Those putting up extensive Halloween decorations may want to be careful — ones that are too realistic could ultimately send the cops to your house.
That is what happened to Steve Novak, a Dallas artist who transformed his home into a murder scene for the upcoming holiday. Since the start of the month, neighbors have been stopping by to take photos of the dummies covered in fake blood, body bags and wheelbarrows full of realistic-looking severed limbs gracing Novak’s front yard.
“As an artist, I’ve always got projects going on outside so my neighbors always see me making things,” Novak told NBC. “They asked me when I was going to do something for Halloween and they finally talked me into it.”
Novak has been doing these displays for several years now. While earlier ones were limited to ghosts and fog machines, Novak started putting more and more effort into each year’s decorations — more expensive dummies and fresh fake blood every time the rain washed some of it away.
Most neighbors were impressed by the artistry and stopped by to take photos. Others, however, thought it was too realistic and filed complaints. Officers from the Dallas Police Department were called onto the scene several times after people phoned in, a spokesperson told NBC.
The complaints did not lead to anything and ultimately resulted in the police taking photos themselves. While Novak is not a fan of Halloween in particular, he said that he enjoys any occasion to decorate and already has plans for an even bigger display for next year.
“There’s no citation, they said I wasn’t doing anything wrong,” Novak said. “They took pictures, they thought it was great.”