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Halloween, celebrated each October 31st, marks the end of summer and the beginning of dark, cold winters.

The day has, in recent years, evolved into a day of festive gatherings, ghost stories, carving jack-o’-lanterns, dressing-up in costumes and going house to house trick-or-treating for candy.

While some say the observance comes with a religious background, it has become increasingly secular over the centuries with any religious connections it had all but gone.

Once a relatively inexpensive community and neighborhood opportunity for social interaction that used to be focused on kids, today it’s more than a fun event just for small children.

These days, according to a USA Today article, a growing number of adults are joining in on the festivities. Some are pitching in with yard displays of ghouls, goblins and ghosts with a few that seem to rival some Christmas scenes.

One such display can be seen in Manns Harbor.

Inheriting a festive spirit and flair for artistic display from her parents, April Seko has assembled an enormous display in the front yard of her mother-in-law, Lavonia Shackelford, at 5851 Old Ferry Dock Road.

“When I was growing up in First Flight Village my parents went all out,” said Seko. “I just picked it up from them and went with it.”

Pulling everything out of storage around the end of August, it’s a family affair to have things up well before Halloween. Once in place, the normal schedule is to leave everything out through Thanksgiving. Last year, however, everything had to come down three times due to hurricanes passing near the Outer Banks.

Another year, everything was left up until Christmas.

“We just put Santa hats on everything and ran it through Christmas,” said brother-in-law Robert Shackelford.

The three packages on the front porch mean the display is about to grow even larger.

Not a road well traveled, these days there’s even less traffic making a pass with the William B. Umstead Memorial Bridge closed for repairs.

Even so, explained Seko, a few people do drive by and last year they had the most-ever trick-or-treaters: five.

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