Creating an elaborate Halloween display in Paramus is a family affair

For over 30 years, the Schisani family in Paramus has delighted kids and families with ghouls and goblins in an extensive Halloween display that they make bigger and better with each passing year.

“It feels like you accomplish something that brings something to not only your family but to yourself,” said Taylor Schisani. “It gives the community something to look forward to every year.”

Putting together the displays has become a family tradition for the Schisanis, consisting of Joe Schisani, his wife Lee Ann, his daughter Ashely and his son Taylor, which they plan to do for years to come at their 201 Brookfield Ave. home.

Joe, a retired firefighter, was always a big fan of Halloween and decorating for the holidays in general, stemming all the way back to his younger days when his father would decorate their Hoboken house. Before his kids were even born, he began decorating the front of his Paramus home with a few decorations, but it grew bigger as his kids grew older and hasn’t stopped since then.

Joe Schisani and his son, Taylor, attend to the Halloween decorations in their front lawn on Brookfield Ave in Paramus, NJ on Friday Oct. 27, 2023.

“It makes people smile,” said Joe. “That makes you feel good. It puts a smile on the kids’ faces.”

The intricate display has over 50 different pieces, including gravestones, skeletons, witches, grim reapers and much more. Skeletons are displayed in various scenes, like a couple toasting with wine glasses at a café while a skeleton dog is nearby at their feet. A pumpkin head moves back and forth on a swing on the family’s porch, while a witch talks to a skull in a crystal ball and a ghoul reads a spooky story not far behind.

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The display has taken weeks to put up in full, with Taylor doing a majority of the handiwork with the larger, heavier pieces. One of the most difficult pieces was a skeleton sitting in front of a hearse due to its intricate lighting, which can take hours to put together. The hard work is always worth it in the end when the final pieces come into place, however.

“Everyone comes to the house and they always tell us what their favorite decorations are,” said Taylor. “It feels like an accomplish not only for you, but you’re showing the community ‘please come and enjoy these decorations.’”

One of the new favorite additions that visitors have enjoyed this year is a large grim reaper statue near the family’s front yard tree, which holds an hourglass and talks about time, said Taylor.

Trying to find new pieces for the display begins an entire year in advance. Once Halloween ends and Halloween merchandise becomes discounted, the family’s hunt begins in the morning for all the low-cost decorations they can get their hands on while fighting the crowds.

Joe Schisani and his son, Taylor, attend to the Halloween decorations in their front lawn on Brookfield Ave in Paramus, NJ on Friday Oct. 27, 2023.

“The day after Halloween at 8 o’clock, we just get in the car, get our coffee and we’re there at Spirit Halloween,” said Lee Ann. “You’d think we’d be the only people on line, but there’s a long time of people just like us.”

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It’s not only Halloween stores that the family visits for their special displays; they also will travel miles, even as far as Pennsylvania, to participate in auctions that are selling off special Halloween animatronics to make the display more special. The family traveled to the border of Delaware and Maryland for the witch animatronic with the talking globe about three years ago.

“If there’s something I see that I really want, we’re going,” said Joe.

One of Ashley’s favorite displays, however, is a simple ghost figure holding a pumpkin that she’s affectionately named Gust the Ghost. Gust was one of the family’s first Halloween decorations they displayed when they first started the yearly displays and always remained close to her heart.

“He’s the original,” said Ashley.

It’s a lot of work putting out animatronic pieces that move and talk, but it’s even harder to make sure they stay intact. Whenever it rains, Ashley or another family member must go out with garbage bags to cover them and make sure they stay dry. With the many rainy weekends this October, that process hasn’t been easy.

Joe said that he has a few more animatronics that sadly do not work anymore and trying to find people who can fix them has also become difficult, but he’s hopeful he can find people someday who specializes in fixing these type of machines.

Joe Schisani and his son, Taylor, attend to the Halloween decorations in their front lawn on Brookfield Ave in Paramus, NJ on Friday Oct. 27, 2023.

Even though putting up the display takes weeks of work, it’s always worth it when the family sees the happy faces of local trick-or-treaters. People outside of Paramus have made the trek to see the family’s display, including at least one person from New York.

“A lady came over with four kids and thanked us for doing this,” said Joe. “People stop and thank you and say nice job.”

Joe has noticed over the years while many households in the area would go big on celebrating and decorating for Halloween, it seems to have slowed down recently.

“When I moved here in 1987, I would get 100 kids minimum [visiting our display]” said Joe. “Last year, we got around 30 so you can see how much it’s coming down.”

This gives him and the rest of his family only more reasons to keep growing their Halloween display each year. Joe hopes more visitors will make their way over this year to visit and beep their car horns as they pass by to show that they enjoyed it.

“It would be so nice,” said Joe. “To me, it’s like going back to my own childhood, walking the streets of Hoboken. It brings back memories for me too.”

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Elaborate Paramus Halloween display is a family affair