MILWAUKEE — Are aliens real? Did they leave evidence of their existence in Milwaukee's Bay View neighborhood?
Well, if you drive down Clement Avenue you might see the remnants of an ancient alien civilization. Was it created by extraterrestrials or was it made by Jamie Beauchamp-Reid and Andy Reid?
“(Aliens) did not. I built this display," Andy Reid said. "This took a long time. We actually started a month earlier than we would normally, and it was like right after the 4th of July."
For nearly 20 years, the couple has been building large Halloween displays in their front yard. They call it A&J's Halloween House. It will be lit up every night from now until Halloween. They typically turn off their lights around 9 or 10 pm. You can visit it at 2943 S. Clement Ave.
“I’ve always wanted to do something Egyptian with mummies, but we didn’t feel like there was a whole lot we could do with that. So we decided that we’re going to do a two-for. We are going to do ancient Egyptian with aliens because, you know, based off the show Ancient Aliens (aliens) built the pyramids.”
I've covered A&J's Halloween House four times. Their previous displays included Wheel of Misfortune in 2023, Beetlejuice in 2022, Scary Circus in 2021, and Ghostbusters in 2020.
“It’s a little bit bigger as far as we took over a little bit of our neighbor's yard," Reid said.
The display does more than just wow neighbors. For the past nine years, the couple has teamed up with Pathfinders Milwaukee. The nonprofit helps youth in crisis. Pathfinders offers housing support, shelter for runaway and homeless youth, anti-sexual violence services, and clinical services. Visitors can leave cash donations in a secure box or scan a QR code on the signs around the Halloween display. You can also donate by going to the Pathfinders website. This partnership has raised around $40,000.
"Young people experiencing homelessness, they need housing. They need basic resources. They need help with school. They need help with employment. But they also need to know their community cares about them, and when you make a donation to Pathfinders that shows our youth the community cares about them," Katie Kuhn, senior communications manager at Pathfinders, said.
See more of what A&J's Halloween House looks like...
Since A&J's Halloween House has been going on for two decades, they've gotten a lot of the same questions. Let's answer some of the most common ones.
- How long did it take to build? About 2.5 months
- How much did it cost? "Never ever going to reveal that. That is our donation to do this so that the money that is raised goes towards the charity," Reid said.
- Where do you store it all? In the garage. They also donate the materials to schools. Sometimes people have bought features from them.
- What do they do for Christmas? Nothing. They just do Halloween.
- Why do they do it? Andy Reid was inspired by his mom who always put up incredible Halloween decorations.
The display will be up until Nov. 1. It's promptly taken down and then planning for 2025 begins.
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