In Cutchogue, one house promises to deliver fright

Bryan Petty doesn’t create the spooky Halloween scene outside his Cutchogue home, which this year features vampires, mad scientists and dummy versions of horror flick villains, for money. Instead he takes his payment in screams.

One year, he recalled, on Halloween night a group a teenagers came down after dark to check out his display. 

But what the teens didn’t know was that Petty himself had donned a scary costume and was waiting to frighten the youngsters.

“What if one of these guys moved,” one teen wondered aloud.

With that Mr. Petty rose from his seat sending the kids running down the street

“They took off. All I heard was screaming,” he said. “They made the whole thing worth it that night.”

It’s a labor of love for Petty and his sister Pam Thompson who glean items throughout the year to transform the front yard of their Track Avenue home. The scene feature monsters rigged with snow fence poles, old clothes masks and wigs, erie lighting and spooky background music. The pair took a few years off from their hobby following the deaths of their parents Spencer Petty and Florence Ray and several months apart in 2010.

This year they are back and are welcoming neighbors to come down and take a look.

“We’re kind of a lonely street, but you’d be surprised how many people come by,” Mr. Petty said. “The parents love it. They thank us for doing it.”

Expect to get a case of chills if you come late at night.

“I scare myself with these guys,” he said.

Bryan Petty’s home is located at 520 Track Avenue in Cutchogue.

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