Halloween nightmare is Christmas for a local macabre Saint Nick

Activity at Doug Pihl’s house at 1121 NW 31st was at a fevered pitch Tuesday.

He was readying for his favorite holiday and the hours were running short before the arrival of trick-or-treaters.

You could call Pihl a macabre Saint Nick as he and his bone brigade of helpers took the day off work to put in the biggest and boldest pieces at his home cemetery for the night’s events. Like Santa’s workshop on Christmas Eve, there was a whirr of work going on shortly after noon.

Halloween is worth it, Pihl said.

“That’s the only holiday I do anything on,” he said. “I’m hoping to get more and more trick-or-treaters.”

Behind his temporary cemetery fence is a veritable boneyard of sights. A sign warning to watch for grave robbers appears in front of a pair of skeletons carrying an occupied coffin. Throughout the yard are skeletal creations to catch the eye. Pihl said while most of the bones are plastic, there are some surprises out there.

“There’s real bones scattered throughout the yard,” he said. “There’s cow, llama, donkey and, later, I’ll be putting out some real coyote bones.”

With a smile on his face, Pihl gets a real treat from his little horrific gifts among the display. At his eighth year at this address, he’s been building and showing his displays since 2002 in Lawton. Kids stop in wonder before approaching to collect their candy. Drivers stop in awe and block traffic when stumbling upon the vision, he said.

“At the old place, we used to have to direct traffic, so many people stopped,” he said. “We haven’t had to do it over here (pause) yet.”

By 6 p.m., Pihl would have everything in place. He decks out in his vampire hunter costume each year to greet the kids.

Most of the attractions are created by him.

Behind a tall semi-enclosure near the house where candy is collected is a handmade work featuring the monster to this Dr. Frankenstein’s creation. It offers Pihl a favorite moment each year.

“I’ll say, ‘Say hi to Frankie,” he said. “They’ll look up and just go ‘Uuuuuuuuuh.’”

Seeing kids’ excitement for Halloween’s spectacle is what’s in it for Pihl. You’ll see him and his entourage of skeletons — some silly — and their custom rides along with his classic vehicles at almost every car show trunk-or-treat in the weeks before the holiday. He’ll be wearing a smile of sheer joy every time there’s a reaction.

“I just hope to keep getting more and more kids each year,” he said.