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."
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