This Halloween house is so detailed it takes 2 months to get it ready

By Mike Sullivan

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    WALTHAM, Massachusetts (WBZ) — For most people, putting up Halloween decorations may take a few hours. But there’s a home in Waltham, Massachusetts that has a display so elaborate, it’s taking them two months to prepare.

Billy Gridley started decorating his house on Marivista Avenue late in the summer.

“My son and I have an advent calendar counting down the days (to) when we start decorating for Halloween,” he told WBZ-TV. “I started putting this up the last weekend in August. I use September for my decorating, so by the time it’s October 1st it’s 90%, if not all, done.”

He said there are a few surprises held for Halloween night.

Gridley began his display years ago, but the obsession really ramped up after his son was born in 2015.

“Our yard was setup with baby gates all the way around to keep him corralled ’cause he was a crazy kid,” Gridley said. “We thought this would make a great Halloween fence, so that became the graveyard surrounding.”

Now, the yard is filled with homemade and purchased decorations that are both still and animatronics. Every year, he tries to add a new piece based off the hottest things on the market.

The decorations cover the entire home, front yard, and even carry into the street. Gridley has rigged a solar light to power lights hooked up inside of a sewer drain. The lights illuminate a Pennywise mask hidden under the sewer grate. There is a corresponding animatronic “It” child above the grate.

He has doorbell cameras on his property too, but they’re not just for security.

“I get a notification if someone is walking through the yard, so I can actually, by push button, activate different animatronics,” he told WBZ.

So how much does it all cost? Gridley wouldn’t say.

“It’s funny, people are like, man this guy must be rich. I’m like, ‘No, I ‘m just irresponsible,” he joked.

Last year more than 200 people showed up at the house to see the display.

“It was somewhere around 40 gallons of candy that we went through,” Gridley said. “We buy candy by the gallon at this house.”

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