I MIGHT LIVE NEXT-DOOR TO R.L. STINE.

So I may or may not live on the same street as famed horror writer R.L. Stine, or at least that’s where my imagination goes every time I pass this gated home with decaying cartoon characters that roam the property. It feels straight out of a paperback that I would have picked up in elementary school at the Scholastic Book Fair, where rotting yard statues come to life when the clock strikes midnight to peek through your bedroom windows.

Amidst the rolling hills, large pine trees, long driveway and wrought iron gates of this beautiful home are dozens of animated TV show/movie character statues made of resin and wood.

When they first appeared in the early 1990’s, the statues were a vibrant, welcome addition to the neighborhood. Parents would walk their kids up to the yard and peek through the gates in awe at the entertaining display. It became a known attraction in this little town. I know because I grew up not far from the house.

“BE OUR GUEST”

Over the decades the statues have succumbed to the elements and this is what exists today. They haven’t been tended to or restored, rather left to die in the weeds! The rot and withering has made the property into somewhat of a fascinating display of decay.

Some characters are worse-off than others. Some are so decrepit that it adds a layer of eeriness and becomes unintentionally spooky.

Information about the property is a bit scarce but I’m hoping to personally solve all mysteries very soon. Allegedly the owner had the statues constructed for his wife 30+ years ago.

Last but not least, at the end of the 3 acre estate sits a little red cabin, smothered in vines with a sign hanging on the outside that says “welcome cabin”…

I fully expected R.L. Stine or one of those grumpy writers who holes themselves up in their house for a year and doesn’t talk to anyone to come stumbling down the driveway shaking their cane at me.