Newmarket resident Ken Gibb has long made his home a spirited part of Halloween in the community.
For 30 years, he has transformed his home for Halloween into a place filled with scares. With eight different smoke machines, six sound systems, mechanical props and more, Gibb has worked to make his on Surin Court home one of the most decorated in town each year.
Most of the props and materials Gibb makes himself by hand, with so much accumulated it overwhelms his storage area. His efforts have caused one of his neighbours to call him the "Halloween king," he added.
“It’s a lot of fun for me. I tell everybody it’s for the kids, but there’s a big kid in me that loves it as well,” Gibb said. “It’s always exciting to build a new prop and see it work.”
Halloween preparation is starting in Newmarket as the season arrives at the end of the month. Gibb and others in the community will decorate homes in the coming weeks in preparation for Oct. 31.
Gibb said he has hundreds of people come by his doors every year. He said he grew up in Scarborough where his mother was always into Halloween in a big way, and it is something he began getting into when he moved into Newmarket in the '90s.
“It’s very rewarding. One, to see the older kids enjoy it and laugh because they’ve been coming for years,” he said, adding that he and others usually dress up, too. “We love to scare people. We usually pick those people so we’re not scaring the daylights out of the younger ones.”
Neighbour Jillian Eigelshoven said Gibb’s Halloween display was one of the first things she was told about when she moved to the area in 2021.
“I was not disappointed. The dedication and talent behind every part of it is spectacular. I had never experienced such a fun street to spend Halloween on in my life,” she said. “It has those old-school vibes where there are people everywhere and the street is just filled with fun and laughter.
Gibb said that given his retirement, he is at a crossroads and is looking to start slowly winding down going all-out for Halloween.
But Halloween will go on at his home for this year at least. He said there are many great homes in Newmarket. Although it varies between neighbourhoods, Gibb said he does see more places getting into the spirit of the season around town.
“I think Halloween itself has grown over the years to something much bigger than it used to be,” he said. “More and more people are embracing the Halloween spirit.”
If your Halloween-decorated house should be included in our annual photo gallery of Newmarket's spookiest houses, please let us know by sending your address to [email protected].
