Haunting as a way of life

Haunting as a way of life

You’ve seen houses with pumpkins in the windows and skeletons hanging from trees, but you may never have seen displays as elaborate as those created by Victor Bariteau, Manny Souza and Matthew and Richard Brodeur. Corpses rise from graves on their lawns; skeletons dance; dead victims hang from wrecked cars; ghosts float; eerie music haunts the air. In some cases, there are “tours” with scary blasts of air and grotesque faces popping out of the dark.

These displays are a labor of love, presented for free although we learn that the haunted-house hobby has spawned an industry: annual conventions, inspirational talks by haunters. When Victor Bariteau loses his IT job to outsourcing and gets a year’s severance pay, he decides to invest all of it in creating Ghoulie Manor, a year-round attraction even though people who’ve tried similar ventures tell him not to count on making any money.

All three families have cluttered home workshops where they make ghastly masks, animated props and yawning graves. They also frequent if “haunt” is not too punning a word local garage sales. What looks like a shabby old sofa to you might look to these guys like it belongs in a creepy Victorian parlor.

This does cost some money Bariteau enlists neighbor labor but barks orders at them like an impatient drill sergeant. The father and son team of Matthew and Richard Brodeur are an enigma; there’s no hint of how they earn their income (if any), and although Matthew’s wife seems affectionate enough, she also seems mystified.

Most enthusiastic are Bariteau’s wife and one daughter (the one who helps him paint and nail). Wandering around his almost-finished yard one year a few days before D-Day Halloween, he thinks that maybe someday they’ll look back fondly on their participation. “And if they don’t, they can throw out all this stuff. I won’t need it anymore.”

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