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Take a Tour of a Salem, MA Home That's Decorated for Halloween ALL YEAR LONG

From Woman's Day

Sam, creator of YouTube vlog Halloween Happy, has been obsessed with Halloween since she was a kid. "I filled notebooks with fall activities, costume ideas, and ghost stories," Sam tells Woman's Day. In her early 20s, she started throwing elaborate Halloween parties, and the second the holiday was over, she'd start planning next year's bash. And after every party, fewer and fewer Halloween decorations went back into storage. "I realized that because the holiday made me so happy, I should just surround myself with Halloween 24/7/365," she says. "Seeing all my Halloween decorations every day brings me comfort, keeps me productive, and lifts my spirits."

Then a few years ago, just when Sam thought her life couldn't be any more Halloween-centric, she moved to one of the spookiest towns in America: Salem, Massachusetts. When she visited the city for the first time, it instantly felt like home. "The weather was so cold, and lots of places were closed because of a snowstorm, but just walking around lit up my heart and soul," she says. It didn't take her long to deck out every room of her new home with Halloween décor and she gave Woman's Day an exclusive peek inside.

Photo credit: John Andrews - Creative Collective
Photo credit: John Andrews - Creative Collective

The kitchen is filled with Halloween dishware.

Sam's home doesn't have a dining table, so most of her meals take place at the kitchen counter. "I only have four 'normal' plates, the rest are Halloween," she says. She particularly loves buying placemats: "They're really versatile. I put them on coffee tables and bookcases to give them an extra punch of Halloween.

She owns a jaw-dropping amount of Halloween mugs.

Over 100 mugs and counting! "Believe it or not, I have passed up on a lot. I look for ones that have character or remind me of my childhood," she says. "But as you can probably tell, I'm a sucker for Jack-o-lantern faces."

Photo credit: Courtesy Halloween Happy
Photo credit: Courtesy Halloween Happy

The bathroom makes Sam feel like she lives in a "haunted castle."

"If you want to decorate your whole house for Halloween, the bathroom is the easiest place to start," she says. "It's usually a smaller space so it only takes a few pieces to transform it." Despite all of the standout bathroom décor, it's the little touches that guests tend to notice most. "I put scrap ghost ribbon around the toilet paper and people comment on it all the time."

Her living room has a horror-themed wall.

Sam's boyfriend is a huge fan of horror films, so he decorated their living room wall with movie posters, figurines and special photographs. (Talk about a match made in Halloween heaven.) "There are ReAction figures of popular horror characters, like Michael Myers from Halloween, and monsters, like Dracula and Frankenstein. There's also a Bates Motel sign, a bunch of Freddy Krueger merchandise, and photos of my boyfriend with horror celebrities he's met over the years."

Photo credit: Courtesy Halloween Happy
Photo credit: Courtesy Halloween Happy

She collects Halloween books and music.

"I'm very picky about the records I buy, that's why I don't have as many records as I do mugs," says Sam. Her Halloween music collection includes movie soundtracks, like from the films Get Out and Halloween, and lesser-known records she finds at thrift stores, like one from the '80s called Halloween at Home, which plays ghost stories and scary sound effects. As for books, she's been buying up a bunch just in the past few years. "Just flipping through makes me happy and nostalgic. Sometimes I'll pull a few from the bookcase to create a decorative stack in another area of the house."

There are glimpses of other holidays in the house.

Yes, Sam does own a Christmas tree — it's just covered in Halloween decorations instead of traditional Christmas ornaments. She also has a designated corner with a shelving cube that she redesigns based on the season. "In December, I'll add a few touches of Christmas that don't scream Christmas, like snowmen wearing neutral colors or a spooky item covered in silver glitter," she says. Her dedication to Halloween has had some people wondering whether her year-round celebration has caused the holiday to lose its luster. "Halloween feels just as magical to me as it did decades ago. If anything, I wish I started decorating my house like this sooner."


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