This elaborate Halloween light show draws thousands of visitors in person — and online


Nick Thomas' house in Naperville, Illinois, is the ultimate Halloween destination.
The front lawn is covered with 750 faux tombstones, pumpkins, goblins, coffins, werewolves, and other creepy things, while the two-story home is outlined in orange lights. "It's the big kid in me," he told the Chicago Tribune. "It's a whole month of setup and everything, but it's worth it. It just warms my heart to see the kids enjoying it."
But he doesn't stop just there. After 20 years of putting out items on his lawn, he recently decided to start synchronizing the lights on his house to music. To get this done, Thomas enlisted the help of his neighbor's son, Steve Jandick. "He's 25, and I'm 60," he said. "With the lights and music, he's taken it to a new level."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Thomas says it takes Jandick close to 40 hours to program just one song, and right now, there are 32. The decorations bring thousands of people to the neighborhood, and a police officer comes on Halloween to direct traffic. The elaborate display is also garnering attention around the world thanks to YouTube, where videos of Thomas' home have hundreds of thousands of views.
Thomas says he doesn't do any of this for the fame, but rather to bring joy to children. "You can get away from thinking about all the problems in the world right now when you just look at the kids," he said. Watch several light shows from 2014 on Jandick's YouTube page, and check out the impressive "Thriller" display below. --Catherine Garcia
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
June 1 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Sunday's political cartoons include Donald Trump's golden comb-over, brain drain in America, and a new TACO presidential seal.
-
5 cartoons about the TACO trade
Cartoons Political cartoonists take on America's tariffs, Vladimir Putin waiting for taco Tuesday, and a new presidential seal
-
A city of culture in the high Andes
The Week Recommends Cuenca is a must-visit for those keen to see the 'real Ecuador'
-
White House tackles fake citations in MAHA report
speed read A federal government public health report spearheaded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was rife with false citations
-
Judge blocks push to bar Harvard foreign students
speed read Judge Allison Burroughs sided with Harvard against the Trump administration's attempt to block the admittance of international students
-
Trump's trade war whipsawed by court rulings
Speed Read A series of court rulings over Trump's tariffs renders the future of US trade policy uncertain
-
Elon Musk departs Trump administration
speed read The former DOGE head says he is ending his government work to spend more time on his companies
-
Trump taps ex-personal lawyer for appeals court
speed read The president has nominated Emil Bove, his former criminal defense lawyer, to be a federal judge
-
US trade court nullifies Trump's biggest tariffs
speed read The US Court of International Trade says Trump exceeded his authority in imposing global tariffs
-
Trump pauses all new foreign student visas
speed read The State Department has stopped scheduling interviews with those seeking student visas in preparation for scrutiny of applicants' social media
-
Trump pardons Virginia sheriff convicted of bribery
speed read Former sheriff Scott Jenkins was sentenced to 10 years in prison on federal bribery and fraud charges