Home Depot's Peeping Creeper Decor Raising a Ruckus

LAKE FOREST, CA — Though controversy is swirling about the "Peeping Creeper" Halloween decoration, it's still on the shelves as of Wednesday morning at the Lake Forest El Toro Home Depot.

The Peeping Creeper, and his counterpart the Tapping Creeper and the Skull Creeper, is a prop available at the big box home improvement store locations across America and online. The item which retails for just less than $30 is designed to scare trick-or-treaters but is a real concern for many in Canada, according to an MSN.com report.

Home Depot Canada yanked the "peeping Tom Halloween decorations," a CBC News video report stated, as it "makes light of a real life, sinister issue."

Upon outreach, Stephen Holmes, Home Depot's director of corporate communications openly discussed the Canadian dispute on the decor item.

"In Canada, the 'Scary Peeper' reminded them of Canadian serial killer Paul Bernardo, who was a voyeur," Holmes said. According to Holmes, the complaint "was specific to Canada where we discontinued the product because one of the country’s most notorious serial killers was a voyeur."

Home Depot Canada discontinued the product last Friday. It is still available at Home Depots, such as Lake Forest. The boxed decoration doesn't look like much, but in the right window at the right time, chances are it can cause a scream or two.

Though Orange County women agree that peeping toms are nothing to make light of, when posed a question regarding the Home Depot Halloween decor, they were nonplussed.

"I don't know what I'd call it, but I don't think I'd spend my money on it," Orange County resident Emily Danielle said.

And a random Facebook poll on the issue had the majority of those asked deciding that the decoration was at most "tacky," and as far as poor taste, that ranked way down the list below "scary fun."

The manufacturer, Scary Peeper, who calls it "Fright at First Sight," has made its entire business on creating lifelike to cartoonish characters that look in on their customers.

As the owners, Morgan and Emily Dowtin, said in a Washington Post interview, they started the “Scary Peeper” line about five years ago as a joke.

The intention of the product is to be a "fun spirited prank," they said to the Post. "We cannot stress enough that there is absolutely no malicious or ill-intent on our part."

Seen in action, along with its counterpart, the "Tapping Creeper," it's sure to get a few shrieks on Halloween night.

Photos, Ashley Ludwig, Patch Staff