Arts & Entertainment - The Durango Herald

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30th annual Durango Autumn Arts Festival features lively paintings

Guoache watercolors, acrylic paints and photographs line East Second Avenue

DATE: Sep 21, 2024 | CATEGORY: Local News

Mural pays tribute to late American author along Durango’s Animas River Trail

Artist Mariah Kaminsky says piece encourages viewers to stop and breathe

DATE: Sep 21, 2024 | CATEGORY: Local News

Check out what’s new during Friday’s annual Fall Gallery Walk

Local galleries open their doors for an evening of fun. and art

DATE: Sep 19, 2024 | CATEGORY: Arts and Entertainment

FLC’s Center of Southwest Studies to screen ‘Star Wars’ in Navajo

Presentation, showing will be held Sept. 26 at college

DATE: Sep 19, 2024 | CATEGORY: Arts and Entertainment

Desert Gold DAR places memorial to patriots in Aztec

While Aztec averages a mere 10 inches of rain per year, to the crowd assembled for the Desert Gold Chapter of the DAR event on Sept. 17, it seemed a good dent may have been made in that tota...

DATE: Sep 19, 2024 | CATEGORY: Tri-Cities

Durango Arts Repertory mounts ‘Wait Until Dark’

A tight, telling classic runs through Sept. 29

DATE: Sep 18, 2024 | CATEGORY: Arts and Entertainment

Review: ‘Transformers One,’ an origin story no one wants with brutality levels no one needs

Movie origin stories finally reach their nadir this week with “Transformers One,” the super-violent, toy-selling vehicle that tells the tale of how Optimus Prime and Megatron went from besti...

DATE: Sep 18, 2024 | CATEGORY: Arts and Entertainment

Check out what’s playing in Durango movie theaters

Movies playing Sept. 20-26

DATE: Sep 18, 2024 | CATEGORY: Arts and Entertainment

Durango Events Calendar

Wednesday, Sept. 18 Community Shred Day, 11 a.m.-1 p.m., Alpine Bank at Three Springs, 175 Mercado St. Free. Free Document Shredding Day. Securely dispose of unwanted documents with pers...

DATE: Sep 17, 2024 | CATEGORY: Arts and Entertainment

Remembering a downtown Durango icon

Artist, gallery owner Karyn Gabaldon died Sept. 3 at age 70

DATE: Sep 13, 2024 | CATEGORY: Arts and Entertainment

Aztec Police near arrest of suspect in spate of graffiti

‘He’s looking at felony criminal damage to property, or felony graffiti,’ chief says

DATE: Sep 12, 2024 | CATEGORY: Tri-Cities

Tribute or imitation?

Get The Led Out, set to perform at the Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College on Sept. 20, celebrates the music of one of Britain’s most legendary bands: Led Zeppelin. Touring extensiv...

DATE: Sep 11, 2024 | CATEGORY: Arts and Entertainment

Final phases of project underway at Camino del Rio and Main Avenue

Photos: Marching for women’s rightsDurango Women’s March on Saturday starts at Buckley Park, continues down Main Avenue

Durango Women’s March on Saturday starts at Buckley Park, continues down Main Avenue

Photos: Durango High School football DHS beat Vista Ridge 20-14 at home Friday night

DHS beat Vista Ridge 20-14 at home Friday night

Gallery: Animals, super heroes and other creatures take over Main Avenue

Photos: A fun and spooky day at school

Haunted house northeast of Durango gets bigger every yearCody Petersen’s Halloween hobby is his escape from the daily grind

Durango resident Cody Petersen said when he moved into his home at 15 Edgemont Way several years ago, his house on the corner looked lonely and spooky.Today, it’s a madhouse. Halloween decorations are splayed practically on every inch of his lawn, in the trees and up and down his home.

A group of school-aged kids stop in front of his house every day to pose with a little gothic doll in the lawn, he said. It’s the favorite attraction amongst hundreds of decorations Petersen bought locally and online as early as July in preparation for Oct. 31, Halloween.He said he doesn’t want to think about how much money he’s spent on fog machines, animatronics and Christmas lights, but the bill easily totals several thousands of dollars.

For trick-or-treaters on Halloween, whom he encourages to visit, jumpscares abound at Petersen’s home, featuring animatronic spiders, growling wolves and other monsters, he said.He’s working on his own animatronic coffin, which shakes and rattles, and a pulley system that will push and pull a ghost up and down the yard, but neither will be ready for this year’s Halloween.He said he has fond memories of his parents decorating for the holidays during his upbringing and he’s a huge horror genre fan. So he enjoys going all out on decorations for the spooky season. He justifies his hobby with the logic his kids will only be in high school a few more years, and it isn’t as cool to decorate the lawn for Halloween when one doesn’t have children living at home.But the neighbors enjoy his haunts as much as the rest of the community. He said his Halloween scene has gradually grown larger every year; at least 50 trick-or-treaters turned up at his home last year.“I'm a home inspector, so I do have a lot of tools and no fear of trying things out,” he said.

He said typical Halloween animatronics cost $400 a piece, but they only last one year or so without breaking. That’s frustrating, he said, and he believes he can do better by building his own.He said this year’s display and experience is more organic than past years thanks to his handiwork. Among his myriad decorations, trick-or-treaters can spot easter eggs referencing “Beetlejuice,” “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and “Pet Sematary.”Among the horror props are real animal bones Petersen said he’s found on hikes across the countryside.“I've got ghosts and spiders and witches and that kind of thing,” he said. “Here in Edgemont, we have giant spiders for real. ... We get these huge wolf spiders that are bigger than my hand. I mean, huge, bigger than tarantulas.”

Petersen said he was motivated to make his first decorations within the first month he and his wife moved into the home on the corner at 15 Edgemont Way.A lone pine tree, a typical Christmas tree that would be strung up with lights and ornaments in December, stood out to Petersen in the yard, he said. He just felt compelled to decorate it and light it up.He said he thoroughly decorated the tree and left it lit year-round. Within a month of moving into the house, his neighbor died. The man was old and suffering from Alzheimer's.

Months later, the man’s wife approached Petersen and told him she and her husband’s last salient moments together were spent looking out at Petersen’s lighted Christmas tree, pretending it was Christmas. In the following hours, the man succumbed to delirium. He died several days later.“I don't know why I had that tree, why I lit it, but that's why that tree, even when Halloween is over, all year round, that Christmas tree always stays lit now,” he said.Petersen is a horror movie fan, and in particular he’s always enjoyed the sinister character Michael Myers of the “Halloween” franchise.

He said every year, after thrilling trick-or-treaters at his home, he takes to downtown and East Third Avenue in his Michael Myers costume, bearing a giant bowl of candy, to continue the fun.The highlight of his yard, the creepy doll neighborhood kids like to pose and take pictures with, is Petersen’s “elf on the shelf,” he said. He likes to move the doll around the house, sometimes propping her up to hold animal bones.“I have a real busy and pretty stressful job,” he said. “I just love the fall so much. And to come home, it's just a good way to wind down and, you know, de-stress, just go out and work in the yard.”cburney@durangoherald.com

Cody Petersen’s Halloween hobby is his escape from the daily grind

Reader-submitted photos of Halloween decorationsLast week, we asked readers to submit photos of their Halloween decorations or a neighbor’s decorations. We received dozens of photo submissions. We have selected some of the most spooky, elaborate and fun photos to share in this gallery. Enjoy!

Photos: FLC volleyball returns homeFort Lewis College volleyball took on Adams State University on Tuesday

Fort Lewis College volleyball took on Adams State University on Tuesday

Photos: Expert leathercrafter and collector estate sale near IgnacioItems belonging to the late Alex Pappas were auctioned for sale on Saturday

Items belonging to the late Alex Pappas were auctioned for sale on Saturday

Photos: Pro boxing in DurangoLegends on the Animas boxing showdown took place on Saturday

Legends on the Animas boxing showdown took place on Saturday

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30th annual Durango Autumn Arts Festival features lively paintings

Mural pays tribute to late American author along Durango’s Animas River Trail

Check out what’s new during Friday’s annual Fall Gallery Walk

FLC’s Center of Southwest Studies to screen ‘Star Wars’ in Navajo

Desert Gold DAR places memorial to patriots in Aztec

Durango Arts Repertory mounts ‘Wait Until Dark’

Review: ‘Transformers One,’ an origin story no one wants with brutality levels no one needs

Check out what’s playing in Durango movie theaters

Durango Events Calendar

Remembering a downtown Durango icon

Aztec Police near arrest of suspect in spate of graffiti

Tribute or imitation?

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