My Halloween Village 2024: Pet/Cemetery Edition

Setting up my Halloween Village decorations has been a tradition of mine for as long as I can remember. Well, that's not entirely true...I vaguely remember getting Haunted House for the Atari 2600 in an Easter basket at some point, which definitely happened before the first time I set up a Halloween Village, but even that memory is pretty on-theme so whatever.

Anyway, I've written many posts and posted several videos about my Villages, as the setup is different every year, with significant variance in what pieces I display (I would need an entire room fully dedicated to the Village to display everything I actually own. Hmmm...there's an idea...). Consequently, one of my annual traditions that has formed alongside this is browsing each year's new releases from Dept. 56 and Lemax. This usually occurs sometime mid-spring. If nothing else, I can't be accused of lack of preparation.

Lemax and Dept. 56, for those not as deeply ensconced in the holiday village display lifestyle, are the two major companies that produce such decorations. Ever year, they hit us with a fresh wave of autumnal delights, from the cute and wholesome to the gruesome, macabre...and still somehow wholesome. I think the wholesomeness is sort of baked into these types of hobbies. And because those of us who pursue this very niche passion need time to plot these things out, the new figurines, houses, etc. are released many months ahead of time.

As I browsed this year's selections, I noticed something: Dept. 56 was not releasing any new Dia de los Muertos village decorations this year. This was surprising, as they've released several items with this theme over the past few years, which have served as the cornerstone for my displays of late. After pondering this for a bit (and also after being struck by the new Nightmare Before Christmas cat tower they were selling), I decided to take advantage of the development and get creative. It was time to give my display a serious rethink.

Very, very early on in the process

For one thing, I have been setting things up in the kitchen/dining area every year, as that is the place in the home with the most available continuous wall space. The drawback of this is that I have to go into the kitchen to actually see my village, and as a result it often sits desolate and alone, abandoned while we watch TV elsewhere. Less than ideal! So to change things up this year, I decided to try out a corner in the living room. This would necessitate an L-shaped layout rather than a straight line, but would allow for more natural viewing at night.

Next, regarding the theme: I excluded Dia de los Muertos entirely from this year's village. Sure, this meant leaving a number of my coolest pieces in the closet, but it felt like a good time to give some of my other components some shine. I had picked up a Jack's Pumpkin Carving Studio, a retired building from Dept. 56, for a reasonable price in the off-season due to an oil stain on the box (like I care; my skin is so oily I would just as likely have done the same to the box by handling it after wiping my brow). With that, the cat tower, and some other recent acquisitions as my centerpieces, I built outward, and soon organically arrived on the year's theme. Inspired by The Ramones (and Stephen King), I decided to highlight pets and a cemetery. And also a pumpkin patch. But that doesn't really fit in the title.

There are pets in the pumpkin patch nonetheless, so there

 

One thing I quickly realized is that I would need to buy some new items to serve as light sources, because the Dia de los Muertos stuff exudes an abundance of glow, and in its absence I would need a helping hand in terms of ambient lighting. No sugar skull streetlamps this year, buddy! But again, this change presented opportunity, as it motivated me to peruse Lemax's offerings more thoroughly in search of options.

I have a confession to make: I generally prefer Dept. 56 to Lemax. Lemax is cheaper, but I feel it shows...the pieces are much easier to break or chip, the detailing on the paint jobs can be somewhat lacking at times, etc. They are very creative and diverse, but I don't have unlimited funds for these sorts of things, so I generally favor the more expensive but sturdier and more luxurious options offered by Dept. 56. Wait, did I just refer to Halloween decorations as "luxurious?" This October heat wave must have really fried my brain.

Lemax really showed it strengths to me this year, as I was less in search of big cornerstones for the display as I was smaller accents. Lemax has those in droves, and it was much easier to buy myriad small things from Lemax than Dept. 56 without having to sell my Accutane-tainted blood to cover the costs, especially with promo codes and whatnot. As such, I leaned pretty heavily on Lemax to spice up the ghoulish gumbo that is my Halloween Village.

Lotta Lemax in this photo, including that beautiful full moon!

My new additions acquired, I set about to the hard but rewarding work of actually setting this thing up. The main idea would be to showcase three distinct environs: cemetery, pet district (seen above), and pumpkin patch, with some bleed between them. Other than that, I just wanted to have fun and see where the design took me. If I do say so myself, I think it turned out pretty good!

The aerial view

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I really do love Jack's Pumpkin Carving Studio, and I get why it sells for so much these days. The thing just radiates Halloween cheer. You practically feel a chill wind on your neck when you look at it. The first time I opened the box and laid eyes upon it, I ended up waking up three days later after a severe apple cider bender. It's just that Halloween-y.

Still got a headache. Worth it.

This is not to take anything away from my other decorations. For example, check out those candy corn streetlights!

Don't believe the Amazon review that says they don't work

And this ghost cat on a tombstone is super cool. And luminous!

I refuse to say "super GHOUL" because I am not the Cryptkeeper

Speaking of cats, here's a glimpse of the some of the pets in here, including the black cat crossing.

For the safety-conscious among you

And also speaking of cats, my dear little kitty Amelia apparently recognized the theme and fully embraced it.

Can you spot her?

One of the fun things about the cemetery area is that it allowed me to use my oldest Halloween village decorations (from Oriental Trading Co., where it all began), which are positively ancient at this point, as sort of a meta-joke.

I still don't think I've ever changed the light bulbs in any of those

This makeshift coven appears to have a flagrant disregard for the posted signage.

The little witch dog wants to join too but the fence is in her way 😢

Is this a cemetery entrance or an exit? Either way, Amelia keeps knocking it over!

I think I need more bone fencing

I hope you've enjoyed this little peek at the 2024 version of my Halloween Village! If you'd like a video tour (with proper soundtrack, of course), please check this out as well:

 

And Happy Halloween to you and yours! Don't forget to take the time to enjoy this lovely and oh-so-brief season. Trust me, you can Christmas shop later.