The Horrors Of Halloween In Hackensack

(From Weird NJ.com)

On the extra-long block between Prospect Avenue and Summit Avenue in Hackensack, New Jersey, CLINTON PLACE is alive with the buzz of Halloween.

Or more fittingly, dead.

The residents of almost every house on this stretch of CLINTON PLACE decorate their properties annually to the blood-encrusted hilt in preparation for the arrival of October 31st.

Decorations range from benign, life-size cardboard cutouts of cartoon characters to ghastly masks and morbid figures slumped in full grave yard scenes. This is no mere suburban show of WALMART inflatable giant pumpkins. Strobe lights, smoke machines, and trail after trail of sinuous cobwebs accentuate the Fangoria-worthy displays.

This year's themes include THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW, THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW, SCOOBY-DOO,
THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS, LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD (complete with a smoke-rising chimney), FINDING NEMO, and PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN. Returning themes include THE WIZARD OF OZ and IT'S THE GREAT PUMPKIN, CHARLIE BROWN.

The more ghoulish-minded will get their fill with the abundance of execution scenes, tombstones, giant spiders, and corpses crawling out of the ground. A pool of skinny-dipping skeletons, reminiscent of the pool scene in POLTERGEIST, festers on one neighbor's lawn.

My personal recurring favorite is the authentic hearse complete with monstrous drivers, stopped short of running over a poor soul sprawled in front of the wheels.

Be sure to look up, down, and all around when exploring CLINTON PLACE. The upper story windows tell a tale, as do some of the trees. Look carefully, and you'll see what fate may befall a haughty skier daring to slalom through the woods.

Keep your ears open as well -- not all of the mood-setting is done visually.

CLINTON PLACE can be reached in New Jersey by ROUTE 17, ROUTE 46 or INTERSTATE 80, depending on where you're coming from.

However you choose to get there, get there -- like me, you'll probably be, um, dying to go back each year.