In an era when inflatables reign supreme in nearly every yard on Halloween , retired assistant fire chief Cliff Hansen still prefers to dust off his old sander, pick up a paintbrush and create his own spooky — but playful — display.
“It’s all for the kids,” Hansen said. “I don’t really like the gory stuff; I like our decorations to be goofy and great for kids. We get so many that come by here and take pictures.”
The Air Force veteran and former Fort Bliss firefighter has created dozens of wooden cutouts over the decades, from a haunting headless horseman to scheming skeletons and nostalgic characters like Tweety Bird in devil horns and a tribute to the original Mr. and Mrs. Frankenstein.
People flock yearly to the Northeast home, located at 4121 John B Oblinger Drive, to get a glimpse of the Halloween decor.
“Every year we run out of candy because it gets really crazy,” Hansen said. “This year, I counted, we got 34 pounds of candy.”
Hansen begins transforming his yard the last week of September, and the week-long setup is no easy feat. Not only are his displays waterproof, but through trial and error, Hansen has figured out what works best for enduring those strong Borderland gusts.