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Ghouls, goblins, roaring dragons, giant spiders, skeletons and zombies are just some of the visually haunting treats to take in at the Exeter Township home of Daron and David O’Donald II.
Their home along Hartman Road is one of a dozen on the Creepin’ for Critters Halloween house tour they organized to benefit the Animal Rescue League of Berks County.
“We were decorating more and more and last year and we got people who wanted to donate money toward the display,” David said. “We have people that would stop literally every day on their way home, come with their kids.”
The O’Donalds said they would rather give money to a charity.
“We have a rescue dog from the Animal Rescue League for 12 years now and she loves little kids and just loves people in general,” David said. “It seems kind of fitting.”
“In fact, she loves Halloween because she knows kids come to the house,” Daron said, noting they get so many kids coming now that they sit outside with pit bull mix Willow as greeter and their son, David III, 6, as official tour guide.
“I was never into Halloween until I had little kids,” Daron said.
It definitely was their son David’s love of the holiday that pushed them into overdrive when it came to Halloween decorating, they said.
Even their youngest daughter, Marietta, 3, loves the holiday.
“Marietta has a 3-foot-tall skeleton that is like a year-round thing,” David said. “She carries it around and makes us put pajamas on it.”
When asked the favorite part of the yard display, Daron said it is a trio of dragons that breathe fog on Halloween night.
“Why I like them in particular is last year, when our daughter Marietta was 2, they roared and she roared back at them,” Daron said.
David’s favorite is the spider display featuring giant arachnids.
David and Daron take off Halloween day to prepare for their visitors, even though decorating started weeks before.
“We started Labor Day weekend this year,” David said. “We were the majority set up by October 1.”
There are a few things, such as the fog machines and some animatronics, that can’t be outside for long periods of time.
“One thing we get asked a lot is, ‘When do you take it down?’” David said. “We’re targeting this year to have everything taken down the Monday after Halloween.”
They have gained a sense of community getting to know the people in their own neighborhood, those who stop by several times a week and people who live nowhere near them but joined their social media group.
“All us decorators love to help out one another, if it’s finding more decorations or sharing amazing tips and tricks,” said Jessica Reyes, who has been going all out decorating her Stoudts Ferry Bridge Road home in Muhlenberg Township since she moved there in 2018.
“My husband and I both love Halloween and decorating the yard,” said Cindy Shingle, whose Mountain Boulevard home in Wernersville is on the tour. “It’s such a fun holiday that makes people happy. We are also huge animal lovers and supporters of the ARL, so when we saw Creepin’ for Critters needed Halloween houses for their fundraiser, we jumped onboard to help.”
“It’s a great way to bring the community together,” Daron said.
Creepin’ for Critters
Mobile phone users can download an iOS or Android version of Fright Maps, which shows the locations of the 12 homes on the Creepin’ for Critters tour.
There also is a group page on Facebook for the tour.
Each participating house has a QR coded sign that visitors can scan to make a donation directly to the ARL. Most homes also have bins to collect items on the ARL’s wish list, such as pet food, soft treats, litter and Timothy hay.
Daron and David O’Donald said they will be accepting cash donation for the ARL on Halloween night.
