How Halloween takes over San Diego's Maryland Street
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
A countdown clock on Maryland Street created by Andy Cameron. Photo: Claire Trageser/Axios
One University Heights man doesn't just decorate his own home for Halloween; he covers the entire neighborhood with movie-quality animatronics, sound effects and lights.
Why it matters: Andy Cameron has transformed the 4000 block of Maryland Street into a one-night-only Halloween attraction that draws thousands.
- He works with his neighbors to deck out their front yards with everything from the Bates Motel to a pulsing heart to a moving dragon that blows steam.
Catch up quick: Cameron used to create sets for the San Diego Repertory Theatre and started decorating his own house for Halloween 25 years ago— choosing a Phantom of the Opera theme with billowing fog and lights flashing to the beat of the music.
- He couldn't help but notice that his next-door neighbor's house looked like the Bates Motel.
- So he asked to expand, creating an animatronic Mrs. Bates in the window and convincing his neighbor to sit in the yard dressed as Mrs. Bates. And it grew from there.
State of play: Now, the decorations run up and down Maryland Street and sometimes include:
- A "Wizard of Oz" section, complete with a yellow brick road.
- A 14-foot Grim Reaper (repurposed from an "A Christmas Carol" production).
- A band of singing pumpkins with moving mouths, and trees covered with red lights flashing in time to a beating heart.
- And the main attraction: the dragon Norbert, who alights on Cameron's property every Halloween night.
What they're saying: "It's all original, nothing store-bought; it's all conceived and built," Cameron tells Axios.
- He has a DVD of footage from past Halloweens and gives it to realtors to show people before they buy a house on the street.
- "Because anybody that moves in here, they tell them, 'Do you know about Halloween?'" Cameron said. "'Watch this before you move in. Because you really need to know.'"
- Rich Wise, the neighbor who becomes Mrs. Bates, was a theater major in college. So he was eager to join in the "Psycho" fun.
- "Then a couple more houses joined, and a couple more," Wise tells Axios. "Now what's great is you've got multiple generations coming back."
What's next: If you go, park at Birney Elementary School a few blocks away.
- Volunteers from the neighborhood help direct traffic, but the street is still open to cars, so Cameron pleads for families to cross safely.
- The only danger that night should be from Norbert the dragon.
