by Erica Coghill WLKY
LOUISVILLE, Ky. —Halloween decorations are up on Hillcrest and visitors are trickling down the street.
It's a tradition that's been going strong since the early 1980s, shortly after Michael Grhist and his wife moved into their home on Hillcrest Avenue.
They're among the original founders of Halloween on Hillcrest, which it started as a friendly competition between a few neighbors.
“They’d come up and ask me what I was doing and I’m like, ‘Oh no, I’m not doing anything this year,’ and the whole time I’m working on it in my backyard,” Grhist said...(read article)
by Michelle Eigenheer
If you're looking to take yourself or your kids out for some spooky fun this weekend, stop by Hillcrest Ave (at Brownsboro Road) for a series of decked out haunted homes. See the slideshow below for a sneak peak of the block's Halloween tradition.
Don't forget to tag your adventure on Instagram!...(read article)
Frankie Steele, Special to The Courier-Journal -- Ranked one of the "Best Halloween Neighborhoods in America" by AOL Travel in 2013, Hillcrest Avenue in Crescent Hill is a go-to area for ghouls and goblins of all ages. Many homes set up weeks in advance and see thousands of trick-or-treaters each year.
Michael Ghrist, who has a yard full of humorous decorations, says that the neighborhood's elaborate Halloween decoration tradition has been going on for around 20 years.
Decorations range from store-bought to do-it-yourself, from silly to the macabre.
Many of the larger displays are themed: aliens, clowns, zombies, movie villains, more, scarier zombies — but all aim to entertain.
Aimee Perdue, who has a well received yard, says that she sets up "to watch the enjoyment people get when they come to see all of the Halloween decorations they set up for them...(read article)
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- For one neighborhood in Louisville, the countdown to Halloween began weeks ago.
That's how much work it takes to transform the notorious Hillcrest Avenue into Halloween Street and decorations are already popping up.
"Everything i put in here is homemade," said Michael Ghrist as he spruced up one of his "victims," a man with a plummeting parachute. "His name is I-B Tulow. I be too low!" he laughed.
Everything in Ghrist's "Hillcrest Cemetery" themed yard is funny. "You go cash a check and you tell people you're from Hillcrest, they're like, 'ohhh which one's yours?'"
Some residents start setting up their yard in September. The tradition of extreme decorations on Hillcrest Avenue has gone on for 19 years.
It can take weeks to build elaborate scenes. Once October hits, it's crunch time. Some yards are still empty, but by this weekend, most will be transformed.
Down the street from Ghrist, his neighbors were...(read article)
AOL Original by Doug Mack - 9. Crescent Hill, Louisville
...We set out on a quest to find the best neighborhoods for Halloween, the places that go above and beyond in their celebrations. Some were renowned for being trick-or-treating hotspots, with streets lined with DIY decorations and crowded with thousands of pint-sized witches and superheroes. Others took a more adult-oriented approach, with masquerade balls remixed as rowdy street parties. And in some cases, it was all about the pumpkins, the bigger and more numerous the better.
The common thread among all of the celebrations? It turns out -- unsurprisingly, perhaps -- that a neighborhood's Halloween celebration typically fits its everyday character. The hip urban districts have the biggest parties, the Bohemian enclaves have the puppet-filled parades...
Imagine a homemade, low-budget but high-creativity theme park, and you’ve got a sense of Halloween on Hillcrest Avenue in Louisville. Along a three-block stretch of the street, some 50 houses compete to outdo each other with outlandish, elaborate decorations. Many have a theme within their yard -- last year’s efforts included Area 51, a ghoulish wedding and a torture chamber...(read article)
LOUISVILLE, Ky (WLKY) - Crescent Hill neighborhood is gaining nation attention for its special halloween decor. "A-O-L Travel" has named Hillcrest Avenue one of the "Best Halloween Neighborhoods in America" as Christina More reports...(read article)
LOUISVILLE, Ky (The Courier-Journal) - Halloween has become a year-round obsession for Mike Ghrist, an early promoter of Halloweenmania on Hillcrest Avenue in Crescent Hill.
The street has long had a reputation locally as the place to be and see on Halloween night, and Ghrist’s fiendishly involved decorating efforts over the past 18 years — along with those of others on the street off Frankfort Avenue — have won it national acclaim in new AOL Travel rankings as one of the “Best Halloween Neighborhoods in America.”
Ghrist, who outwardly seems like a reasonable person, begins putting out his elaborate graveyard displays during the third week in September. “I like to be open by the first of October,” he said. This year, he’s added a nauseated Roman charioteer (“Ben Hurl”), who has crashed into his driveway wall — a scene that’s intended, at least, to impart a message against drunken driving.
Ghrist begins hatching his plans for next year’s Halloween attractions on Halloween night, so the planning never stops...(read article)
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WLKY) It can be the scariest place in town in more ways than one as trick-or-treaters head to Hillcrest Avenue on Halloween.
(Click here to see photos). But some residents said activities on that street have become somewhat dangerous due to large crowds.
Thousands of people every Halloween walk up and down Hillcrest Avenue for tricks and treats.
But those who call Hillcrest home said it's getting too crowded....(read article)
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB)---There's a steady stream of cars traveling along Hillcrest Avenue, and people everywhere you turn.
The decorations are one of the main reasons why people like Beth Biermann and her two grandchildren, Evan and Emily, stop by every year.
"I just think it's a fun thing to do. We do it early. We don't do it on Halloween night because they're little," says Beth Biermann.
However, some neighbors say people may notice fewer Halloween decorations and some changes this year along the busy street.
"Just not as many. I hate that. I do hate that. There's just not as much participation," says Beth Biermann.
Neighbor Jase Robertson says many people have noticed some people are scaling back this year with less decorations, or none at all.
"On Halloween night it's just gotten so crazy, it's an effort to try to tone it back," says Jase Robertson.
"It was like a line at Disney World to get on a ride. It was just like, take a step...wait. Take a step, wait," says Robert Womack, who lives along Hillcrest Avenue...(read article)
AspireLouisville- By Megan Brown -- It's the most wonderful time of the year!!!! Halloween is such a fun holiday and no matter what age you are, you can't deny that getting dressed up and receiving candy is a good day indeed!
When I moved to Louisville and found out about Halloween Street, well... it set my heart aflutter. What was that? You've never heard of Halloween Street?! Oh my, you have been missing out!! Located in Crescent Hill, Hillcrest Avenue has become the "winter wonderland" for Halloween. Lauren Reherman, friend and Hillcrest Avenue homeowner, was kind enough to give me a little insight to what it actually takes to pull the decorating task off.
Current residents - Gavin (owner of Acudent) and Lauren (owner of PeaPod Designs), daughter Mary and dog Charlie (owner of their parents hearts)
How long have you lived in your home?
About 5 years
Best thing about Crescent Hill?
The closeness to shops and restaurants, it's very walkable, family neighborhood....(read article)
LOUISVILLE, KY (WWDRB) - Hillcrest Avenue residents in Louisville's Crescent Hill neighborhood prepare for thousands of trick-or-treaters on Halloween.
Decorations get bigger and better every year, with neighbors coming together to put on the city's premier Halloween event.
The event always happens on October 31st no matter what day of the week.
Homeowners suggest for smaller kids to start going door to door around 5 p.m. Things wrap up close to 10 p.m.
This year during the Halloween season, the neighbors on Hillcrest Avenue will be collecting canned goods for the United Crescent Hill Ministries.
If you plan to stop by to look at Halloween decorations, please consider bringing a canned good.
Look for milk crates or boxes at several homes to deposit items.... (read article)
LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) - It is the most well known Halloween decoration display in the River City. The monsters, skeletons, ghouls and goblins are up at many homes along Hillcrest Avenue off Brownsboro Road. Last year, there were questions raised about possible permits. We looked at how things are going this year... (read article)
Leo Weekly By Sara Havens - In 2009, U.S. consumers spent more than $5 billion on Halloween decorations, costumes and candy. Half of that figure was spent right here in Louisville, on one street in Crescent Hill — Hillcrest Avenue. OK, so maybe the latter factoid is a bit of an exaggeration, but if you’ve strolled down Hillcrest on any given night in October, it wouldn’t seem like much of a stretch. For more than two decades, the neighbors on Hillcrest have made it the central spot for trick-or-treating, people watching and one-upping each other on extravagant yard displays. Let’s just say that the effort put into Hillcrest during Halloween would make Clark Griswold blush.
Thousands of Louisvillians — children and adults alike — flock to the avenue Halloween night. Residents David Carpenter and Andrew Held both quote me a figure of more than 6,000 pieces of candy handed out last year. “Halloween, costumes and large crowds of people tend to encourage strange behavior,” says Held, who lives at 321 Hillcrest. “Halloween night becomes an odd blend of typical trick-or-treating, Mardi Gras and the Kentucky State Fair — minus the corn dogs and funnel cakes. It’s quite the show.”... (read article)
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WLKY)— Residents along Hillcrest Avenue set no limits with Halloween decorations... (read article)
InsiderLouisville by Terry Boyd - Halloween is our oddest holiday, a celebration of – maybe a reconciliation with – the dark journey we all must take.
Yet Halloween on Hillcrest Avenue is a celebration of what so many of us already have lost – an authentic sense of community...(read article)
Louisville, Ky (WLKY) It's one of the most spectacular places to be on Halloween night -- Hillcrest Avenue in Crescent Hill attracts thousands of people from around the city, but this year, some neighbors are concerned about the event's future.(read article)
Louisville.com by Jessica Lynn - Every year neighbors on Hillcrest Ave join together in creating the city's most impressive display of Halloween decorations. The celebration has gotten so popular that the city is trying to get the neighbors to get a permit to continue. Despite concerns with the city's requests, the neighborhood's residents set to work over the weekend getting their displays ready. The people out in their yards made it clear that they do it to get together with friends and connect with others. One even said,"If you see us out here with our firepit, pull up a lawnchair and hang out with us for a while....(read article)