By Andy Furman
NKyTribune Staff Writer
Herman Reinecke has a different view of the Halloween holiday.
“I just want to motivate people, and really have them not be afraid,” he told the Northern Kentucky Tribune. “I really just want people to be kinder to one another, and be the best version of themselves.”
That sure sounds great – but, hey Herman, you sure have a weird way of showing it.
He created Dead Spring Cemetery – a play on Cold Spring — on his front lawn. “We start putting up the display on August 18th, which is the day my mother passed away back in 1999,” he said. “We complete it around the end of September.”
And when completed Reinecke’s front lawn in Cold Spring had 100 skeletons – over 100 animal skeletons, real animal bones, 12 giant-sized animatronics and more, he proudly points out.
It was Reinecke’s complete brainstorm, which began as a small family display and truly has evolved into one of the musty elaborate Halloween showcases in the country.
“We’re shooting to obtain a Guinness World Record for the most Halloween props assembled in a single display,” he said.
“The display,” said the 46-year-old Reinecke, “is about creativity, community, and pure Halloween spirit. “Every prop, every sound, every light was designed to make people smile, gasp, and celebrate the magic of the season.”
Reinecke said when he started the project he had no odea it would spawn out of control like it did. “It just gets bigger each h year, and we have it on the front lawn of our two-story home, which is about an acre.”
His assistants?
“I have three kids and my wife,” the Holmes High and NKU grad said.
“Neighbors bring their kids here daily just to see it. We even offer photos on a bench in front which we set-up.”
Admission?
“Not a chance,” Reinecke said. “In fact, we have a donation box for the Northern Kentucky Children’s Advocacy Center. We try to aid a different charity every year.”
In prior years he collected for St. Vincent de Paul, Dragonfly Foundation, and the Emergency Shelter of Northern Kentucky.
Some people just can’t wait for the official Halloween date – October 31st.
“We had about 60 people here on the first Friday night of September,” he said. “Just the other day, we had a little girl here visiting from across the street. We asked her to pick a skeleton and we named it after her.
“She read her name aloud for the very first time, her parents told us.
“Another neighbor yelled, ‘This is Halloween.’”
Reinecke says the cost isn’t too steep.
“I’ve been purchasing Halloween stuff since I was a kid,” said the man who says he is in the Relationship Business. “My trick is I purchase the goodies at the end of the year. It costs less then.”
His trick – is our treat.
