When Rich Duff runs into a fellow Riverside resident during his job at Loyola University Medical Center, he has an easy way to identify himself.
“I’m like, ‘Oh, I’m from Riverside.’ They go, ‘Where do you live?’ I go, ‘I live on Delaplaine,’” he told the Landmark. “‘I’m the Halloween house.’ They’re like, ‘You’re that guy?!’”
Rich and Laura Duff are the couple behind one of the village’s most impressive Halloween decoration displays. Each year, they create spooky, life-size dioramas in their front yard, with a cast of skeleton models playing different roles.
In previous years, the Duffs said they’ve held a frightening funeral and a wicked wedding, but this year, they’ve created a monstrous music festival and dubbed it Duffapalooza.
Rich Duff said he and his wife started their tradition after they moved to Brookfield more than 10 years ago next door to Laura Duff’s parents. Her father, he said, is the one who ignited their spark for spooks.
“When we did first move in, he gave us a couple pieces to start our Halloween display, and then it took off from that,” Rich Duff said. “We don’t compete, but we do go back and forth. He does help us with our display, as we help him with his, but we’re kind of kids at heart, me and her father. We go back and forth on who’s going to have the better display.”
But the scale of their efforts has really taken off since 2020, when they “kind of went overboard,” Rich Duff said, to the point where Fox 32 Chicago even did a news segment on their display. Since then, the Duffs have continued to pour more effort into their annual showcases, which also include a second one themed around Christmastime.
“It’s for the kids. It becomes the kids’ playground,” Rich Duff said. “Every day, after school, kids are running around here. It’s fun. We like it.”
“They’ll tell you what’s missing,” Laura Duff added.
This year’s Duffapalooza display features several smaller scenes within, which the Duffs encourage people to walk around and take photos in. There are partiers bumping it to a DJ set, imbibers by the bar, a crowd of fans enjoying the headlining Reaper Band, a 12-foot-tall skeleton — which Laura Duff said was the first piece they purchased —acting as security, a smaller group lounging by a gentle jazz band and even a medical tent, all comprised of lawn skeletons the couple has dressed up for the occasion.
Rich Duff said they spend about $1,000 each year to fill out the roster of decorations, which they store in their garage between seasons, to bring their visions to life, including about $150 in clothes found at Goodwill.
“We wanted the band last year, and it sold out within a minute. They did a new band this year, so he found a couple on [Facebook] Marketplace, and then we went to Lowe’s,” Laura Duff said. “You kind of grab them when you see them because, otherwise, it’s gone.”
The couple said they manage to attract many admirers through the month of October.
“The neighbors have been good. No one really complains for the most part. We do stop a lot of traffic; people double park here and get out, which, they shouldn’t be, but it’s fine,” Rich Duff said. “Last year, we saw, probably, around 800 trick-or-treaters. Being the weekend, we could hit 1,000” this year.
Despite all the effort it takes to move the decorations and set up the scenes, the Duffs say they have no plans to curb their ever-growing dioramas.
“That is our big thing, that the kids enjoy it. The adults enjoy it. We’ve had more dogs, even, in our yard; they take dog pictures,” Rich Duff said, adding that he and his wife often watch visitors through their front window so they can cue up dramatic music. “It’s fun to have them come in and enjoy themselves.”
