Many people put up Christmas lights, and of course there are entire neighborhoods famous for going completely overboard with seasonal decor, but few have the passion for Halloween that Ben Mcindoe does.
He has pumpkins and more pumpkins, around his yard, up on his deck, and along pathways. Friendly ghosts standing guard, a big cat, a witch and even a giant spider on his roof.

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His house is located at the corner of 38th s.w. and s.w. Myrtle.

Mcindoe started with Christmas but "When my daughter was four or five she told me she thought I was getting carried away and I should pick another holiday so we added Halloween too," he said. That's not to say he ignores the other holidays. "We have two seven foot tall turkeys for Thanksgiving," he said laughing, "The kids love it."

Whatever decor he puts up can be seen for some distance since he's at the crest of the hill in his neighborhood. "The guy I bought the house from said he could see it from the Southworth Ferry," said Mcindoe.

It seems to have the desired effect on trick or treaters since he claims he gets over 100, going through six large Costco bags of candy while his neighbors average only twenty visitors. This is a bit unclear however since "We don't get to go out, we have to stay here because we're so busy."

His decorations are intentionally not the scary or horror type, "no skeletons," he said, instead he favors more fun characters and themes. His preference for this kind of decoration matches his concern and love for children. Mcindoe has been a Santa Claus for the Forgotten Children's Fund for about 30 years.

To set it all up takes time of course, "In real time about six or seven hours, but with my four year old grandson helping me it takes about two days."