JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Spooky season is upon us! As Halloween inches closer, one Mandarin family is calling all Halloween-lovers to visit their creepy display.
Heather Kuiper told First Coast News her family's love for decorating actually started with Christmas, but the tradition gradually made its way into their Halloween plans.
"We kind of started out when we lived in Middleburg," said Kuiper. "Then we moved to Fleming Island, and in both places, we had these big huge crowds and everybody loved it."
After moving to Thornapple Drive, the Kuiper family didn't see as many trick-or-treaters come by their haunted display.
"I think it's just because of where we live," Kuiper said. "It's just a little disheartening because we only had like ten trick-or-treaters."
Despite the low turn out last year, Kuiper hopes this year they see more families in the community stopping by.
"We just want to share that spirit with everybody. Ever year we add to our collection and it gets a little bigger and bigger every year," said Kuiper.
Although this year, the display does have one reoccurring visitor.
"Our next door neighbor, she's I think about three years old, and her mom has to bring her every single day to check out the spider," Kuiper said.
Kuiper and her husband make most of the display from scratch.
"All of the cobwebs on the front of the house are all handmade. The coffin the skeletons are carrying is handmade," Kuiper said. "The actual spider webs draped all over the house is actually called beef netting. They use it in meat packing companies."
Kuiper's secret trick to take the display to the next level?
"All of the fog machines," Kuiper said. "That's what kind of adds, for me, the creepy factor."
Anyone who wants to pay this 'spook-tacular' display a visit, head to Thornapple Drive in Mandarin.
