Creating creepy crawlies for Fan Halloween block party

Bryan and Brent Halstead, draped in fake fur from head to claws, were a tad overdressed for a warm fall afternoon.

But the brothers had worked on their werewolf costumes since February and wanted them to see daylight before Halloween.

They bared their clay teeth and flexed their furry knees in the modest front yard of their family's Hanover Avenue home, surrounded by a bevy of Bryan's life-size demons and other creepy creations.

A car inched slowly up the street. The window lowered and a passenger snapped several pictures. Neighborhood dogs strained at the leash to get a whiff of the papier-mache beasts.

"We always made our costumes from scratch," said Bryan, 35, an electrician who briefly studied sculpture at Virginia Commonwealth University. "It started when I was age 10 and went as a wounded soldier with makeup that my Dad did.

"That's when I was truly hooked into trying to make it increasingly more frightening every year."

The Halstead family's traditions have grown over 26 years, along with the well-known Hanover Avenue Halloween extravaganza.

Almost every homeowner in at least six consecutive blocks of the Fan street decorates with wild abandon -- and sophistication ranging from audio/video screens to electric chairs. Trick-or-treating lasts from 6 to 8 p.m.

The Halsteads started with sheet ghosts suspended from trees. Their first year on Richmond's most famous Halloween street, Linda and Jon Halstead couldn't believe the numbers of trick-or-treaters and curiosity-seekers.

"I had bought $40 worth of decent candy, and we were out in 15 minutes," recalled Linda Halstead.

"Now," said Jon, "we give out about 1,200 pieces in two hours -- and that's one piece per kid."

As the Hanover celebration grew, so did Bryan's talent for creating costumes that were so professional he often lost contests because judges assumed his creations were store-bought or rented.

Some of his creatures that started out as costumes are perched on metal stands now. Others were never worn but are just ghoulish statues born in his imagination.

"I watched a lot of cheesy horror movies as a kid," he said with a laugh.

The most recognizable is a 6-foot-tall replication of Those We Do Not Speak Of from M. Night Shyamalan's "The Village."

"Hairy" is a tattered demon with red, glowing eyes peering out from behind a thick, black wig.

Last year, Bryan introduced a fire-breathing monster made of spray foam insulation painted red and black. A smaller creature debuting this Halloween has three mouths filled with hot-glue slime and one blind eye.

Throw in a fog machine, dry ice and darkness, and it's enough to make even the hardiest souls think about staying off the Halsteads' front porch.

One year, Bryan stood outside in one of his demon costumes and didn't move a muscle "until people came up and poked me."

He scared a few away and made the candy stash last a bit longer.

"I wish there could be a career in this," Linda Halstead said with a sigh.

Contact Julie Young at (804) 649-6732 or .