Margate’s Haunted Mansion is located at Ventnor and Pembroke avenues.
By NANETTE LoBIONDO GALLOWAY
MARGATE – The owner of a stately home in the Parkway section is providing haunting memories for children and adults by turning his front yard into a graveyard of spooky creatures, complete with lights, animation and sounds.
Ari Goldberger has been living in his haunted mansion since 2011 and has completed several renovations both inside and outside. But for the last three years, the front yard renovations he completes during October attracts hundreds of spectators who thank him for creating spooky holiday memories.
“I put a few decorations up in 2021, and last year started putting up the larger animated displays I got from The Home Depot,” he said Sunday afternoon as he an his neighbor added even more to his haunted mansion display.
It takes Ari Goldberger more than a month to put up his haunted display.
He said he started earlier this year, but it still takes more than a month to get ready for the scary season. Among the animated displays are a 13-foot tall Jack Skellington, preditors of the night and giant ghosts and goblins. Every inch of his front yard has some spooky character, gravesites, skeletons of people and pets, and a bust of Abraham Lincoln wearing an eye patch sitting atop a water feature graveyard.
Among the questions people ask most is how long it takes him to create the display and where he stores it when the pagan holiday passes. That would be under his deck and in the basement, he said.
The cost has been growing each year as some of the displays cost hundreds of dollars. He ventured a guess to say he has about $10,000 invested so far.
Although he’s not really a fan of horror flicks, his sister who passed away a few years ago, was a big fan.
“The spirit of my sister spoke to me,” he said. “In a way, it’s a celebration of her life.”
Amid the tensions of partisan politics in a divided America, Goldberger, who practices law online, said Halloween is one facet of American life that everyone can agree on.
“I love to see the awe in their faces when they see it and I love it when they thank me. When I hear that, it makes me feel like a little kid playing in my yard,” he said. “The world needs to come together and ‘play nice,’ and everyone loves Halloween and candy.”
He leaves boxes of treats near the sidewalk, to fill the need for sustenance of onlookers seeking the thrills only a haunted house can provide.
He pointed to the bust of Abraham Lincoln wearing an eye patch and quoted the great American president: “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”
“We must unite through the things we agree on,” he said.
He is still working to complete a display of lighted ghosts that will fly above the sidewalk of the corner property and a karaoke machine that he will use to entertain the nighttime crowds.
The house is located on the bridal path at the corner of Ventnor and Pembroke avenues.
“This is the perfect location to do this,” he said.
Visitors can drive or stop by any time of day or night.
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