Halloween 2024, St. Louis Style!

It’s time for St. Louis to get its Halloween on again! This year we showcase three fun homes decorated for the spooky season. From NoCo’s Spanish Lake couple, Chris Slinkard & John Lewis, to SoCo’s Green Park skeleton extravaganza in JP Palmers front yard, (And Jules!) and of course, our favorite Fall & Halloween decorations in Webster Groves-Artist, Jennifer Hayes and Jason Danker’s cozy home.

A corner lot on a busy street is a sure way to get attention with your Halloween decorations. The front yard of Chris Slinkard and John Lewis has become a landmark for Spanish Lake residents and a ‘must-stop’ on Halloween. Chris is a Kindergarten teacher in the Jenning’s School District and John is a transplant coordinator for St. Louis University Hospital. They started collecting the inflatables in 2019 and are up to 26…so far.

Since 2017, JP Palmer and her Samoyed, Jules, get help from JP’s sister, Jane Horlings, who flies in from San Juan, Capistrano to help create the display. JP stores trikes for the St. Louis Trike Club, but once a year, displays the trikes for the Cedarberry Parke subdivision to enjoy with a yard-full of witty and whimsical vignettes. Creating the skeleton scenes was Jane’s idea and she adds fun details like the themed addresses on the postal letters and Amazon boxes. Things get changed up every year to keep it interesting. All the skeletons and props get stored safely in the basement after over 400 trick-or-treaters, and their parents, visit to enjoy the display on Halloween. JP and Jules volunteer regularly at the Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and encourage visitors to donate. The display is also included on Laura Thacke’s Holiday Light Hopping website. (see bottom of page.)

And lastly, no Garden-Lou Halloween spotlight is complete without a visit to Jennifer Hayes and Jason Danker’s Webster Groves home. Jennifer likes to use resale treasures and mix them among vintage decorations and garden finds with her artistic flair. Layers of fall and Halloween decor can be found inside and out at this charming 1917 home. Every year new things are added or reused in a different way. Freakish fruits in the dining room, plants with googly eyes, a tower of colorful trick-or-treat pumpkins, and a vintage dollhouse turned botanical haunted house…you never know what you’ll find here!