Boyle turns Elsmore into ‘spook central’

ELSMORE — With a healthy dose of both the comic and the macabre, Brenda Boyle’s yard is almost complete.
The Wichita transplant who moved to Elsmore over the summer, is just days away from her favorite time of the year — Halloween.
“This is really the only holiday of the year that’s based solely on fun,” Boyle said.
As such, Boyle has continued her time-honored tradition of trying to scare the dickens out of passersby.
Her yard, at 121 E. Third St., is a veritable spook central with dozens of scary characters, tombstones, lights and other personal touches.
“If I don’t give somebody second thoughts about approaching, then I haven’t done my job,” she joked.
Her yard has already garnered plenty of interest since she started placing decorations about three weeks ago.
“I’ve had adults coming by each day to see what’s new,” she said. “They’re eating it up. It’s been great.”
Boyle started her Halloween tradition more than 20 years ago. She started by carving pumpkins, many with elaborate designs.
Eventually, the decorations supplanted the pumpkins.
To contain costs, Boyle did most of her big-ticket purchases immediately after Halloween to get items on clearance. She also is an avid yard sale fanatic.
“My husband used to be really tight with money, so I had to find creative ways to let my weirdness show without hitting our pocketbook,” Boyle said. “This wasn’t as expensive as you might think.”
Many of her decorations are homemade, including the tombstones, simulated concrete pillars, and the two centerpieces, “monster mud” statues that stand on opposite sides of her driveway.
The first statue is of the Grim Reaper; the second is the Angel of Death.
She created both by wrapping young family members in duct tape, then carefully removing the tape so that it holds its shape.
Using those as forms, she meticulously put them together with chicken wire, rebar, insulation foam and coats of the aforementioned monster mud, a mixture of drywall compound and paint.
“It turned out pretty well,” she said. “They’re both about five years old, and they didn’t handle it well when I transported them from Wichita to Elsmore, so I had to go back and do some repairs.”
Other noteworthy pieces:
— A series of skeletons adorn a nearby motorboat with another skeleton carefully perched top a pair of water skis.
— Tombstones are adorned with Elsmore-centric businesses and schools no longer in existence. Boyle’s father, Elsmore Mayor Clarence Price, shared with her pieces of the town’s history.
— Multiple coffins with mannequins, dolls and other spooky sites are scattered throughout the yard.
— A laser light display illuminates a tree in the midst of shedding its leaves for fall. Boyle accentuated the tree with a mannequin and healthy doses of makeshift spider webs to create the colorful display.
— A crib filled with freakish dolls is enough to give even the most “scare-proof” individual pause.
— New this year, are ghosts hanging from Boyle’s front yard trees. “The wind’s done a number on them so far. I hope that won’t be an issue,” she said.
Weather permitting, Boyle also will have a fog machine set up on Halloween night.
She invites visitors to come by and to take their time.
“I’ll change things around every day,” she said. “I can always find ways to make things better, and there’s still work to do.”
Boyle’s goal is to continue expanding her display. She owns the house next door, while a family member owns the one on the opposite side of her home.
Boyle also realizes some youngsters might be a bit too scared to come by.
“We don’t want to scare anybody away,” she said. “If somebody is scared, we’ll tone it down for them. That’s all Halloween is about — candy and fun.”