Viral Stranger Things Halloween decorations under fire from neighbors
By Daniel Roman
It’s not all fun and games in Hawkins, and neither is it in Plainsfield Illinois, where a family is being pressured to take down an elaborate Stranger Things Halloween lawn display by one of their neighbors.
The display stretches across their lawn and driveway and depicts several prominent images from Stranger Things, including a Demogorgon and Billy Hargrove’s tombstone. The centerpiece of the decorations is a life-size mannequin of Max Mayfield floating in mid-air, recreating the iconic scene from Stranger Things season 4 where she’s attacked by Vecna in the cemetery.
The Halloween display has gotten an enormous amount of attention after it went viral on TikTok. People have come from far and wide to see the display, which has caused a huge increase in foot traffic to the quiet neighborhood where it’s located.
"@horrorprops♬ Stranger Things – Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein"
While this might seem pretty amazing to us nerds, there was one neighbor who was less than enthused about the extra visitors to the area. According to ABC News, the family took down their display until they could meet with village officials to decide its future.
“Everyone seemed OK with it, until they weren’t,” said Aubrey Appel, who created the display. “It’s upsetting, you know, to be told ‘we support you. We’re behind you. We understand why you are doing this’ and to have that blow up in your face.”
“It’s so awesome,” neighbor Trina Mahon said. “They put so much work into it. The kids are always helping out. They think it is the most awesome thing and when they found out they were going to be getting closed, the daughter literally was crying so hard.”
Illinois village officials rule in favor of Halloween cheer; Stranger Things display will return
Fortunately, this is a story with a happy ending. The display’s creators Dave and Aubrey Appel did indeed meet with the Plainsfield village officials, and were given the okay to put their elaborate Stranger Things Halloween decorations back up.
“The conversation looked like I had fans in city hall,” Dave Appel said. “Very much, ‘We love what you’re doing. Thank you so much for helping the community and doing something good for the community.'”
The Appel’s Stranger Things display will return in its full glory this weekend, though it seems a slight compromise has been reached that will hopefully keep all parties happy. The full display with all its lights and sound effects will run Fridays and Saturdays from 5 p.m. – 10 p.m. and Sundays from 4 p.m. -9 p.m. During the week, the display will remain up for viewing, but will have the lights and sound turned off.
“We hope the neighbors are happy and we don’t want to burn any bridges with them,” Appel said. “We just want them to be able to enjoy it with us.”
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