Halloween's a real scream for this street in Union

Freddy Krueger will lurk outside a home on a tree-lined street in Union Township this evening. Down the block, an electric chair frying an unwitting victim will spew smoke into the streets.

Every Oct. 31, Lafayette Avenue transforms into "Halloween Town" -- a reference to the fictional setting of the film "A Nightmare Before Christmas." And two households lead the charge in making the neighborhood live up to its name.

Gravestones and bones shoot from the lawn of Steve Ruhl's two-story house in the middle of the block. Ghosts and goblins hang from the trees, and a skeleton donning a police uniform and holding a Dunkin' Donuts coffee cup guards the entranceway.

On the corner, Chris Uschak sets up a horrific scene behind the doors of his garage and dresses as Krueger.

"One night a year, Lafayette Avenue becomes Elm Street," said Uschak, a 38-year-old quality auditor for a pharmaceutical company. In this year's garage scene, Jason Vorhees, the villain from the "Friday the 13th" movie series, stands poised to attack, surrounded by victims prepared for slaughter.

Both men said the decorating started out as very simple celebrations more than a decade ago.

"Each year I would add a little bit to it," said Ruhl, a 50-year-old Hillside firefighter.

Now, Ruhl and Uschak spend nearly a month planning, building and decorating their homes. With hand-me-down clothes, yard sale finds, recycled materials and hands-on ingenuity, Ruhl and Uschak have created an attraction that lures hundreds of visitors to the block every Oct. 31.

"You've got to geek out on something in this life," said Uschak, a married father of one.

For these two, it's Halloween, and both men peg their zeal to their childhoods.

Ruhl, who grew up in Hillside, said his dad, an electrician, wired pumpkins to light up in the front windows of their home. Ruhl said his was the only house on the block adorned with Halloween flair.

"No one decorated their houses back then," said Ruhl, a married father of two.

Uschak, who moved to Union when he was 4, said his grandmother would always decorate for holidays -- particularly Halloween -- a little more than usual. When they moved into their homes, both men wanted to carry on the tradition

For the last four years, the residential block has closed between West Chestnut Street and Hoover Place for the event. Last year, Uschak estimates that 800 trick-or- treaters visited his home.

Both men said they hope the neighborhood celebration inspires future generations of Halloween fanatics.