The Story Behind West Hartford's 'Halloween House'

Written by Ted Glanzer 

If the store candy displays and the colder temperatures weren’t enough to tell you Halloween is around the corner, then the annual display at 115 North Main St. in West Harford surely is.

This year, homeowner Matt Warshauer decided to play it more up the middle, with no political commentary.

“We decided to go with a medieval castle just to mix it up,” said Warshauer in a telephone interview Thursday. “We do something different every single year.”

Indeed, the past two years, Warshauer, a history professor at Central Connecticut State University, had a Civil War theme for his front yard display. And he also had contemporary themes, too. Last year featured likenesses of President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney engaged in a tug-of-war with a U.S. flag.

Warshauer said that he didn’t shy away from the politics this year so much as nothing really grabbed his fancy in the political cycle.

“I got some ideas, but I felt like I was forcing it and I never had to force it in the past,” Warshauer said. “People are also a little bit politicked out. We decided to be a little more ‘traditional’ this Halloween.”

Still, it took Warshauer and his team - his three daughters ages 9, 12 and 13 and their friends - 12 hours to set up the structure, the graveyard and the other decorations last Saturday.

“We went with a straight spooky Halloween,” Warshauer said. “The one thing we won’t do is happy Halloween. We like scary Halloween.”

Warshauer said that he has received mostly positive reviews for this year’s motif, though there were some who requested the political bent.

“People miss it a little bit, but the likelihood is I won’t disappoint them in the future,” Warshauer said. “Our politicians always give us something to work with.”