Hopewell native Greg Cummings and Dudley the pug in "Oak Lane Cemetery"
“Everybody decorates for Christmas," says Greg Cummings, a Hopewell native and father of two, as he holds Dudley the pug in his lap. "So we decided we’d go all out for Halloween.”
Cummings and his brood make quite the spectacle with their yard-encompassing “Oak Lane Cemetery.”
The project is a labor of love for the Sonoco Paper Mill employee, who has recently found online success with how-to videos he's posted showing off his homemade displays.
The video that helped turn his yard into a social media phenomenon highlights a pair of animatronic horrors Cummings created, two homemade moving skeletons. It has garnered more than 1 million views and thousands of shares.
He's part of a national movement of Halloween aficionados who collectively spend $8 billion on the holiday every year, according to a 2016 National Retail Federation survey, though he's personally managed to keep his spending to a minimum. The motor turning his cauldron creep was at one time, ironically, part of a dancing-reindeer Christmas display.
Cummings gutted Rudolph to form the ghastly creature.
A lifelong fan of horror and sci-fi movies and culture, Cummings remembers his own childhood Halloweens being fairly run of the mill. His family would slap a paper skeleton on the door and then go trick-or-treating.
Cummings' latest creation, the "vine arch"
In 2012, when his second son, Daniel, was finally old enough to enjoy the holiday, it set off Cummings' Halloween passion. First it was a simple creation, a creature that would peek around the corner of his ranch house. Next was a stationary witch overseeing a small wooden hut filled with poisons and potions. Next was the “cauldron creep,” his first foray into moving characters.
“It’s just fun and something to look forward to every year,” he says humbly.
Before long, Cummings started finding online communities that shared his passion for Halloween displays. From there, he learned of other local "haunters" who share his passion, and he now attends meet-ups to help share ideas and materials.
Cummings says he was always a creative kid growing up, calling himself "that guy in the art class.” His venture into homemade Halloween displays tapped into those dormant art skills.
His newest piece for 2017 is a gnarled tangle of rotted trees, skeletons, skulls and spider webs he calls the "vine arch." Even upon close examination I can't quite identify what devious parts make up this grotesque whole.
Cummings laughs: "PVC pipes, milk jugs, pool noodles and melted plastic wrap."
He walks me through its creation; his craftsmanship could match that found on a Hollywood movie set. He jokes about the learning curve, pointing to one of his milk-jug skulls, saying it was obviously his first because it lacks definition compared to the rest.
And while Hollywood could come knocking, he wants to keep his hobby just that, a hobby.
Come Halloween night, the whole Cummings clan gets involved. His oldest, 17-year-old Quinton, dresses as a ghoul, dragging “body bags” and scaring the kiddies. After a quick hour of trick-or-treating, little Daniel dons corpse makeup and crawls around the yard hoping to scare those who unwittingly stumble into his path.
Cummings’ wife, Cindy, joins us outside as I get a tour of his favorite pieces. “I like it, and I help some, but he’s the creative one,” she says, before telling me about her own carving work on the “wood slabs” that block the windows. They are actually Styrofoam but are deceptively detailed, especially from a distance.
The rest of the tour is similarly spooky and informative. The “iron fence” that runs along the street side of his house is mostly PVC and wood and installs with ease. The “gravestones” are mostly homemade; Cummings it's as easy as laying a stencil and carefully carving pieces out.
Between the online love he’s received and the support he gets as throngs of folks visit come Halloween night, he’s happy to be part of something that others enjoy.
“People like a good Halloween display the same way they like a good Christmas light display,” he says. “It becomes part of the holiday tradition.”
You can see the spooky action of “Oak Lane Cemetery” for yourself. Swing on down to 3002 Oak Lane in Hopewell … if you dare.
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