CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Many families decorate their homes with colorful lights during the holiday season, but one Charlotte man is putting on a unique display that involves skeletons.
What You Need To Know
- A recent survey from Today’s Homeowner revealed many Americans are showing off their holiday lights outside
- A Charlotte man has taken what some may consider an unorthodox approach to his Christmas lights display
- He hopes people will be inspired to decorate for Christmas in any way they choose
Today’s Homeowner, a team of home improvement experts and professionals, recently surveyed 3,000 Americans to learn more about their holiday decorating preferences.
Key findings from the survey include the following:
- Around 70% of Americans intend to display outdoor holiday decorations
- Almost 60% will decorate their homes/establishments with colorful lights
- During the first week of January, nearly 44% of people decorating their homes will remove the decor
Although many Americans are participating in the holiday fun, not everyone approaches nor celebrates lighting decor the same way.
Shaun Holcomb lives in the Bradfield Farms neighborhood in Charlotte. Holcomb used to serve in the military.
“I joined in 2008 after my son was born,” Holcomb said. “I wasn’t really making a lot of money as a pastry chef, so I joined the military. I was in there for four years, did two tours [Afghanistan]. I have no regrets, I would do it again.”
Now, Holcomb is making new memories with his loved ones in North Carolina. Holcomb enjoys decorating his home both inside and outside, but his displays may be considered a bit unconventional for some.
“I’ve always gravitated towards creepy, unusual, just out of the ordinary kind of stuff,” Holcomb said. “It’s a little unorthodox but I love it.”
Holcomb decorates his house during the Halloween season. In his yard, you’ll see giant skeleton creatures and webs, everything Oct. 31 represents. But instead of removing the Halloween decor in November, Holcomb gets to work on using the spooky items to convey a Christmas theme.
Holcomb transformed a skeleton into a Santa Clause figure, and it’s proudly sitting on a coffin sleigh. You’ll also see a giant skeleton covered in lights, sitting outside in perfect window view of Holcomb’s indoor Christmas tree.
“It’s a lot easier to set up than the Halloween decorations because most of the stuff is already out [from the Halloween display],” Holcomb said. “I feel happiness, they make me feel whole.”
The decor fun is also taking place inside the home. Holcomb keeps a Halloween-inspired style throughout the house all year. He says these decorations are showing his son and daughter they can express themselves how they choose.
He hopes when people see his decorations, they’ll be inspired to create the holiday theme of their dreams.
“I hope it inspires someone to celebrate how they want to celebrate. I feel like if you’re not hurting anybody and you want to do something a little bit different that makes you happy, you might as well do it. I’ve gotten a really good response from the neighborhood. People seem to really enjoy it so I’m going to keep doing it,” Holcomb said.
But Holcomb did encounter a recent setback that almost changed the trajectory of his Christmas decoration experience.
“This past Halloween, a couple of mean people came and stole one of my 12-foot skeletons out of the yard,” Holcomb said. “So I was really apprehensive about decorating this year for Christmas just because I didn’t want anything to get stolen. But at the end of the day, it’s about the holiday spirit and I really wanted to share that with everybody. I didn’t want to let a few bad apples ruin the holiday spirit. I ended up decorating anyway and so far, so good.”
Holcomb says he’s looking ahead to the future and is preparing to soon launch a “spooky” business in the Charlotte area.
“It’s going to heavily involve all this stuff. I can’t get into too many details but I’m definitely going to be bringing something spooky and unique to the Queen City,” Holcomb said.