Scarier than a startup

I pointed out last year that here in the Valley they call Silicon, Halloween seems a pretty big deal. At least when it comes to decorating your yard. A couple of jack-o-lanterns and a construction-paper black cat slapped on the front window just do not cut it.

That one house I showed you last year is at it again—I think they must keep adding stuff every year.

This time around the two skeletons dining outside the gate have a dish of tiny skulls and bones shaped like spiders:

And the sleeping dog isn’t just lying, it’s covered in spiders and spiderwebs:

Then there’s this welcoming…ghoul, I guess:

This thing is so elaborate that they’ve been putting it together over many, many days. I took this about a week ago:

They were just getting started; note how the flying skeletons have been “fleshed” out:

And now there’s this:

I’m telling you—those spiders are working overtime to produce all this web stuff.

But, while really paying attention to detail, this particular household isn’t by any means alone in their enthusiasm. On my morning walks around the area, I’ve been finding all sorts of evidence of, um, skullduggery. And a lot of stuff hanging from trees. Like this:

And this:

And, from the same tree, this:

Over in Mountain View, I came across a tree witch:

(If you notice, there’s a light that could shine down on her; spooky.)

Nearby is one that wins the Best Use of Child’s Swing award:

If you notice the hand reaching up from the grass, that leads us to another theme—the From the Grave category. Lot of that going around.

Then there’s the splat witch:

She would hardly count, but there was also this:

Here’s another nightmare yard:

And another view:

(Notice the red light ready to cast a hellish glow. I’m telling you—Trick-or-Treaters are walking the gauntlet these days.)

One of the interesting things to me is that the people doing this stuff aren’t in…well, I was going to say they’re not in expensive houses. But that, of course, is relative. The houses are selling around the million mark (I pick up real estate flyers, too); but that’s pretty much low-range around here.

There’s one house on Sunnyvale Road, which looks like it’s maybe a two-bedroom-one-bath crackerbox. They went completely whole hog—well, whole zombie. Take a look:

This guy is almost stepping onto the sidewalk to go down the street to Target:

Obviously, he’s anxious about the sales:

His friend is so far behind him, she’s going to miss all the good stuff:

You can see her in the yard:

Where those (probably Bangladeshi) spiders have been hard at work covering the flamingo:

And, in the pink theme, here's the next generation of zombies:

Okay—not everyone is as inventive or as extravagant. This place in Mountain View is a sad attempt:

And this one isn’t even a nice try:

Happy Halloween!