It’s scary how elaborate this Halloween house is

By Damon Williams Kitsap News Group • October 30, 2023 1:30 am

Everybody has their favorite holiday—one they really go all out for.

For Randy Weaver of Bremerton, there’s no denying that’s Halloween. Go by his place at 2418 NE Blossom Place, and it’s that obvious.

Weaver has always enjoyed decorating and preparing for Halloween, but for about five years now the intensity with which he celebrates the holiday has been on an upswing—to put it mildly.

Weaver said that normally planning begins around May with the layout, themes and resources. He’s made some significant investments into the materials and equipment to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars. The number of people who help also has grown to be 13 friends, neighbors and relatives.

He’s needed the help as Weaver said attendance has doubled every year since inception, to the point that now hundreds visit on Halloween night. He knows because he hands out full-sized candy bars to the kids and jello shots to the adults to measure attendance.

Normally, Halloween night is the only time Weaver’s display is open to the public, other than for drive-by viewing. But on Oct. 28 there were ushers/henchmen on duty because the popularity of Blossom Place’s Halloween Event has grown to the point that it was the site of a wedding.

Weaver was asked if he would be willing to host the wedding ceremony and reception for Lizzie and Chuck Frank. Approximately 30 guests attended the event officiated appropriately enough by a Beetlejuice character.

As for the future, Weaver said he’d like more space to enhance types of and scale of attractions he could create. But, he doesn’t plan to stop, regardless of the scale. When asked what his motivation for an undertaking of this size and commitment was, Weaver just said that he loved it. He didn’t recall doing this kind of thing as a kid himself, and he mused that perhaps he missed the memory of it. But, he also added, emphatically, that it was clear to him that kids loved it, and it was very gratifying to him to see them, and their escorts, spend a little bit of time getting away from the reality of the world and enjoying a bit of the wonder and surprise.