LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Fright and delight meet every year at the corner of Markham Street and Sun Valley Road, but this year among the festivities is also a memorial for Otis Schiller, the beloved Halloween King.
Ann Schiller said even though it looks like Halloween around her home, it doesn’t feel like Halloween without her husband.
“Everything has a memory, has a place,” Schiller said. “I can just see him here. He’s just a part of it.”
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For more than 30 years the handcrafted display grew, earning Otis Schiller the title of Halloween King.
Dan Tyler grew up with Schiller. He remembers Schiller learning magic tricks, tying balloon animals and eventually graduating from clown college to entertain at parties.
“He kind of had an actor in his blood,” Tyler stated.
When Halloween became Schiller’s stage, Tyler was one of the friends recruited to dress up and hand out candy. He remembers some years when the line went down four blocks with kids lining up and cars being directed by off-duty officers just to see what the Halloween King built.