The Halloween decorations at the home of Anne Pothier on the 1200-block of Cherry Hills Street in Placentia on Tuesday, October 24, 2023. Each year residents on Cherry Hills Street pull out all the stops with their Halloween decorations attracting hundreds of visitors. The event attracts so many visitors they close down the street to vehicle traffic. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The Borgelt family moved into their Placentia neighborhood in 2019, and when Halloween came around they took advantage of their new, larger yard and added to the modest collection of decorations they had brought with them.
“Luckily we picked the right street,” said Stephen Borgelt. “Everyone on the street loves Halloween.”
Modest went out the window, and soon the Borgelts were trying to keep up with the enthusiasm their neighbors on the 1200 block of Cherry Hills Street started showing for decorating their yards.
The Borgelt family, from left, Milania, 11, her parents Stephen and Stephanie, and sister Malvina, 13, are shown next to their version of the “Grim Grinning Ghosts” bust with a video projection of each family member’s image on each bust singing the song, “Grim Grinning Ghosts” in Placentia on Tuesday, October 24, 2023. Each year residents on the 1200-block of Cherry Hills Street pull out all the stops with their Halloween decorations attracting hundreds of visitors. The event attracts so many visitors they close down the street to vehicle traffic. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Halloween decorations on Cherry Hills Street in Placentia on Tuesday, October 24, 2023. Each year residents on the 1200-block of Cherry Hills Street pull out all the stops with their Halloween decorations attracting hundreds of visitors. The event attracts so many visitors they close down the street to vehicle traffic. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The Hudson family, from left, Anthony, 20, Audrey, 15, and their parents Marion Cruz and Brian Hudson are shown next to their pirate-themed Halloween creation in Placentia on Tuesday, October 24, 2023. Each year residents on the 1200-block of Cherry Hills Street pull out all the stops with their Halloween decorations attracting hundreds of visitors. The event attracts so many visitors they close down the street to vehicle traffic. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The Borgelt family, from left, Milania, 11, her parents Stephanie and Stephen, and sister Malvina, 13, are shown with their Hollywood-themed Halloween creation in Placentia on Tuesday, October 24, 2023. Each year residents on the 1200-block of Cherry Hills Street pull out all the stops with their Halloween decorations attracting hundreds of visitors. The event attracts so many visitors they close down the street to vehicle traffic. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Singing skeletons are part of Anne Pothier’s Halloween decorations on Cherry Hills Street in Placentia on Tuesday, October 24, 2023. Each year residents on the 1200-block of Cherry Hills Street pull out all the stops with their Halloween decorations attracting hundreds of visitors. The event attracts so many visitors they close down the street to vehicle traffic. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The Borgelt family added a bit of humor to the graveyard head stones of their Hollywood-themed Halloween creation in Placentia on Tuesday, October 24, 2023. Each year residents on the 1200-block of Cherry Hills Street pull out all the stops with their Halloween decorations attracting hundreds of visitors. The event attracts so many visitors they close down the street to vehicle traffic. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The Borgelt family added a bit of humor to the graveyard head stones of their Hollywood-themed Halloween creation in Placentia on Tuesday, October 24, 2023. Each year residents on the 1200-block of Cherry Hills Street pull out all the stops with their Halloween decorations attracting hundreds of visitors. The event attracts so many visitors they close down the street to vehicle traffic. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The Borgelt family added a bit of humor to the graveyard head stones of their Hollywood-themed Halloween creation in Placentia on Tuesday, October 24, 2023. Each year residents on the 1200-block of Cherry Hills Street pull out all the stops with their Halloween decorations attracting hundreds of visitors. The event attracts so many visitors they close down the street to vehicle traffic. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
A creepy doll is placed in the garden plants at a Cherry Hills Street home in Placentia on Tuesday, October 24, 2023. Each year residents on the 1200-block of Cherry Hills Street pull out all the stops with their Halloween decorations attracting hundreds of visitors. The event attracts so many visitors they close down the street to vehicle traffic. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The Hudson family created a pirate-themed Halloween scene at their home in Placentia on Tuesday, October 24, 2023. Each year residents on the 1200-block of Cherry Hills Street pull out all the stops with their Halloween decorations attracting hundreds of visitors. The event attracts so many visitors they close down the street to vehicle traffic. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Some of the elaborate Halloween decorations on Cherry Hills Street in Placentia on Tuesday, October 24, 2023. Each year residents on the 1200-block of Cherry Hills Street pull out all the stops with their Halloween decorations attracting hundreds of visitors. The event attracts so many visitors they close down the street to vehicle traffic. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Halloween decorations on Cherry Hills Street in Placentia on Tuesday, October 24, 2023. Each year residents on the 1200-block of Cherry Hills Street pull out all the stops with their Halloween decorations attracting hundreds of visitors. The event attracts so many visitors they close down the street to vehicle traffic. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Some of the elaborate Halloween decorations on Cherry Hills Street in Placentia on Tuesday, October 24, 2023. Each year residents on the 1200-block of Cherry Hills Street pull out all the stops with their Halloween decorations attracting hundreds of visitors. The event attracts so many visitors they close down the street to vehicle traffic. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The Hudson family created a pirate-themed Halloween scene at their home in Placentia on Tuesday, October 24, 2023. Each year residents on the 1200-block of Cherry Hills Street pull out all the stops with their Halloween decorations attracting hundreds of visitors. The event attracts so many visitors they close down the street to vehicle traffic. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Halloween decorations on Cherry Hills Street in Placentia on Tuesday, October 24, 2023. Each year residents on the 1200-block of Cherry Hills Street pull out all the stops with their Halloween decorations attracting hundreds of visitors. The event attracts so many visitors they close down the street to vehicle traffic. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Skeletons taking a bubble bath is one of the many creative Halloween decorations at the home of Anne Pothier on the 1200-block of Cherry Hills Street in Placentia on Tuesday, October 24, 2023. Each year residents on Cherry Hills Street pull out all the stops with their Halloween decorations attracting hundreds of visitors. The event attracts so many visitors they close down the street to vehicle traffic. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The Halloween decorations at the home of Anne Pothier on the 1200-block of Cherry Hills Street in Placentia on Tuesday, October 24, 2023. Each year residents on Cherry Hills Street pull out all the stops with their Halloween decorations attracting hundreds of visitors. The event attracts so many visitors they close down the street to vehicle traffic. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The Hudson family created a pirate-themed Halloween scene at their home in Placentia on Tuesday, October 24, 2023. Each year residents on the 1200-block of Cherry Hills Street pull out all the stops with their Halloween decorations attracting hundreds of visitors. The event attracts so many visitors they close down the street to vehicle traffic. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The Halloween decorations at the home of Anne Pothier on the 1200-block of Cherry Hills Street in Placentia on Tuesday, October 24, 2023. Each year residents on Cherry Hills Street pull out all the stops with their Halloween decorations attracting hundreds of visitors. The event attracts so many visitors they close down the street to vehicle traffic. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The Halloween decorations at the home of Anne Pothier on the 1200-block of Cherry Hills Street in Placentia on Tuesday, October 24, 2023. Each year residents on Cherry Hills Street pull out all the stops with their Halloween decorations attracting hundreds of visitors. The event attracts so many visitors they close down the street to vehicle traffic. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The Borgelt family’s Hollywood-themed Halloween creation in Placentia on Tuesday, October 24, 2023. Each year residents on the 1200-block of Cherry Hills Street pull out all the stops with their Halloween decorations attracting hundreds of visitors. The event attracts so many visitors they close down the street to vehicle traffic. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
A fan blows the dress of a Marilyn Monroe skeleton at the Borgelt family home as part of their Hollywood-themed Halloween decorations in Placentia on Tuesday, October 24, 2023. (Each year residents on the 1200-block of Cherry Hills Street pull out all the stops with their Halloween decorations attracting hundreds of visitors. The event attracts so many visitors they close down the street to vehicle traffic. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Halloween decorations on Cherry Hills Street in Placentia on Tuesday, October 24, 2023. Each year residents on the 1200-block of Cherry Hills Street pull out all the stops with their Halloween decorations attracting hundreds of visitors. The event attracts so many visitors they close down the street to vehicle traffic. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
There is a giant Grim Reaper standing guard in one yard and an elaborate cemetery scene in another. Out by the street, two full-sized skeletons take a bubble bath while another in a blonde wig walks her pack of skeleton dogs.
“The guy across the street built a pirate ship,” Borgelt said of Brian Hudson. “He built a set.”
“That’s the cool thing, everyone kind of has their own theme.”
The Borgelts have a yard display of their own version of the “Grim Grinning Ghosts,” made famous by Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion — true to the attraction, it hitched a ride with the family from their old home. Each year a theme is developed around that.
Borgelt said his wife thought up a Hollywood theme this year. The Haunted Mansion did just debut this summer on the silver screen.
“Next thing you know, I’m down at Home Depot,” he said. And with a projector for cutting out the letters, foam board and lights, he was soon on the roof installing the family’s own Hollywood sign with his wife and daughters watching below just as night was falling.
“I felt like Clark Griswold,” he said of the Chevy Chase character’s moment of glory connecting the plug for his dazzling light display in “National Lampoons Christmas Vacation.”
“It lit up perfectly.”
Visitors have already been strolling and driving the street looking at the neighborhood’s Halloween creativity. And on Halloween night, the neighbors get a permit from the city to block off traffic.
Borgelt said each year more and more people park at the nearby school and walk over and just “let their kids roam where it is safe.”
“Our street, our whole neighborhood is so welcoming,” he said of moving his family to Cherry Hills Street four years ago. “We all hang out, we have a good time.”
