Conat family gets into Halloween with creepy creatures
Crawling out of a culvert, creeping from behind a tree and lurking in dark corners, Bruce Conat’s spooky houseguests don’t say much — but speak volumes.
More than a half-dozen homemade characters are in Conat’s Seventh Avenue East yard. The spooky scene also includes a coffin with a skeleton, a garden of hands coming up from the earth, several rats and a variety of other adornments.
But the creative, spooky characters — including a werewolf, devil, zombie, executioner, sewer dweller and grim reaper — are the showstoppers. The full-sized characters stand about the same height as an average person. The masks have been collected over the years, but many of the bodies have been fashioned out of chicken wire, pipes and other easily-accessible items. Their clothes are often throwouts from the family’s closet.
The inspiration came from the masks that make the faces of the creations. From there, they would find the appropriate outfits and either find or make a form for the body. Some historical figures make for good Halloween decor, Conat said.
Lisa Conat, Bruce’s mother, said that her favorite is a gray-faced zombie with a wide smile. That was one of the Conat’s first Halloween creations. Others have been added over the years, and the collection has grown to include more than 25 figures. Other purchased decor, such as giant rats and an inflatable Frankenstein’s monster, finish Conat’s scene.
Remaining in storage are sets such as a guillotine and hangman’s frame, which completed the spooky scene when it was in its full glory. When Bruce and his siblings moved away from home, the parents started more of the outdoor decorations. But because their Gold Shores-area home got few trick-or-treaters, they decided to share some of the creations with Bruce this year.
“I see all the kids on the school bus drive by and every one of them is looking out the window, (saying) ‘Look what he’s got in his yard now,’” he said.
Neighbor kids who wait for the bus and play in the area have taken to investigating the creatures, he said. “They get a kick out of it, too.”
“I take it as just good fun, it doesn’t really scare me,” he said of the figures, many straight out of nightmares and horror movies. He admitted that when he first decorated the yard, a werewolf that would blow in the breeze caught him and his dogs off guard one morning, making his heart race for a minute while he (and the dogs) adjusted to their presence.
After the Halloween season this year, he’ll likely store some of the figures at his house for use again next year, he said.
While Bruce says his parents and siblings enjoy celebrating all the holidays, Halloween is a family favorite.
“I love all the holidays,” Bruce said. “Halloween is one of the neater ones because you can decorate and it’s a reason to take out all this stuff and buy a bunch of stuff and decorate.”
Lisa Conat has always loved Halloween; and Bruce said she is the one that instilled the love of Halloween in her kids.
She said one of her first decorations when she set up house was a spooky mask that she left out year-round. “I’ve always loved it all my life. It’s always been my favorite holiday,” she said. “I love the scary side (of Halloween).”
And that love of being spooked has been passed onto her four grown children, she said. When they’re together as a family, they all enjoy watching scary movies. Perhaps that family love of Halloween will be passed onto Lisa’s first grandson, who will be 1 year old today — the day before Lisa’s beloved holiday.
And although the Conats have a large collection of spooky masks, Lisa said she remembers using makeup and old clothes to fashion costumes when the kids were little.
Bruce said one of his favorite costumes was a werewolf when he was around 12 years old. He said that paint and hair glued to his face was itchy, but made for a neat special effect.
This year, Conat said he and his girlfriend have a his-and-hers theme costume idea planned for a get-together at their well-decorated house.
For photos, pick up today's edition of The Journal.
