RINGTOWN - A vampire would feel right at home at Cecilia and John Bolish's house this time of year.
Cecilia loves Halloween, and for the past 10 years, she and her husband have decorated their house in the 500 block of West Main Street with jack-o-lanterns, witches, ghosts, strobe lights, smoke generators and more, accompanied by eerie music and sound effects.
"People who are not aware of what we have here, sometimes they think a police car has pulled somebody over because of the flashing lights," Cecilia, 55, said.
"We also have a lot of people stopping to take pictures," John, 60, added.
Originally from the village of Saint Nicholas near Mahanoy City, the Bolishes moved to Ringtown 23 years ago, and while they had some Halloween decorations for a time, it wasn't until 10 years ago that the display started to become more elaborate.
The decorations are not restricted to the outside. A small, black, inflatable coffin on a table in the living room is filled with candy for the taking. A life-size witch with a steaming cauldron that is near the entrance to the kitchen at times comes "alive" to scare the unexpected. There are spiderwebs, black cats, ghosts, jack-o-lanterns and if you look closely enough, a few amputated "fingers" placed here and there.
"I do like Halloween," Cecilia said with lots of enthusiasm while sitting at the kitchen table, complete with spiderweb place mats and a homemade centerpiece of a witch. The neighbors expect the displays every year.
"The cops already know me, too," she said, adding there have not yet been any 911 calls for smoke in the area.
"One mother has to stop every day to just to let her son look at it again," Cecilia said. "The school bus stops outside to let the kids look at it. What we really love is when the kids come to the house. There is this little girl who says that she really loves the 'ghost house.' "
"This is for the kids and to see their faces," John said.
"We do it to make the little people happy," Cecilia said.
Cecelia has encouraged others on the block to do more holiday decorating, so the future could find the block becoming a Halloween haven.
Cecilia has always been interested in Halloween, but her interest has grown quite a bit in the past decade.
"I used to put out only little ghosts and things at the beginning, but then it just took over," she said.
"We would have people come over and ask 'It looks great. What's new for next year?' " John said. "So Cele had to make something new. She made about 90 percent of the decorations."
"I make a lot of the people out there," Cecilia said. "We made the guillotine. We're down in the basement working on stuff."
There are all types of characters on the front porch, some that move or emit smoke and make sounds. Looking up, a woman in a white nightgown hangs from the second-floor.
The items that the couple buys come from wherever they find them. Sometimes, something is expensive and Cecilia and John decide to make their own, getting materials from craft shops and other stores. Yard sales are also potential sources for Halloween décor.
"I tell people don't throw away your old boots, because I can use them for my dummies," Cecilia said.
She begins her decorating preparations in early September, bringing the decorations out of storage and inspecting them.
"I just enjoy the holiday. I enjoy all the decorating. I also enjoy scaring the heck out of the little people," Cecilia said with a laugh.