive were a monster pumpkin, who is eating a baby pumpkin; a polka dot pumpkin; and fat cat pumpkin. Hutchinson's business, K.C. Mudjacking, supplied all the pumpkins and for two days before trick-or-treat, he and Cates set up tables in their driveways and carved until they dropped.

"I was up until 2 a.m. last night doing this," Cates said on Sunday.

Their display will remain up for a few days after Halloween, Hutchinson said.

Further north, just south of the intersection of Highway 31 and 7 Mile Road, Halloween thrill-seekers can find a graveyard filled with life-size ghouls and ghosts from Halloweens past. Here, behind the St. Gabriel cemetery fence you will see Frankenstein and his bride being married by a skeleton preacher; the Grim Reaper; Jeb, the gravedigger; a couple witches brewing a cauldron of skull soup; and more.

All are the creations of Lisa Sands, a landscape designer who along with her husband, Jim, lives on the Caledonia farmland that serves as temporary home to the Halloween graveyard. Sands has been creating such displays for about 20 years, having previously set them up at her homes in Hales Corners and Greenfield. This year is the first time she has moved her creations into the pasture so that they can be seen from the road.

The display, which is lit at night, will remain up for a about a week after Halloween. And next year, Sands is hoping to add a headless horseman.

Those looking for a more intense scare Sunday evening might have found it at the Haunted Garage, which the Marquis family offered to the public for free at their Ohio Street home. This interactive, walk-through experience, featuring live costumed actors and a scream-inducing thrill around every turn, was only open during the city's trick-or-treat. But, its creators (father and son team Tom and Andrew Marquis) said they are planning to do it again next year, and hoping to make it bigger and even better.

Andrew Worden, 11, liked the Haunted Garage so much, he brought his Dad, Daniel, back to it after his first time through.

"It was really scary," he said.

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