All Rise

Halloween house decor has come a long way since my trick-or-treating days, when a jack-o-lantern on the porch, perhaps the odd jointed paper witch on the door (think Beistle), was it. Seems meager now, but the appearance at dusk of those candlelit faces flickering on every stoop was, for a five year old, a phenomenon to rival the rise of Brigadoon. Which, as it happens, was the name of the neighborhood in Lexington, Kentucky, where my brothers and I first went a-masking.

Eventually, lighted blow-molds appeared, sometimes accompanying, sometimes replacing, the carved pumpkins. They were thought to be a bit tacky. Later, after my day, there might be strings of mini lights—not many; again, excess was frowned on. Haunts, meanwhile, were the purview of the Jaycees. The most you could expect in the way of scares while going door to door was a teenager of the household jumping from behind a bush.

How things change.

This year, I bought my first inflatables: an eight-foot ghost, and a four-foot “Enter—if you dare!” sign to decorate the balcony of my third-floor unit. Like I’ll have trick-or-treaters up here. I wasn’t sure about inflatables when they started to show up in the early 2000s. Too many people turned them off during the day, creating joyless puddles of plastic on the grass. Nowadays, thanks to better fans and the rise of economical LED ribbon lights, they’re mostly left puffed up around the clock. The variety on offer has simultaneously skyrocketed. It’s true that inflatables don’t provide the decorative flexibility of, say, posable skeletons (once a luxury item, now pervasive) or the entertainment value of animatronics (as long as they’re working). But for sheer bang for the buck, they can’t be beat. Below, some witches I spotted on a recent stroll.

Seven-foot witch by Gemmy, probably bought at Lowe’s around 2014. I’ve seen a slightly taller knock-off of this that’s definitely inferior.

Three-and-a-half-foot green-and-purple witch from Home Depot’s Home Accents Holiday collection.

“Boo with Characters Scene,” also from Home Depot: 3.5 x 6.5 feet.

How Inflatable Holiday Decorations Took Over the Front Yard