A controversial “Stranger Things” Halloween display reopened in a suburban Illinois neighborhood over the weekend, several days after a neighbor’s complaint shut it down.
Dave Appel, who with his family created the display, said that conversations with Plainfield town officials and Joliet police gave the green light for the return. “The conversation looked like I had fans in City Hall,” he said. “It was very much: ‘We love what you are doing. Thank you so much for helping the community and doing something good for the community.’”
Crowds had shown up on Whispering Oaks Court, a cul-de-sac in Plainfield, to marvel at the scenario’s centerpiece: a mannequin of the “Stranger Things” character Max Mayfield that hovers 10 feet in the air above the driveway, with no apparent wires or other support.
But on Oct. 2, after the display had a wildly popular first two days, Appel announced the shutdown on his Facebook account, citing “an incident with a neighbor swinging a baseball bat.”
The neighbor accused them of bringing negative attention to the neighborhood and endangering children.
Joliet police, whose officers patrol Plainfield, said the display does not violate any ordinances. A police spokesman encouraged visitors to follow the Appels’ parking guidelines: leave your car outside the cul-de-sac and walk in.
Dave Appel says the full display will be up Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings, and the lights and sounds will be turned off during the week.
He told “Good Morning America” that he and his wife, Aubrey, put in 1,500 hours in creating the Halloween display, which includes the creepy twisted vines and blackened trees of the nightmarish world in the Netflix hit. “We were watching the new season of ‘Stranger Things,’ … and I’m like, ‘I believe we can do this whole set in pool noodles,’” he said.
Once they hit on the idea of the floating Max, it took them a month of testing and tweaking to get it right. For days when it’s too windy for Max to go up, a second version sits on the ground by a headstone.
Videos of the phenomenon have been a hit on TikTok, where they’ve drawn millions of views and wide speculation. Appel will say only that it involves no drones or helium.
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