Halloween monsters take over Torrington home

Alex Hargrave
Posted 10/28/20

TORRINGTON – When Ryen Craig’s wife, Niki Craig, showed him a photo of a monster on Pinterest sometime around Halloween three years ago, he built it for her.

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Halloween monsters take over Torrington home

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TORRINGTON – When Ryen Craig’s wife, Niki Craig, showed him a photo of a monster on Pinterest sometime around Halloween three years ago, he built it for her.

Ryen, a plumber by trade, used PVC pipes and burlap to create the now three monsters roaming around the Craig residence. The couple’s inaugural monster sits on the roof of their home on Main Street, the head of a jack-o’-lantern with the body of a skeleton holding three smaller jack-o’-lanterns. On the ground, a “guard dog spider thing,” in Ryen’s words, guards the house. This year’s creation is a tophat-wearing puppeteer above the front door.

Brainstorming, planning and building takes all of September, according to Ryen. For Halloween lovers Ryen and Niki, the work is worth it because of the “magic.”

“When we were growing up, Halloween always seemed to be way bigger than what it is now,” Ryen said. “(We do it) just so a kid someday down the road can say, ‘I remember this one house.’”

Ryen said he plans to build a new monster every year until there’s no more room left for more around the house. He eventually wants to put together a haunted house in his driveway as well.

Niki isn’t afraid to pick favorites among their three monsters. The newest one, the puppeteer, recently took the lead, she said. The guard dog and spider creature, not so much.

“The guy on the ground’s not my favorite,” she said with a laugh.

Niki is a teacher at Lincoln Elementary School. Her students, past and present, know her house is the one covered in monsters. She said one former student’s mother told her they make an effort to drive by her house each time they’re in town. Niki even makes sure to park her car in a way so it doesn’t block the front of the home.

“It’s fun for my kids, they know it’s my house,” she said. “I have my older kids who keep coming back because they know we have the monsters.”

Ryen said Torrington families opt more for the local trunk or treat options, during which parents or businesses decorate cars and hand out candy from the trunk, rather than the traditional door-to-door trick-or-treating.

Ryen has nothing against trunk or treat events, he said, but he’s nostalgic for his childhood memories of visiting neighbors at their homes decked out in Halloween decor.

“Going door to door and seeing people’s decorations used to be kind of the wonder and magic of it all,” he said. “Not a lot of people do it here, but there are still some really great houses here in town that are doing it.”

The Craig’s and their monsters will be waiting with candy for trick-or-treaters on Saturday night. And when Christmas comes around, they’ll be ready to spread some much needed cheer then, too.

“We love the holidays,” Niki said.

“It’s really for the magic,” Ryen said.