Halloween is coming up and many Montrealers are already getting into the spooky spirit, and there’s one house in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce (NDG) where the decorations are sure to make you scream. Jean-François Cloutier and his family have put together a construction-themed Halloween display.
“Driving around and hearing people complain about construction zones in NDG the past few months we thought this would be a good Halloween theme to cheer up people,” said Jean-Francois Cloutier, who lives on Monkland.
It’s complete with skeletons wearing construction vests, evil pylons and a real orange cone the family has “borrowed.”
“It was a poor lonely cone left on the side of the road so we said why not,” Cloutier explained.
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His favourite part is the skeleton running over another skeleton with a steamroller.
“The guy that’s steamrolling over the skeleton is my favourite part since they’ve been doing all the asphalt in NDG recently,” he said.
Making elaborate Halloween displays has become an annual tradition for the family.
“We’ve done centipedes with pumpkins, we’ve had skeletons playing poker on a poker table, various other themes,” he explained.
This year’s version, in particular, is turning a lot of heads.
“I’m impressed with how much effort they put into it and I love the cone reference,” said passerby Neil Houston.
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“This is typical Montreal with our construction season that’s gone on far too long,” said another neighbour.
Inventive as it is, a true artist never feels his work is complete.
“I wish I could’ve had a pipe going up to my house like they’re changing the lead pipes but that was too much,” he said.
Cloutier’s wife Mitra Cohen feels their hard work brings people together.
“I come home from work and there’s always some parents with their kids outside and it’s fun because we meet a lot of our neighbours in the area,” she said.
Even the mayor of NDG is aware of the display. Sue Montgomery told Global News she thinks it’s “pretty funny.”