by James Coulter
For nearly a decade, Matthew Reynolds has been decorating his Auburndale house with hundreds of animatronics every year for Halloween. He also goes over the top with decorating his house for Christmas.
Reynolds has been collecting animatronic figures for Halloween ever since he made his first purchase at a Spirit of Halloween store at a young age. He has since amassed a collection of hundreds of animatronics. He even learned how to repair them with high hopes of becoming a theme park technical engineer.
His house at 136 Patterson Drive in Auburndale is famous for its annual Haunted Yard event at Halloween. However, less famous has been his annual Christmas display, which he has been hosting for as long as his Halloween display.
“This year, I wanted to push it out to the public,” Reynolds said. “It has been a goal of mine to push the Christmas display out because I do have people who come out for Halloween and ask about Christmas…We have a thousand people come for Halloween. But not many people know about the Xmas display.”
While his Halloween display is a walk-through attraction, his Christmas display is more of a drive-by experience. Visitors are welcome this year to come, park their cars, and take a closer look.
Reynolds has collected more than 20 inflatables and other decorations. Many of them are nearly 20 years old, offering a vintage feel to his display. He also sets up a film projector screen to showcase various Christmas media clips.
“I think this year is a very worthwhile display to come see,” Reynolds said. “It’s very similar to Halloween, in all honesty, so I think people will come and enjoy it.”
Reynold’s Holiday House display will be set up from now until New Year’s every evening from 6 PM to 11 PM. The house is located at 136 Patterson Drive in Auburndale.
Reynold recently appeared on the Chattin on the Ridge podcast to discuss his holiday house display. Listen to the full episode on Acast, Spotify, and Amazon Music: https://shows.acast.com/chattin-on-the-ridge/episodes/ep-75-christmas-in-the-village-wmarley-warner-matthew-reynol
