Minnesota Prairie Roots

Writing and photography by Audrey Kletscher Helbling

An impressive & immersive Halloween “wedding” in Faribault draws lots of “guests” October 29, 2023

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The entry to Coy and Kathy Lane’s second annual Halloween display in Faribault. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2023)

IT’S SIMULTANEOUSLY CREEPY, creative and community-centered. That would be the Halloween display in the front and side yards of Coy and Kathy Lane, who live a block away from me up a steep side street.

The band plays for wedding guests. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2023)

Late Sunday morning Randy and I finally toured the Coys’ second annual Halloween creation, this year themed to the wedding of Stella Live and Noah Pulse. Kathy stepped outside her house to greet us and then to turn on the switches activating lights, sound and action. The Coys want visitors to walk into their yard for a fully-immersive experience. Already some 1,400 “guests” have stopped by to witness this wedding and attend the reception, according to Kathy. That’s double those who viewed their 2022 clown daycare display.

By the cemetery, an unexpected fright. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2023)

From chatting with Kathy, it’s clear she and Coy love transforming their yard into a Halloween attraction that delights, awes and impresses. The couple enjoys the social aspect of interacting with visitors in what Kathy calls a family-friendly setting. If they learn that a young guest may be frightened by any aspect of their display, they’ll switch off the scary.

The Angel of Death activates to infuse scary into the cemetery. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2023)

Had Kathy not warned me about the over-sized black-shrouded skeleton she activated near the cemetery, I may have jumped a bit. She noted every Halloween scene needs a cemetery, even at a wedding, where the reception was held at the Hiss and Hearse Golf Club and Cemetery. And, yes, there are open coffins and an Angel of Death and…

Brewing up drinks at the bar. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2023)

And there’s a band and a wicked witch mother-in-law photo-bombing a photo of the bride and groom and a full open bar and a banquet table and a whole lot more.

At least one wedding guest drank too much. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2023)

The attention to detail is remarkable. A guest who’s overindulged, perhaps on North Dust, Coffin Juice or Wing of Bat, pukes green vomit. A skeleton drummer bangs out a rhythm with bone drumsticks. A granny, skeleton cat beside her, rocks on the front porch as she oversees the festivities.

The creepy little girl. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2023)

Creepiest of all, in my opinion, is the teddy bear clutching girl who waits just inside the yard entry. Her long black hair falls around her sickly green face defined by glowing blue eyes. Over-sized green feet support her small frame. She’s off in a ghoulish sort of way that made me wonder what she’s capable of, what she’s thinking.

There’s lots to see, including a horse-drawn hearse with a surprise inside the glass-encased hearse. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2023)

I know what I was thinking upon viewing the Coys’ display. I was thinking how generous, how creative, how wonderful of this couple to share their love of Halloween with the Faribault community. They’ve generated lots of smiles, mixed with an element of fear, but in a good sort of way.

FYI: The Halloween display, located at 234 First Avenue Southwest, will be up only until October 31. Lights turn off at 9 pm weekdays and 10 pm weekends.

© Copyright 2023 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Halloween in Hayfield October 27, 2016

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A doll's head lies next to a tombstone in a Hayfield, Minnesota, yard decorated for Halloween.

A doll’s head lies next to a tombstone in a Hayfield, Minnesota, yard decorated for Halloween.

 

YOU WON’T FIND A SINGLE Halloween decoration in my yard. It’s not that I’m anti-Halloween. It’s just that, without kids at home anymore, I don’t feel the need to decorate. And the trick-or-treaters who stop at my house typically number less than a dozen.

 

 

Looking from the Gargoyle suspended from the Kuster home toward Hayfield's Main Street.

Looking from the Gargoyle suspended from the Kuster home toward Hayfield’s Main Street.

 

But then there’s Brianna Kuster who lives in Hayfield, a Dodge County community of about 1,300. She loves Halloween. So much, in fact, that she and Ryan were married on October 31. Their first of two children, a son, was born on a Friday the 13th.

 

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Until last Saturday, I’d only been to Hayfield once previously and I’d never met Brianna. But as I was photographing her Halloween adorned home in the former The Herald newspaper office, Brianna opened her front door to let out the dog. I nearly toppled over in fright, not expecting a canine to bound out of a building.

 

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Along Main Street in Hayfield, Brianna and Ryan Kuster have decorated their property for Halloween.

Along Main Street in Hayfield, Brianna and Ryan Kuster have decorated their property for Halloween.

 

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Thus my introduction to this young mother who creatively staged her House of Kuster, est. October 31, 2009, property for Halloween. The décor is tastefully done with nothing particularly ghoulish.

 

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There’s a humorous bent and an obvious attention to details. This is kid-friendly.

 

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That said, Brianna shared how she recently scared a group of students walking by while on a field trip. She simply peered through the curtains. That was enough to get a rise.

 

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As we talked, Brianna carried totes of Halloween items to a vehicle for transport to the fire hall a few blocks away. The Hayfield Fire Department is sponsoring a Spook House & Carnival and this Halloween lover was on it.

 

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Before leaving, Brianna invited me into the former newspaper office. There’s no evidence this Main Street building once housed a community newspaper. The Kusters live upstairs and hope to some day finish the lower level, which holds great promise with worn wooden floors. As we stepped inside, a black cat (imagine that) walked through an open doorway. And then I noticed the mini green skulls lining the stairway.

 

On the Kusters' front door...

On the Kusters’ front door…

 

Yup, this is the home of a family (or at least a wife/mother) who loves Halloween. And I expect come October 31, the House of Kuster will draw lots of trick-or-treaters to the Main Street of this small southern Minnesota farming community.

 

When the Kusters purchased the former The Herald building, they also bought the property next door. They tore down the house there. The vacant lot is now the setting for the bulk of the Kusters' Halloween decorations.

When the Kusters purchased the former The Herald building, they also bought the property next door. They tore down the house there. The vacant lot is now the setting for the bulk of the Kusters’ outdoor Halloween decorations.

 

TELL ME: Do you decorate for Halloween or have a neighbor/friend/family member who loves Halloween as much as Brianna Kuster?

© Copyright 2016 Audrey Kletscher Helbling