Why Thousands Flock to This Terrifying Neighborhood on Halloween

Romeo — There was a time when a single pumpkin was all you needed to decorate for Halloween. Remember the warm glow of a jack-o’-lantern? How it lit your way from house to house as you filled your pillow case with candy?

Those days are dead. October now means blow-up ghosts and giant skeletons, animatronic spiders and bloody corpses. I hate having to distract my kids from the gore strewn across our neighbor’s lawn. For my scaredy cats, one glimpse could mean nightmares for weeks.

I’m the last person who would voluntarily attend a neighborhood display of Halloween spookery. But even I have to admit—quite a bit of good has come out of Romeo’s Terror on Tillson Street spectacle.

If you venture down Tillson Street in October, you’ll get skeletons and spiders galore. While I’d normally roll my eyes at these expositions, they’re more tolerable when they’re all in one place.

You don’t just happen upon this corridor of Tillson Street. These scary sights are only for those who choose to go.

And many, many people make that choice. Every year, Tillson Street welcomes thousands of people to view the creative handiwork of its residents. Homeowners say they pass out 2,000 pieces of candy to trick-or-treaters.

So many people show up, in fact, that police shut down the street to traffic every weekend night throughout October. Visitors stroll up and down the road, taking in a skeleton’s swanky dinner party or gawking at the ghosts zooming between trees.

One of the more impressive houses on Tillson boasts a larger-than-life scary clown display, complete with a giant, hand-painted Pennywise swallowing up anyone who dares to enter the front door.

Down the road, you’ll see one resident’s take on true Michigan horror: endless road construction.

There are a few houses on Tillson where the lights are off, the lawns are bare, and the property lines are carefully partitioned with plastic netting. But for the most part, the neighborhood is fully committed to the bit.

They’ve also found a higher purpose than screams and scares, donating more than $100,000 earned through T-shirt sales and parking admission to the Wounded Warrior Project, Romeo Community Schools, and several other organizations.

The best part about Terror on Tillson Street is seeing a neighborhood work together to maintain a tradition of this scale for decades. People who grew up on Tillson remember the fun they had putting up decorations alongside their neighbors.

In a time when most neighbors are strangers, that feels hopeful. Even if it’s pretty grotesque.