Teen creates spooky Halloween attraction at his Merrick home
Dylan Smith has requested some unusual birthday and Christmas gifts since he was about 8 years old — animatronic monsters more than 6 feet tall, scary Halloween decorations and Home Depot gift cards to buy more. “Tombstones for Christmas, under the Christmas tree,” jokes his mother, Jennifer.
Dylan, now 13, has amassed quite a collection of scare fare — and each October, he designs a haunted house in his North Merrick backyard under two carport-like tents. Then, on one night before Halloween, Dylan treats the neighborhood to “Dylan’s Halloween Walk-Through.” He usually draws about 60 people, and this year, he recruited five friends as live actors to jump out and scare people.
Dylan Smith shows off different rooms in his haunted house tour, this being the clown room. Credit: Howard Simmons
Lots of Long Island grown-ups decorate their homes for the holiday with a spooky outdoor theme. But it’s unusual for an eighth-grader to orchestrate his own décor and event — and devote to it all the money he earns in his part-time job as a religious school aide. “I was just always into Halloween,” Dylan says. “I always found it fascinating when I go to see somebody’s house.”
ZOMBIES, VAMPIRE AND CLOWNS
It’s hard to miss which house is Dylan’s when driving on his street — his layout begins in the front yard, with a 12-foot skeleton, two animatronic werewolves and “Krampus,” the demon of Christmas, with hooves and long, black fingernails. Each of those pieces cost between $230 and $350, Dylan says.
On walk-through night — this year it's the Friday before Halloween, with a rain date of Saturday — visitors line up at the fence to the backyard haunted house. “We send people in two at a time,” Dylan says. They are met by animatronic creations including Freddy Krueger wielding blades — “I got him for my birthday last year,” Dylan says — and a two-headed zombie. Strobe lights and fog machine add to the mood.
Dylan Smith shows off his halloween decorations and haunted house at his Merrick home on Oct. 17. Credit: Howard Simmons
Other scenes feature a giant hairy, black spider, a ghost girl with long white hair and whisp-y dress who howls and a vampire that beseeches visitors to “come closer.” A farmer menaces visitors with his chain saw; a Wacky Mole clown wields a bloody hammer; a sign in black-light paint warns visitors to “Get Out!”
The five teenage actors wear black and masks and are poised to jump out. “Most of them get really surprised because they don’t expect you to be right there," says Brayden Cook, 13, of Garden City.
Dylan’s parents give Dylan a heads up when they are sending through a younger child and the teens tone it down. “They know when I’m coming in,” says Charles Simone, 8, a neighbor of Dylan. “When I see them dressed up, they always high-five me.”
‘NICE, WHOLESOME FUN’
Dylan’s mom, Jennifer, 48, a children’s book author, says Halloween is “Dylan’s thing” — and that just as they support their older son, Tyler, 17, in his dedication to lacrosse, Jennifer and her husband, Michael, support Dylan in his passion for Halloween. “He’s been building it up each year,” says Michael, 49, who works for Barnes & Noble. “He’s so into it; he talks about it all year long. He’s always thinking about how to expand.”
Supporting Dylan’s passion means the family stores the animatronic creatures in half of the basement, where they also have their washing machine. “Last year, I forgot to warn our pet sitter. She about had a heart attack,” Jennifer says.
Kristen Marino, 43, of North Merrick, a school psychologist whose son, Andrew, 13, is one of the actors, called the backyard event wonderful. “To have that passion at his age is great. It’s fun that he shares it with all of us.”
Joanie Cook, 46, a stay-at-home mother, says her son Brayden shares Dylan’s love of all things spooky. She called the haunted Walk-Through “nice, wholesome fun.” Then she adds, “even though it’s ax-murderers and stuff.”
Beth Whitehouse writes about families, parenting and great things to do with the kids on Long Island. She’s been a Newsday editor and shared a 1997 Newsday staff Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the crash of TWA Flight 800.
