My Halloween Village: 2021 Edition

I've written in the past about my Halloween village display, an October decorative tradition stretching back so long that I vividly remember listening to Candlebox while setting it up at one point. In recent years, however, I've been facing a bit of a dilemma. Having expanded far beyond its humble Oriental Trading Co. origins, the current scope of the village in terms of sheer volume of options is quite vast, and as a result, I've had to make some difficult decisions. At first, I considered doing a significant expansion of the display, either in the form of one super-huge village or two entirely separate displays. In the end, space and time concerns (plus an injured back) led me to another approach: a single, highly focused village with a cohesive theme. Although this sadly led to the exclusion of many of the older pieces the very concept if this village was based around, I think I was able to put together one of my best displays yet! I'll let you be the judge.

First, here's the whole thing in broad daylight, from above, as though photographed by an albatross that just happens to be passing by:

Of course, the real action goes down at night. Here we get an introduction to the concept behind this year's village via sign-based exposition.

That's right, we're going with a Dia de los Muertos theme this year! Most of these pieces are from Dept. 56, who debuted this line a couple years ago and has regularly added to it ever since. They have formed the core of the layout here, though I've added other bits and pieces throughout, including some stuff from the very first village I ever did.

These wooden pumpkins, for example, are vintage OTC material, though they fit in pretty seamlessly here. On the other end of the spectrum, we have dia de los doggos here, newly released this year but already making herself at home.

This pumpkin stand isn't exactly on-theme, but I like it and it's my display, so whatever.

Meanwhile, the Lady of Guadalupe figurine is super on-theme. Color abounds in this photo, as well as more dogs in costumes. What more could you want?

Here, a mother and daughter remember a deceased loved one in front of a crypt as glowing skull lights grin around them. Can you see why I would focus on this aesthetic?

Meanwhile, here's a full shot of the church next door to the crypt, as a happy couple of skeletal newlyweds celebrate the prospect of unliving the rest of the unlives together.

Creepy lurking scarecrows stalk the sidelines of the village, eager to pounce on anyone mandating vaccines on their farm.

Here you see an illuminated tomb in the foreground, with dancing ladies behind and, in the way back, a jack-o'-lantern water tower. Even the dead need to hydrate.

This band of skeleton mariachis is either playing "Dead Man's Party" or something from Ixnay on the Hombre.

Now, for those of you more cinematically inclined, I've created a short video tour of the village to the tune of "Halloween" by Wade Denning. I shot it in the dark with an iPhone 8, so that's why it looks like the Zapruder film.

Overall, I'm very pleased with this year's village, and I appreciate you taking the time to check it out. Having said that, I still very much like the idea of an expanded display that really shows off the depth of my collection and the history of the decorations, so perhaps next year the stars will align in just such a way to allow Supervillage 2022 to happen. Stay tuned!

Joey Marsilio doesn't spend all his time laying out miniature macabre hamlets; he has also written a variety of articles related to Halloween, including some about scary stories and pumpkin carving. He also wrote the novel Henry Garrison, which you can preview here.