An interactive and intricate yard haunt in Redwood City brings together local residents.
Free to all, the Turnsworth Cemetery, located on Iris Street, recently won first place in the Redwood City “Haunt Your Home” contest for best effects. A scene set in an amusement park, the Turnsworth Cemetery has lasers for visitors to use to trigger specific animatronics and effects. The yard haunt will be up until Nov. 1.
“It’s slowly just grown over time. You started out with a few things our first year, when we moved to a place that had a yard, I wanted to build stuff, and then it’s slowly grown and grown,” said Brady Sullivan, the creator of Turnsworth Cemetery.
Sullivan says that this is their 13th year setting up the Turnsworth Cemetery, with its name stemming from when he lived on Turnsworth Avenue.
“Most of it is home-built in one way or another, through customizing things and everything,” Sullivan said.
He estimates around one or two thousand visit the Turnsworth Cemetery each year, reflecting the kind of fun that floats around each year.
“I always loved Halloween. Like as a kid, my parents lived nearby, and we would build haunted houses,” Sullivan said. “I’ve always loved Disneyland and theme parks, so just the chance to build my own animatronics and little theme park is really what drove it on.”
Adding to the experience, Sullivan created a guest book have a guest book that people leave notes.
“Even the past few nights, we’ve usually had pretty steady crowds,” Sullivan said.
He says he saw people sign from Spain, Japan, and Italy when neighbors bring their families around. Matt LeRoi has taken his kids three times and counting. His oldest son, an 11-year-old, remarks on how “cool” the interactive aspect is.
“I love the interactive part of it, that, like, there are things to do with it, not just look at but there’s lots of things moving. It’s very engaging,” LeRoi said.
Natalie Tellis discovered the Turnsworth Cemetery during her 20-mile ride sightseeing community Halloween decorations.
“This is the best one in Redwood City, and maybe the best one on our ride,” said Tellis, who was there with some neighbors.
The sense of neighborhood pride was prominent throughout the evening.
“Redwood City is a great place to live, generally, and I love this kind of stuff,” LeRoi said. “Just seeing people like neighbors come gather in one place is really cool.”
