MOBILE, Ala. (WKRG) — One house in the Marchfield neighborhood in Mobile has stood out among the rest since September. The homeowner starts shopping for spine-chilling decorations in July, or as soon as Halloween items start hitting stores, turning his home into a Halloween Fun House!
Shane Burns is the homeowner, and he just might be Halloween’s biggest fan.
A lifelong passion
“As Halloween gets closer, I do get more and more into it, and I’m like, ‘I need one more thing to make it look just right.’ And that’s kind of how it happens,” he told News 5’s Cherish Lombard.
Burns’ passion for the spooky season has been strong since he was a child.
“Whether it was just the costumes or hanging out with family trick-or-treating, jump scares, it was just, I’ve always loved Halloween,” said Burns.
His tallest animatronic is a 15-foot-tall zombie, and his display all started with “Skelly.”
“The skeleton, Skelly, is a very popular 12-foot skeleton that, you know, (came) from Home Depot,” Burns said.
From there, his collection grew, and grew, and grew — and it’s still growing!
“I was at Costco a couple of hours ago and they had a mummy, (a) 7-foot mummy; that’s on my balcony right now,” Burns laughed.
Going the distance
If Shane finds something he wants online and can’t get it close to home, he’s not afraid to pile his family in their SUV and drive a few hundred miles.
“Nashville is the furthest I’ve gone for an opportunity to get something that wasn’t available locally,” said Burns. “Atlanta is also where I picked up some things. Had to take them out of the boxes to fit them in the Explorer.”
His daughter, Eliza Burns, says she will forever remember a trip to Auburn when her father was on a mission to find a particular witch decoration in stock.
“We went to the third Lowe’s and they didn’t have it there either, and mind you, now we’re in like a whole different state. So we go to the fourth Lowe’s, (and) they finally have her,” said Eliza.
The witch rode next to Eliza all the way back to Mobile.
“It kind of scared me,” recalls Eliza. “Almost every time she comes on she’s like, “I’m gonna curse you from the powers from the dark lord.”‘
Decorating the indoors, too
The spooks don’t end outside. Almost every room inside the house has a scary theme.
“We decided to make the living room a “Haunted Mansion” theme,” Burns explained.
Each room is transformed through animatronics.
“We decided to take the dining room and use the “Halloween” theme, Michael Myers,” Burns told Cherish.
Theming a room means changing out pictures on the walls.
“My daughter decided she wanted to take over the kitchen this year and she wanted to go “Hocus Pocus,” Burns pointed out.
Even the smallest details, like swapping out lighting, to make you feel like you’re in a horror movie scene, like “It.”
Shane said, “We felt like the red was the right way to go.”
Some might say the plethora of Halloween decorations is an addiction; some, a deep appreciation.
“I think it’s a little bit of both,” Burns smiled. “It takes me back to feeling like a kid again. And whenever I see kids, just whether it’s having the time of their life, having the night of their life, or … even if it’s a kid overcoming their fears, it’s just it’s just wonderful to me. I love it. I love seeing kids have fun.”
Breaking it all down
The kids, and adults, too, appreciate it all. The only thing left to do is figure out where to put all of it after Halloween.
“So far, I’ve stored it in the garage. I do break them down. I will say that with several new additions this year, it will be more of a challenge. So we’ll see how that goes. Kids may have to lose their toys and bikes so we can get this in the garage,” Burns said.
“Maybe a bedroom, too,” joked Cherish.
“Maybe so,” laughed Burns.
When you love something as much as Shane Burns loves Halloween, you’ll always find room.
