Shannah Pumariega Sabater said asking her husband, Miguel, to tone down the Halloween decorations would be like asking him to put his shoes on backwards.
“It’s his nature,” she said.
The family’s home on Annmarie Drive in Virgil is an annual showstopper during spooky season, and this year, the volume was turned up even louder.
The display featured a collection of animatronics and decorations the family has amassed over the past decade, along with several new pieces. A skeleton band in the family’s garage entertained children with music as they stopped to collect their treats.
“It was really busy,” Pumariega Sabater said. “There were about 300 kids.”
The family began preparing for Halloween at the start of October, but the most intensive work began two weeks ago, when the Pumariega Sabaters took time off work to focus on decorating.
“I think that the idea of having the time off really made the smaller things that might have been missed really work out for us,” she said.
Credit: DAVE VAN DE LAAR
Over at 25 Annmarie Dr., Miguel Pumariega Sabater’s elaborate and spooky decorations have been a main attraction in the neighbourhood for several years. He’s been a Halloween enthusiast since coming to Canada in 2012.The process takes time and involves considerable handiwork. Miguel Pumariega Sabater said he built the wooden structure around the garage in a couple of hours. He also hand-taped pipes for a fog machine.
All the hard work is worth it to see the looks of shock and surprise on neighbours’ faces, Shannah Pumariega Sabater said.
“It’s a labor of love, it really is.”
In 2023, Miguel Pumariega Sabater spoke to The Lake Report about his childhood in Cuba, where Halloween decorations were strongly discouraged and could even be punishable by law.
“When I grew up, if you had any (decorations) you would go to jail. Anything that has to do with North American traditions, you go to jail,” Pumariega Sabater told The Lake Report.
Since then, Pumariega Sabater has dedicated time to making Halloween memorable for the community and his two sons, Miguelito and Diego.
The family keeps its Christmas decorations to a minimum, choosing an elaborate Halloween setup over other luxury expenses.
“You don’t need to be rich to do anything like this. No. You just have to plan yourself,” he said.
Next year, the family hopes to make the display even bigger and better — if possible.
“I’m going to try to see if I can expand it,” Miguel Pumariega Sabater said. “I’m going to see if I can convince my neighbours.”
