Patch Scare Tour: Ocean County's Best Halloween Yard Haunts

Our imaginative and demented exterior decorators have scared up their lawns with zombie graveyards, body parts, floating ghosts and devil's playgrounds to explore on Patch's Tour o' Scary Yards.

Some of us may not be able to go trick-or-treating, but we can still have fun looking at the best scary yards in the Ocean County area. There are homes listed here from Brick, Beachwood, Jackson, Manchester Toms River, Little Egg Harbor and Howell, and there's a link to homes from Berkeley Township to Barnegat. Eat candy while you're driving around.

We've created this guide to displays that are bound to elicit a few 911 calls or set off some pacemakers when a pneumatic-controlled Freddy Krueger lunges at you from the bushes based on your submission. Not on the list? You can still send yours. See the information at the bottom of the list.

Simple rules to keep in mind:

GET ON THE LIST: Patch's is a friendly list. We LOVE reader submissions, so we'll be updating the list leading up to Halloween. So tell us why your yard haunt is special and send your pictures to karen.wall@patch.com. (Read more about getting on the list.)

BE RESPECTFUL: Don't yell, scream, honk your horn or litter. Please be respectful of people's neighbors. We think 10 p.m. is a reasonable time to stop looking at houses on weeknights, and 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

Updated Oct. 27, new entries at the top of each town section

Check out the haunts from Berkeley to Barnegat here: Patch Scare Tour: Halloween Yard Haunts From Berkeley To Barnegat

TOMS RIVER/SOUTH TOMS RIVER

The Halloweenie House
1050 Sheila Drive, Toms River

You can get candy anywhere, but at this home, hot dogs are the draw. "Every year for Halloween we have a 'Halloweenie,' where we set up a few grills and give out hot dogs," Susan Tibak said. This is the ninth year they will be doing this, and they have many people who make their home a yearly stop. "We have had people say, 'We need a photo of our kids in front of the Halloweenie banner because we have one from every year,' " she said.

"We do this is because kids usually come home from school and immediately go out trick-or-treating. The parents are walking around with the kids for hours and everyone is so hungry. By the time they go home, there is no dinner made and parents are scrambling to find something to eat other than candy," she said. They have decorations in the yard, and this year will have a 25-foot inflatable screen in the front yard showing Halloween movies. They will likely have the hotdogs out starting about 4 p.m., she said.

The Bone Yard
420 Applegate Ave., South Toms River

Fear Factor
633 Vaughn Ave., Toms River

Pirates' Deadly Doom
375 Kildare Drive, Toms River

Custom-made decorations including coffins, tombstones, and fencing along with numerous pirate-attired skeletons, and lights. On Halloween there will be a fog machine and music.

A Howling Good Time
1456 Colorado Drive, Toms River

Nightly 6 p.m.-10 p.m. through Halloween. Live actors on Halloween night, fog machines. Features life-size zombies, plenty of skeletons, and a graveyard scene. Live people around for a good scare. Plenty of animatronics. Display includes special effects and live music. Assorted candy handed out on Halloween.

Terror on South Main
126 South Main St., Toms River

A big yard display that runs every night from 7 p.m.-midnight. Trick or Treat will have live actors, fog, music and scares.

Ivan Road Graveyard Campfire
85 Ivan Road, Toms River

Blow-ups 10 a.m.- 10 p.m., lights 6 p.m.-10 p.m.
Assorted chocolate and candy on Halloween

Ferone's Not So Spooky Halloween Light Show
184 Yellowbank Road, Toms River

Through Oct. 31. 6 p.m.-9 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 6 p.m.-9:30 p.m. Friday, Saturday. Special effects, live actors; Display consists of a combination of blowups, lights and even a skeleton display that pays tribute to Walt Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean ride. Our lights are set to music and dance to the beat.

Seward's Spine-Chiller
14 Seward Ave., Toms River

Hollusion projections, props, fog, lights, graveyard, animatronics, sound, and will be giving out a good assortment of candy (chocolate, Jolly Ranchers, Now-n-Laters, Hi-Los). Nightly from 7:15 to 9 p.m. weekdays, 10:30 p.m. on weekends, with the exception of Oct. 25-27. "We also live right off the corner of Seward and Main directly across from Shut Up and Eat, so the night of the parade on the 30th would be an easy spot to come check out afterward."

Venturas' Spooky Vista
812 Holiday Court, Toms River

Lights are on nightly from 6:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.

Demons of Cedarview
2111 Cedarview Drive, Toms River

It's an afterlife/graveyard/demon worshiping theme. About 1 to 1½ weeks before Halloween they will have lights and sounds until 11 p.m. each night depending on weather.
"Halloween night we will run until 1 a.m. and we are offering full-size candy bars for all those who missed last year's display."

Febus Family Spooktacular
910 Salem Drive, Toms River

On the corner of Salem and Hazelwood, weather permitting weekdays 5-10 p.m. and 4-10 p.m. weekends. Music, fog, special lighting and Halloween videos playing, and large props. Candy will be given out on Halloween.

Attack of the Wall-Climbers
513 Pheasant Lane, Toms River

"We are new to the Halloween game but the neighborhood seems to really enjoy our home!" The display is lit up nightly from dusk to 10 p.m. through Halloween. They will follow Toms River's hours for trick-or-treating, roughly 2-8 p.m., with Reese’s and bags of chips and they participate in the Teal Pumpkin Project, with offerings for those who don’t or can’t have candy.

Joyce Manor
50 Joyce St., Toms River

The home features a projection show set to three Halloween songs: "Dead Man's Party," "Any Kind of Dead Person," and "This Is Halloween." See it from 7-9 p.m. nightly through Halloween; it may run later on weekends and on Halloween. "People can come in their car and tune in to 88.7 FM to hear the haunt!" See a video of the projection.

Mazzettas' Spookfest
503 Sloop Court, Toms River

There's a graveyard, a corn field, dragons on the roof, witches' brewing spells, and spiders on their web. They have a Halloween video that will be play the week of Halloween from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. nightly. "People are welcome to walk up the driveway to check out the display. We will be giving out a variety of candy."

Bergen Bay Cemetery
3450 Bergen Ave., Toms River

Lights and display are up daily. Almost all props are handmade by us. "Our area is mostly summer homes so we don’t get as much traffic, but hopefully in the coming years we’ll have enough traffic to have a donation box for the animal shelter. From last year, we had a lot more traffic than normal and I was so excited! We almost ran out of candy!" They will have candy again this year.

BEACHWOOD

The Homan Family
18 Spring St., Beachwood

We will be giving full-size candy bars and hot apple cider this Halloween!

BRICK

Delaware Disco Manor
285 Delaware Drive, Brick

This setup is family-friendly and will have a walkthrough for little kids as well as adults.

The Brick Midget House
88 Queen Ann Road, Brick

Halloween decorations, lights, music, and as Halloween gets closer, there will be pneumatic animated objects. Display runs from dusk until 10 p.m. On Halloween they give out soda, water, candy bars, chips "and of course, TRICKS." At Christmas time, the midget house becomes Santa's workshop.

"Side note, we did not make up the name of the house. It was that way when we bought it 20 years ago and was in Weird New Jersey magazine. We tried to change the name to the little house but it's just never stuck lol."

Spooky Q Haunt
308 Spruce Drive, Brick

All of the props and sets are homemade. The haunt can be seen during the day any day through Halloween. Nighttime viewing will start Oct. 16 until about 10 p.m. On Halloween there will be a walk-through with audio effects, projections, and live actors and candy handed out. Photos at Instagram.com/spookyqhaunt.

130 Roosevelt Drive, Brick
Kid-friendly

Drive by it day or night, lights at night.

Schmidt House
67 Red Maple Drive, Brick
Kid-friendly

Nightly from 5-9:50 p.m. unless there are high winds and heavy rain. Candy on Halloween.

Walcott Manor
235 Cottonwood Drive, Brick

Features a life-sized zombie horse, 7-foot animatronic reaper, 6-foot-plus animatronic clown. Custom-made electric chair and guillotine. Family friendly. No gore. Lit nightly from 7-10 p.m.
Display will include special effects and music on Oct. 30 and Halloween.

Bayles' Forbidding Backyard
121 Atrium Drive, Brick

This is a haunt you can't see from the road, but the Bayles family welcomes you to walk around and take a look. "We really do it up! My 16-year-old son loves art," Gerri Bayles said. "He creates all the figures," and her son and husband decorate. Evenings until 8 p.m.

The House of Skulls
110 Stephan Road, Brick
Check it out seven days a week from 6 p.m. until midnight. There are skeletons, lights and sounds. They re collecting donations for Jersey Pits Rescue (dog toys, blankets and dog supplies) and Angel and Jules for Others (food and toys for Christmas drive, partnering with Brick PBA). They are handing out full-size candy bars, and homemade treats for the dogs, and special treats for the grownups.

The Dragon House
81 Redwood Drive West, Brick

The dragon clan all has names and the newest addition flew in to join the group in early October. Lit up nightly from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.

MANCHESTER

The Greisch Family Ghouls
1740 Baltimore Ave., Manchester

All kinds of inflatables filled up from noon to 10 p.m. Adding more as the days get closer to Halloween.

JACKSON

Haunted Marino Manor
7 Gaelic Court, Jackson

Lots of lights, spooky inflatables (ghosts, pumpkins, cats, haunted tree etc), figures (skeletons, pumpkins, cats, and ghosts), creepy cemetery, and ghouls hanging from the trees. There are more surprises to come as we add some finishing touches. Drive by during the day or at night. Lights are on from 5 p.m. to midnight daily, possibly later on Halloween night. On Halloween night, goodie bags of candy will be given out.

POINT PLEASANT/POINT BEACH

House of Shadows
402 New Jersey Ave., Point Pleasant Beach

Display can be seen anytime after 6:30 p.m.-midnight. On Halloween, fog machines and sound effects really make it eerie to trick or treat. They give out all kinds of chips.

LITTLE EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP

The Train of Ghouls
27 Pikes Peak Road, Little Egg Harbor Township

HOWELL (MONMOUTH COUNTY)

Lorentz Carnival
60 Markwood Drive, Howell

Multiple clown props, creepy carnival music, window projection clowns, a small spinning wheel and lighting effects. Some things get put out for the week of Halloween. There is a little cemetery off to the side. 6:30 p.m.-10:30 p.m. every day (pending weather).

EAST BRUNSWICK

Donato Manor
34 Fifth St., East Brunswick

The display is available every day until 10 p.m. except if rain is in the forecast. Come and walk around the display.

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