North Ave. Spooktacular Halloween 'Cemetery' on Display

September may mean back to school and the first hints of fall for most people, but for the Velez family, it signified something else: Halloween. For the past nine years, the Fanwood residents have been jump-starting the Halloween season, pulling out all the stops to turn their North Avenue home and yard into a decorative, spooky cemetery.

The Velezes have over 50 tombstones, ghost statues, grim reapers, and other Halloween paraphernalia on display. The effect is grave during the day and even ghastlier at night when spotlights add eerie effects to the multitude of decorations that hang from the roof and windows and fill the front yard.

“My wife and I got married on Halloween almost thirteen years ago,” said Walter Velez, who spent much of September unpacking each item, running extension cords, and setting up the entire extravaganza. “Halloween is our favorite holiday. We don’t really decorate for Christmas. Halloween is our thing.”

Velez’s extensive collection began small, and every year he tries to buy a new piece. Many have been given to him by friends who help him build his treasure trove of chains, spiders, scary masks, and of course, headstones.

“I’d love to put out animatronics, but I can’t because of the weather,” Velez said. “If I had a huge garage to store everything, I could do decorations that move. But I do put out a smoke machine on Halloween night. That works great.”

Because North Avenue is a busy street without sidewalks in front of their home, the family doesn’t typically receive a lot of trick-or-treaters outside of their immediate friends and neighbors who want to see the full effect of the house on Halloween eve. But for the Velezes, their mock cemetery is just plain fun for all six weeks it’s up.

“This year is going to be great,” concluded Velez. “My wife, Teri, our two kids, and I—the whole family—will be dressing up as gangsters. On Halloween you get candy, and I’m celebrating my anniversary. What’s better than that?”