In Kimmage, Dublin, there is one street down which dog walkers and children going to school go out of their way to walk during October.
The home of Diego Gonzalez and Harry Weir on Stannaway Road is barely visible behind a horror circus of life-size clownish figures, masks and funfair contraptions.
The couple say it took them three days to dress the house and garden for Halloween, but they have been working on their decorations since June.
“It’s a great response that we are having,” says Gonzalez, who is speaking while dressed as the Joker from Batman.
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“It’s quite funny because we are not used to having that amount of people (outside). So suddenly you are going out to meet the postman and you have 10 people there,” he says.
Weir, who is dressed as Ronald McDonald, adds: “You have to be really careful when you’re opening the curtains ... There could be someone taking pictures in your direction.”
They make most of their decorations by hand or find them in charity shops.
A giant jack-in-the-box was made from a spring in a hot water tank. The figures are crafted partly out of pillows and dyed sheets. Pumpkins lining the path were grown from seed at Weir’s family home in Monaghan.
[ Tramping a bleak bog as part of a spooky Halloween tourOpens in new window ]
Sail-like material that hangs overhead was made from old bed sheets and linen.
Most of their decorations are recycled from year to year, but fresh each Halloween is the couple’s theme. Previous iterations included witches, sacrifices and butchers. This year is a “circus of horrors”.
“We’re trying to show not all Halloween is violence and horrible, some of it is a bit fun,” says Weir.
The couple moved into their home nine years ago, having previously lived together in an apartment.
Weir says he was excited at being able to trick or treat or having trick or treaters call to their door, as no one trick or treated in his apartment complex.
As a child, Weir loved Halloween. He lived in a rural area of Monaghan where trick or treating was rare, but he recalls bonfires being lit every year.
Growing up in the north of Spain, Gonzalez’s greatest awareness of Halloween came from movies. He thought it was solely an American festival.
Gonzalez moved to Ireland in 2007 to work as a cabin crew member. He met Weir, a photographer, the following year and they have since married.
In the years since moving into their house, their Halloween decorations have grown in number and extravagance.
Four years ago they received their first donation from someone who told them to donate it to a charity of their choice for their hard work involved. They chose the Alzheimer Society of Ireland, as Weir’s mother, who died in 2021, had had dementia.
This is their third year decorating for charity. In their first year they raised almost €600, while last year they got €1,500, a figure they hope to surpass this time around.
So far, they cannot believe the response that they have had to their decorations. Social media posts about the decorated house have been seen in places such as Monaghan, Belfast and as far as Brazil.
One influencer’s video of the house received more than 12,500 views, says Weir.
When the Halloween decorations come down, many people turn to thinking of twinkling lights and blow-up Santa Clauses.
Weir and Gonzalez show more restraint with their December display. Gonzalez explains: “We always say with Christmas, you have to be perfect and you have to have the lights and you have to have all of this stuff which is all so expensive ... With Halloween anything goes.”
