Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
Arts & Entertainment
Photos: The Most Impressive Halloween House In Brooklyn Is Extra Spooky This Year
By
Ben Yakas
Published Oct 29, 2019
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
View all 23
By
Ben Yakas
Published Oct 29, 2019
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Last year, in a city full of amazing, intense and over-the-top Halloween displays, we highlighted this Prospect Park South residence as the most impressive Halloween house in Brooklyn. This year, we're ready to go ahead and declare this possibly the most impressive Halloween house in the entire city.
Located at the corner of Albemarle and Argyle, this Halloween house stands out as the most decorated home in a neighborhood that is already proudly pro-Halloween decorations. There are skeletons climbing the turret; dead bodies and other creatures buried in the front yard; witches and jack o'lantern ghouls taking up all the room on the porch; creepy dolls and giant spider webs; and of course, ridiculous homemade clown paintings. When night comes, video projections of ghosts and spirits appear in the windows up above. And many of the other creatures come to animatronic life as well, with plenty of creepy noises to boot.
Owner David Lindsay-Abaire previously told us that he and his wife started decorating the house in 2013 as part of the PPS Halloween Parade. "So I got some string lights, a lot of webbing, and my first few animatronic monsters," he said of that first year. "Every year after that, I’d get a couple more zombies, or a new witch, and the collection would grow. Five years in, and the porch is so populated that I’ve had to expand to the upper floors."
The clown paintings come courtesy of a friend who is an actual clown, and his favorite part of the house are the skeletons climbing the walls: "I spend a lot of time crawling onto the roof of the porch, reaching on tiptoes or leaning out of windows."
It takes several weekends to put the entire thing together (and a little less time to take it all apart and put it back in the basement), but it's all worth it to hear the screams of delighted and terrified children: "I’m a writer, so during the day I’m usually at my desk on the third floor," he said. "There happen to be several pre-schools in the neighborhood, and almost every day one of them will walk a small group of kids over to look at the decorations. Which means that at least once a day, while I’m hunched over my keyboard, deep in thought, desperately trying to put sentences together, I’ll be startled back to reality by the ear-splitting shrieks of children on the front lawn. To me, that’s the best part. It makes me laugh every time."
Tagged
halloween
halloween house
prospect park south
ditmas park
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE arts-entertainment
NYC music in October: The Strokes, a Blink-182 cover band, and Polish experimentalism
An excellent and diverse month of concerts are in store for October.
By
Hank Shteamer
Published Oct 2, 2026
Are you a New Yorker? The Department of New Yorker Verification will now decide.
There is now an (un)official verification process for those who can claim the title of city resident.
By
Hannah Frishberg
Arts & Entertainment
Are you a New Yorker? The Department of New Yorker Verification will now decide.
There is now an (un)official verification process for those who can claim the title of city resident.
By
Hannah Frishberg
In the mood for a pastoral autumn experience? Try Queens.
By
Elizabeth Shwe
and
James Ramsay
October is spooky season at the movies in New York City
By
Emma Stefansky
At the Museum at FIT, an argument for dolls as the ultimate fashion influencers
By
Quinn Moreland
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .