In the many customs that have filtered through time to the modern-day iteration of Halloween, are there any more grandiose, more impactful and more straight-up awe-inspiring than the decorated/haunted house?
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We think not.
There's just something about seemingly average citizens taking days or even weeks of their spare time procuring and/or creating the necessary gear, then planning and ultimately assembling the glorious spectacle they envision so that others may freely enjoy it.
It tugs on our heartstrings. Like a demon does after he slices us open with his foot-long fingernails.
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These purveyors of horrific or sometimes just majestic delights don’t have to do it. But they do. And this year we’ve brought together four of the best examples in the Penticton region for a little gallery we call Halloween Houses of 2024.
Two are in Penticton, two more are in Okanagan Falls. And all are amazing.
In alphabetical order then, let us begin…
David Clutterbuck and family
120 Cleland Drive, Penticton
Last year, PentictonNow dubbed David Clutterbuck's blood-curdling masterpiece in the Upper Carmi neighbourhood of Penticton the "Cleland Clown Cemetery." And we’re thrilled to learn Clutterbuck has stuck with the name ever since.
Thrilled because Clutterbuck is nothing short of an artiste. Not only has he gathered some of the most sinister, most putrefying clowns we've ever seen into a single front yard, but he's created an entire world. A world that fully immerses you as you nervously make your way through it.
At the Cleland Clown Cemetery, you will be startled. You will be shook. You will be grossed out. You will want to run away.
And then, strangely, you'll begin to enjoy it.
Clowns sit upon the roof. They hang upside down at the front door. They group together, apparently plotting your demise. They whisper creepy verses. And they jump at you and/or aim weapons at you as you walk by, shrieking at the top of their evil clown lungs as they do it.
This year, Clutterbuck began assembly of his insane clown posse on Oct. 1st. The results are nothing short of awesome.
Armand Granger
1165 Kilwinning St., Penticton
Nowhere in Penticton will you find such a concentration of truly impressive Halloween houses than in the "K Street" neighbourhood, just east of Government Street in mid-town.
Here, the tradition of decorated homes – both at Halloween and at Christmas – is crazy strong.
And in the middle of it is the cornerstone of the neighbourhood and perhaps of the entire city, 1165 Kilwinning.
Here you'll find Armand Granger, a guy who literally spends weeks in his workshop and then in his yard prior to every Halloween, prepping what's likely become the most famous display in the South Okanagan.
Granger says he gets in excess of 700 trick or treaters at his door every year, and we believe it.
From the skeletal police bust on the road in front of his house to the motion detectors and animatronics and DIY tricks and tweaks scattered all over, the place is a frenzied festival of the bizarre.
Next year, Granger says he’ll add a giant home-built UFO. It'll look like it's floating above his house. We don't doubt it.
Josh Heinrich and family
103 Devon Dr., Okanagan Falls
By day he's a science teacher and cross-country running coach at Pen High.
But in his off-work hours, Josh Heinrich is an admitted addict. A pixel light addict.
And the upshot of his addiction? Only the finest example in perhaps the entire Okanagan of a new breed of Halloween house.
Unlike traditional displays, Heinrich's is based on thousands (18,000 at last count) of highly organized "pixel" lights, each of which is pre-programmed to blink and change colour in sync with musical beats.
Ultimately, 103 Devon Dr. is a "whole home" display that's unlike anything else in the South Okanagan. The entire house, and much of the yard too, reacts to songs as a single, highly illuminated entity.
It’s fresh, it’s modern, and it's oh-so-flashy.
And in the middle of it is Heinrich, with his lust for technology and that foot-long beard.
"This is year three of the pixel lights," he told us this week. "I added about three thousand more this year. It’s a lot of work for sure, but when the driveway's full of people and everyone's taking pictures, it’s totally worth it."
As a bonus, folks who make the trip can scan a QR code and choose their own song from the 28-deep playlist.
Yvonne Lyver and Jodi Leduc
#18 - 1302 Cedar Street, Okanagan Falls
Yvonne Lyver is no Halloween newbie. She's been going next level with her outdoor displays for nearly three decades.
And it shows.
Lyver and wife Jodi Leduc live in a comfy development on a quiet street in OK Falls. It's not a place where you'd expect to find one of the snazziest decorated homes in the region.
But that's exactly what you get.
Lyver, another admitted Halloween addict, has created a three-pronged display. On one side of her driveway, a garden of skeletons, including an enormous torso qabout the size of a small car that's emerging from the ground.
On the other side, a cemetery of sorts wherein you'll find some of the most grotesque spectacles in the region. Don't say we didn’t warn you.
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In her carport, there's a rogue's gallery of high-grade life-size figures. Of particular note is a glorioous murderous Martian from the 1996 flick Mars Attacks and lovely recreations of the two lead characters, Emily and Victor, from 2005's Corpse Bride.
All are animated.
Lyver says she'll see 400 kids on Halloween, many from Oliver and Penticton. It's a huge number for OK Falls.
"This year, it took about a week to put together," she told us. "I always worry about power because these lights need a lot and I don’t want to trip a breaker like I did last year."
See you next year. If the ghouls don't get you first.
