# Are These Halloween Decorations Scary Enough to Call the Cops?



## Frightmaster-General (Sep 9, 2011)

Halloween is the time for over-the-top gore, right? If you live in Mustang, Oklahoma, you may want to think twice.








Johnnie Mullins decorated his home with a fake body posed to look like his head was slammed into the garage door, which was subsequently splattered with blood. Sounds pretty tame, right? One of Mullins' neighbors didn't think so: she called the police, thinking it was a real dead body. When EMTs and firefighters responded, they told Mullins he wasn't doing anything illegal and Mullins was free to keep the display up. So he did - and he added another body.

Neighbor Rebecca Fuentes was offended by the display. "If I thought it was real, what must a child think?" she told reporters. I think kids are way smarter than she is giving them credit for. It has not been confirmed if Fuentes was the same neighbor who called the cops.

(Story by Alyse Wax, at Fearnet.com; has news-clip too)


----------



## MR David Person (Sep 30, 2013)

I have seen far worse props on display, people are far to over reactive.


----------



## niblique71 (Dec 2, 2009)

I am never one to shy away from a topic. Although that scene does NOT offend me personally...the neighborhood AND residents NEED to report anything suspicious. It is on US as haunters to define and implement any and all decorum and proper etiquette for our Halloween displays. This display does invite an investigation from almost anyone.... To see if it is real or not....No opinion from me other than that....


----------



## goneferal (Sep 8, 2010)

I see displays like this as cheating a bit. Of course people are afraid of death. I prefer the ephemeral, the more ghostly. A grisly death scene is way worse than this display anyway, no prop will recreate that sort of stuff, nor should it. I myself avoid anything like hanging bodies which are semi-popular- since I see so many suicides, and the loved ones might be reminded of that awful moment. A cheap scare isn't worth that, to me. Don't get me wrong, this made me chuckle, but I totally get why some might not like it. Free speech, however is of the utmost importance.


----------



## Copchick (Apr 10, 2012)

If I would be called to check it out, I would have to explain to the caller that it's all in Halloween fun. Then I would have to take pictures of the offending bodies for laughs back at the station.  I'm certain my taking pictures would make the caller feel compelled to file a complaint. Again, I'd have to show the conduct investigators the pics too.


----------



## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

Saw this earlier today on CNN and my first thought was "Meh, I've seen worse" Second thought was "Hmm, he could use a lot more decorations in his yard."


----------



## HalloweenZombie (Jul 22, 2007)

It's not very Halloweeny. Looks more like a drive by scene than a Halloween scene.


----------



## goneferal (Sep 8, 2010)

HalloweenZombie said:


> It's not very Halloweeny. Looks more like a drive by scene than a Halloween scene.


Exactly, cheap shot is what I say.


----------



## Hobz (Oct 14, 2013)

The problem I have with "decorations" like this is that they're TOO realistic. As HalloweenZombie said, it's not Halloweeny. There's no fantasy, imagination, or creativity involved. Staging an accident like this it just too close to reality and seems like an attempt to trick spectators into believing a real accident has occurred, rather than inspire fear, which I think crosses the line. If there were some sort of monster or a masked, machete wielding psycho depicted, I'd have no problem with it. (Or, for that matter, ANY other decorations to signal that it isn't real.)

I find it in poor taste but I don't necessarily think that he should have been ordered to remove the bodies. However, I don't think "freedom of speech" guarantees him the right to leave them out either. Freedom of speech isn't absolute. If you go into a crowded theatre and yell "FIRE!" You can and should be arrested because you intentionally tried to incite panic and disrupt public safety. If you're "decorations" are realistic enough that a reasonable person feels the need to call the cops, you could make the same argument.


----------



## austenandrews (Aug 22, 2010)

I don't think it's unreasonable to think the worst of such a scene and call the cops. Given that, my only real concern is that it could unnecessarily tie up police resources. One incident might be worth a chuckle for all involved. If the cops get called more than once, it might be time to scale back a little, out of courtesy to them.


----------



## Troll Wizard (May 3, 2012)

_*I would agree....I don't really see Halloween in this. But if that swings his chain, then so be it. I would have to say at first glance it does look more like a drive by shooting than decorations. I think I would rather have someone call about what they saw, than not do anything at all if it was in my neighborhood.

I mean.....there's Halloween decor and then there is the plane old,"My head was up my Wazoo" (keeping it clean for the young ones on here) when he thought of this for his yard. 
*_


----------



## CrazedHaunter (Nov 18, 2012)

This reminds me of a news report 2 or 3 years back where a man died on his balcony and was up there for several days. Nobody call the cops because they all thought it was part of a Halloween display..


----------



## Death's Door (Mar 22, 2006)

CrazedHaunter said:


> This reminds me of a news report 2 or 3 years back where a man died on his balcony and was up there for several days. Nobody call the cops because they all thought it was part of a Halloween display..


This was an incident that actually happened in our town. A man committed suicide by hanging himself on his porch. Nobody suspected anything because it was the week of Halloween. Even the mailman kept delivering the mail to the house but as the week went on, the stench of the body started to happen. The mailman called the police after checking out the body a little closer. 

I have to admit that I was envious of how realistic it looked. With that kind of display I don't think you need to add anything else except maybe a sign stating that it's a display to calm the neighbors.


----------



## SkeleTom (Oct 5, 2007)

My vote is that if it's realistic enough to warrant a call to 911, it's probably a bad idea due to wasting limited rescue team bandwidth. (Still, surely people can take the ten extra seconds to verify the scene before calling? Especially this month of all months? On second thought, maybe not. The dummies in the haunt are vastly outnumbered by the dummies in the crowd.)


----------



## jaege (Aug 23, 2009)

Wow, look pretty realistic. That would freak me out if I saw it in my neighbors driveway. Of course if the neighbor were a known Halloween aficionado I may have to poke the body with a stick before I called the cops.


I agree, not really a Halloween display.


----------



## scareme (Aug 29, 2006)

Wow, Oklahoma, I'm impressed. I didn't know anyone else had a Halloween sense of humor around here. I wonder what the rest of the yard looks like. Decorated for Halloween, or is this all there is? If this is all there is then I agree it's just shock, and not a true Halloween display. But hey, if the reason we decorate is to draw attention, he's got nation wide attention. Hell, I've never even had a picture in the paper, so he's got me beat by a long shot.


----------

