Walking up Sicomoro Drive after dark on Halloween, the first thing trick-or-treaters notice is a wrecked car with two people in the front seat. On closer inspection, there could be screaming — the passengers are monsters and zombies feasting on a McDonald’s-style monster meal of spiders, eyeballs and other tasty tidbits spread out over the dashboard.
Next, there’s a graveyard of skeletons and headstones. Far above the house and driveway, ghosts and evil spirits hover. Approaching the front door, at least 15 life-size monsters and zombies threaten each other on the balcony and rooftop, looking down at the trick-or-treaters.
If all of this sounds more like a movie set than one family’s Halloween decorations, there’s a good reason. Peter Burrell, chief architect of the display, has been a television and movie producer for the better part of the past three decades. He puts all that knowledge about action, costumes, make-up, props and lighting to work in his Halloween display.
“I’m in show business, and I like to put on a show,” he laughed. “I did skits in my garage as a kid.”
It started over 25 years ago when Burrell’s three children were small, and he and his wife Gina had moved to Malibu. The display “just grew and grew” each year, Burrell said. He brought home leftover movie props, including some from “Jack the Bear.” People started giving him things — like Halloween masks their children didn’t wear anymore.
Burrell bought stuff from a Halloween store that went out of business. He met a costume designer who showed him the kind of bendable human forms to buy. A special effects guy he worked with showed him how to hang ghosts from a tree branch using nearly invisible monofilament wire. He got sound effects from a special library where he worked. He picked up real clothes from second-hand stores. The crowning touches include special lighting and a fog machine.
The arranging of the 15 zombies and monsters on the upper balcony is different every year.
“I don’t just want to put props up there,” Burrell said. “I create a little bit of a story for each one, lay out all the masks and create a scenario. The sidewalk is where the audience [of trick-or-treaters] is, and they’re always doing something in that direction.”
He adds eyeballs to the masks “so they’re actually looking at you.” Burrell may run up and down the stairs to the balcony several times until he gets the eyes just right for every figure.
“You can’t escape their gaze; you can’t sneak up on them,” he described. “It’s amazing when they’re looking right at you.”
He usually works right up until Halloween night getting the display ready, sometimes taking a month to get it all done. “I start off getting 75 boxes out of our crawl space with a small ladder,” Burrell said.
“Seeing the reactions of the kids is the reward — especially the little ones just old enough to come up the driveway for the first time,” he said. “The visitors are non-stop for hours — there’s a line of people coming and going”
“And the adults are just as enamored with it as the kids — they go crazy,” Burrell continued. “Some will stand in the driveway for the longest time and just stare at it. They get there’s a connection being made and a personality to the figures.”
One child who grew up with the Burrell Halloween display was neighbor Caitlin Sherry, now around age 27.
“I totally looked forward to it and thought it was so cool, but when I was younger, it was also terrifying,” she said. “[Burrell] always had a theme with different characters, and changed it every year.”
Sherry recalled that the Burrell house was “always the place to be … Gina was a great cook and would serve things like bloody lady fingers.” She said her own dad sometimes went up to the balcony and pretended to be one of the characters.
This will be the first time in three years the Burrells have put up their Halloween display. Three years ago, Peter was in Austin for a job, and two years ago wife Gina was in a horrific auto accident on Kanan from which she’s still recovering. This year, she said, “It’s time to do Halloween again.” It now marks a celebration of her survival and perseverance.
Halloween night in the Malibu West subdivision is closed to visitors, although residents can invite friends. Burrell said he’d probably leave his display up for several nights after Halloween when non-residents could drive in.
