By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
You’ve heard of the movie “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” right? Well, this was “A Nightmare on 39th Street.”
T.J. and Roxanne McLeer’s house at 305 39th Street in Sea Isle City was nightmarishly decorated with a macabre assortment of ghosts, ghouls, skeletons, zombies, witches, a scary clown and the Grim Reaper.
To top it all off, there was also a mechanical black spider with furry legs that would lunge out at you as you approached the front door.
“This is my favorite time of year,” T.J. McLeer said, emphasizing the word favorite. “It’s for the kids – the smiles on their faces. We let them get scared a little bit, but not much. It’s all for fun. I love decorating.”
The McLeer residence is transformed into a haunted house every Halloween and becomes a favorite stop for trick-or-treaters making their rounds for candy. T.J. McLeer noted that he spent three days decorating the house while getting ready for Halloween this year.
“I let him do it every year,” Roxanne McLeer said of her husband’s passion for decorating. “I bought him some new things that he hasn’t even put out yet. He already wants to go out tomorrow to buy some more decorations when they’ll be half price.”
Sisters Nora, Charlotte and Ailis Gallagher had to walk by the McLeers’ creepy collection of monsters to get to the candy. Nora, 8, was dressed as the character Dottie from the 1992 comedy movie “A League of Their Own,” while Charlotte, 5, was a unicorn and Ailis, 3, was wearing a ghost costume.
When the girls were asked to repeat the most famous line from “A League of Their Own,” Charlotte blurted out, “There’s no crying in baseball.” Everyone immediately burst into laughter.
This year, Halloween produced a lot more laughter all around Sea Isle. The city canceled its popular Halloween parade and Trunk or Treat candy giveaway last year in response to the pandemic, although trick-or-treating was allowed to continue amid safety precautions that included wearing protective face coverings.
As the kids made their stops from house to house last year, they also saw bottles of hand sanitizer standing next to the candy displays, a grim reminder of the coronavirus pandemic.
But with the pandemic waning this year with the help of the COVID-19 vaccines, Sea Isle’s colorful Halloween parade returned on Oct. 22 to the delight of thousands of marchers and spectators.
As a complement to the trick-or-treating at private homes in town, Sea Isle also brought back its family-friendly Trunk or Treat celebration this year for Halloween night.
The trunks and back compartments of cars, trucks and SUVs were decorated with spooky themes for the Trunk or Treat candy giveaway, which was held in the municipal parking lot next to the Sea Isle City Welcome Center.
“We certainly had a lot of people asking whether it was coming back,” city spokeswoman Katherine Custer said of the Trunk or Treat celebration. “Clearly, it’s the families that love it. There are so many smiles on the faces – both the people giving out the candy and the ones getting it.”
Karen Sanchez, a resident of Cape May Court House, brought a group of kids with her that included her daughter, her grandchildren and some friends. Among them, Isabella Sanchez and Destiny O’Donnell dressed up as twin sumo wrestlers.
Isabella and Destiny said they enjoyed watching everyone’s reaction to their comical costumes as they strolled around for Trunk or Treat.
“We’re probably funny,” Isabella said while breaking into laughter with Destiny. “It’s really fun.”
One of the youngest Halloweeners at Trunk or Treat was 2-year-old Martin Perez, who was dressed up as Woody from the “Toy Story” movie franchise. Martin’s head swung around when he saw another child dressed as the Buzz Lightyear character from “Toy Story.”
But Martin was mainly focused on the assortment of candy and other goodies given out during Trunk or Treat.
“He loves Reese’s,” said his mother, Emmy Sanchez.
