Getting the Creeps in Highland Park: Next-door neighbors are slashed from the same cloth

When relocating, especially to a new community, it can be difficult to find your people.

Dan Kelly didn’t have to search long — or far — in Highland Park.

While Kelly was moving into this home on Broadview Avenue eight years ago, he looked out from an upstairs window to see several Halloween skeletons posed in his new neighbor’s backyard.

“I was like, ‘Oh my, all right, I think this is the (right) house,'” Kelly recalled.

His neighbor, Mark Kisicki, remembers trying to think of how to explain his backyard skeleton show to the Kellys, after all it was May.

Then Dan Kelly introduced himself with his own skeleton in hand.

“I was like, ‘Oh god, I got to meet the neighbors and explain this to them,’ and then Dan came out with a skeleton and was like, ‘Are you into Halloween too?’ Kisicki recalled. “And we’ve been pretty good friends ever since.”

The Halloween spirit between the two homes lives on nearly a decade later in the 600 block of Broadview Avenue.

Both Halloween decorators enjoy making their own haunts and have been at it for decades.

Dan Kelly learned the horror ropes from the movies and comics his father enjoyed. He paired the background with a love for woodworking to build replica torture devices — such as a guillotine, electric chair and pillory — that, with accompanying spooky creatures, highlight his display.

Also, at the display’s center, is a recognizable scene out of the horror film “Ring” (or “Ringu,” for the Japanese original), complete with a circular well and terrifying, black-haired child.

Make sure to read our other Getting the Creeps pieces — Skokie | Wilmette | Glencoe | Northfield — all publishing before Halloween night.

Right next door, Kisicki welcomes guests to a showing of “The Sound of Music,” and the von Trapp family is all here — kind of.

Maria, Captain and the seven von Trapps are out in front and in skeletal form, escorting guests to their seats around a projection screen. Other creatures are already seated and ready for the show.

Kisicki started building his Halloween spectacles 20 years ago as a treat for his young family. Early on, he converted to themed displays, and now, he has accumulated enough decorative items to loan out to the entire street.

“I’ve cut down over the years and given a lot to the neighborhood,” he said.

Kelly said it pays off: “The whole street loves Halloween. It’s always a lot of fun here. People decorate, sit outside (on Halloween). It’s a good vibe here for Halloween.”

Kisicki and Kelly start creating their displays around the first of the month, all building up to Halloween night, when both homes regularly get swarms of visitors looking for a scare.

“I’m starting to think we’re on some map somewhere,” Kelly said.

As the years progress, the two egg each other on and help each other through the process each season.

They are in this together.

“You know how hard it is to find a fellow weirdo, who loves the same things you love,” Kelly said.

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