16-year-old Halloween enthusiast from Deerfield creates own decorations for spooky haunted house
Deerfield home decorated by Matt Gordon and family (provided)
DEERFIELD, Ill. - When it comes to Halloween, few can match the enthusiasm of 16-year-old Matthew Gordon.
The excitement for the holiday started in his elementary school days when he noticed his neighbors decorating their house for Halloween. Now, every October, Gordon insists on doing the same for his family's Deerfield home.
Gordon said he always loved finding new decorations and elements to add to his family's growing display, but when the pandemic hit in 2020, he took his decorating to a whole new level.
At 13, Gordon found himself at home and bored due to COVID-19 restrictions. It was at that time that he stumbled upon a YouTube video focused on Halloween decorations and how to create your own. After watching several videos, he got right to work.
The first few items he created were made from some old Halloween costumes and some PVC pipe, but quickly, his decorations became more detailed and intricate.
"I wanted them to move, so the easiest way to do that was, there are a lot of websites that sell re-purposed wiper motors, which are basically just motors in windshield wipers that make them move, and you can wire these up and make PVC mechanisms and this will make all the props move," said Gordon.
As the years went on, his displays became even more intricate. Now at 16 years old, Gordon is utilizing all the bells and whistles to create a haunted house in his garage for visitors to enjoy.
"So inside of my two-car garage, I wanted to build a haunted house because in the past, I put all the decorations outside but when it storms, and it’s windy, all those props will either fall, they'll break, and then it’s always disappointing. So I thought this year, I would put all my best stuff that is, you know, has the most movement, most detailed, inside the garage. So inside, there are a lot of fast-paced moving things. You’ll see we have a lot of animatronics, we have some screen effects, so like for instance one thing that we have is a moving painting," said Gordon. "We'll have fog machines in there, too. We'll have doors that are knocking on their own, there will be a lot of lighting effects."
Some of the more elaborate decorations that Gordon said he would want to purchase in the past, he is now trying to make himself. The teen says it might take him a few tries, and he may have to watch a few YouTube videos, but he eventually figures it out.
"One thing that I made this year that I’m especially proud of, is I made this wizard animatronic and I saw it on the market for like a very expensive price, but that’s because it’s such a high-quality animatronic, and again it’s powered by air, it has a fog machine in it, it has lights, it talks, it moves its head, it moves its arm, and the second I saw it, I'm like that’s so cool, but I can't spend that price, so I thought to myself, I’ll just make it," said Gordon.
On top of creating a haunted house for neighbors and visitors to enjoy, Gordon is also hoping that his display will raise money for Skeletons for St. Jude.
Skeletons for St. Jude is a nationwide fundraising effort for Halloween haunters to use their Halloween displays to raise money for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital to support children and their families impacted by childhood cancer.
"Every year, St. Jude’s does this thing called 'Skeletons for St. Jude' and it’s just a really great organization. All you do is you scan a QR code and once you scan it on your phone or wherever, you can just easily put whatever amount you want and this will help raise money," said Gordon. "Once I found out about it, I thought, you know so many people come to the haunted house, they’ll walk through the yard, wherever, I’d love for people to be able to donate to that."
With all of his accomplishments thus far at just 16 years old, Gordon has no plans of stopping. In fact, he hopes to make this passion his profession one day.
"I’d love to be able to start some type of Halloween business where I could sell professional, durable and not overpriced Halloween decorations, I’d love to be able to do that, so hopefully down the line I can start that," said Gordon.
Gordon's Haunted House is located in the 1300 block of Kenton Road in Deerfield and will run on the following dates:
- Oct. 21 and Oct. 22: 6 p.m. - 8 p.m.
- Oct. 27 - Oct. 30: 6 p.m. - 8 p.m.
- Oct. 31: 3:45 p.m. - 9 p.m.
For more information on Skeletons for St. Jude, click here.