Brien Henry couldn’t believe his luck when he came across an unusual offering on Craigslist. But there they were on the classified ad website — dolls and doll parts. Not flimsy plastic ones, but ceramic and porcelain. There were even eyes, wigs, clothing, shoes and most anything else one could name. For an imaginative Halloween buff, it was too good to resist.
“It was the best Craigslist purchase ever,” laughed Brien, an agronomist with Mississippi State University. “I thought, ‘Here we go!’ … And yes, I am guilty of possession of doll parts above the legal limit with intent to manufacture.”
The find turned out to be large enough to fill up a pickup truck twice, to the surprise of Brien and his tolerant wife, Amanda.
“Amanda has been very generous about putting up with the insanity,” Brien said. “But we’ve both enjoyed all the little kids up and down the street that seem to love it.”
In fact, the couple’s own children, Mary, 5, and William, 9, are part of the decor design team, even helping dad with schemes for incorporating the dolls in the tableau in their yard.
People were asking by September when the neighborhood show would go up, Amanda said.
In an expansion on last year’s decor, the family has gone out of its way find ways to use doll parts. Huge doll-head spiders creep across the lawn, up tree trunks and across a giant “web” attached to the front of the house. Doll arms rise up from the earth beneath dry, dead leaves, and pumpkins sprout doll heads and arms. It all blends to spooky effect with other props including mannequin heads and “snakes” made from snake gourds Brien grew himself.
“A big part of the fun to me is just seeing him and the kids enjoying it,” said Amanda. “And certainly a lot of people passing by remark on it; it’s quite the conversation piece.”
The display can be seen, if one dares, by driving down Starkville’s Greensboro Street, which is near downtown. And should anyone have a mannequin in need of a new home and a chance to come out and mingle each October, email Brien Henry at [email protected].
Jan Swoope is the Lifestyles Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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