MESA, AZ — There’s a neighborhood in east Mesa where the Halloween decorations are scary and elaborate but the neighbors who put them up are the furthest thing from frightening.
When Alan Blume moved to the neighborhood of Santa Rita Ranch a few years ago, he made a comment to his neighbor that, in a way, still haunts him today.
“I think I said I could beat her with my decorations, something around those lines,” he said.
He said that to Brittany Rowley who lives across the street… "We kind of chuckled and went inside and I looked at my husband and said, ‘okay challenge accepted,’"
Perhaps that comment cast a spell on Brittany who started with one 12-foot skeleton.
Now her yard and her neighbor’s yard look like the "House from the Living Dead."
When we met with Brittany at the start of Halloween weekend, she said she just had just gotten back from the House of Horrors at Disney where she was getting ideas for next year.
As Halloween creeps closer, she's still adding more bones and tombstones.
All of it is enough for two storage units in the off-season.
“It’s an infinity line that I keep buying,” she said
The Halloween Spirit crosses property lines as Brittany and her family coordinate stringing lights across the roofline of the home all the way down the street.
Both Alan and Brittany say with LED lights, the electric bill isn't too scary and the job is never done until Halloween night.
“I also have a surprise in store for Halloween night. So (Brittany) hasn't seen everything I have,” said Alan.
These decorations may aim to scare, but it's done the opposite by bringing out friendly neighbors from across the East Valley to the neighborhood.
Alan said when he was living in Chicago, he lived in an area where neighbors kept to themselves. Once he moved to Santa Rita Ranch, comradery was found through string lights and plastic skeletons.
Once Halloween passes, the competitive spirit lives on.
“Christmas I think it's bigger, it's a lot bigger,” said Brittany.
