This Halloween house might be the scariest display in Vancouver, but not because of its haunting decor.
Usually folks who celebrate the spooky season will decorate their homes with skeletons, witches, bats, cobwebs, and other haunts. Those with front yards will sometimes litter the ground with gravestones and undead things crawling out from beneath.
But Vancouver local Laryssa Gervan has a different and decidedly scarier set-up this year.
The creator of last year's "Grave On Foods" Halloween display, which focused on the theme of inflation, specifically food and groceries, took on a new issue this year that will have many locals trembling -- Vancouver's notoriously expensive rental and housing market.
The elaborate Halloween decorations feature many unique details, including "for sale" signs, one of which features a demonized mayor, a display depicting the divide between low-incoming housing and lavish new developments, and numerous tombstones, which locals can see for themselves at 715 Victoria Dr.
The painted foam tombstones, of which there are 28, required the most effort, Gervan tells V.I.A. The monuments are scattered throughout the yard, commemorating venues that have been lost to development, such as Cafe Deux Soleil, The Imperial, and Libra Room.
Gervan says she left one of the tombstones blank for locals to write down other beloved now-closed venues.
The tombstones will also be getting a second life at the Parade of Lost Souls where they'll be repurposed for a graveyard dance party called the Raveyard.
Neighbours and passersby will also spot two big signs among the decorations; one reads "for sale" and "rich profit" while the other has "Ken Sin" and "your home for sale" written on it. The signage is accompanied by demonized depictions of a realtor and Vancouver's mayor, Ken Sim.
The main attraction is a haunting display portraying Vancouver's housing market.
On the left, a developer and headless mannequin children are eating money at the breakfast table. On the right, mutilated dolls and a bunch of stuffed Eeyore plushies are crammed into tiny houses.
"One side is the rich, opulent developer world. The other side is some struggling characters in their sad little box homes," explains Gervan.
Previous Halloween displays
Gervan has been putting on elaborate Halloween displays for several years. This year's "housing crisis" themed house is her fourth display.
The Vancouverite began turning her home into a spooky attraction in 2020 during the U.S. presidential election, which saw a suburban revolt against then-President Donald Trump and the Republican Party. That year, Gervan built a wall with a glowing, COVID-19-infected Trump on top of it.
In 2021, when the COVID-19 vaccine came out, the Vancouverite made her themed display accordingly. It featured Bill Gates as the devil sitting atop glowing green buckets labelled "COVID Vax" which nodded at a popular anti-vaccine conspiracy theory, as well as protesters for both pro- and anti-vaccination.
"I tried to play it where no matter where you are on the [vaccination] spectrum, you could have a laugh," says Gervan.
The Vancouverite, who worked in Vancouver's film industry as a set dresser for many years and is part of the Burner community, says that putting on these over-the-top Halloween displays is very worth it.
"I can hear people laughing from inside my house and that makes me smile," she says. "It's worth doing. I know it just brings a lot to the community."
