Man thought about scaling back Halloween display until it became a surprising source of joy to a cancer patient
Oxford, Ohio — Make no bones about it, Bill Pyles' front yard in Oxford, Ohio, has bones all about it.
But to Pyles and his family, the scariest thing isn't their elaborate Halloween display —it's their mailbox, which every year curses him with hate mail.
According to Pyles, the messages from angry neighbors accuse him of everything from "worshipping the devil" to "glorifying death."
Which is why Pyles was thinking about scaling back the display when a note arrived earlier this month.
"I stopped dead in my tracks in the driveway looking at that letter," Pyles told CBS News.
The note was written by Tammy Weihe, who has breast cancer. To receive her daily radiation treatments, Weihe has to travel a country road in Oxford that takes her right past Pyles' house.
Given her situation, it would be understandable how Pyles' diorama of death could be unsettling. But the tone of her letter was more humerus than sternum.
"The bone family and what they are up to...(is) a highlight of my journey," Weihe wrote.
She went on to explain how her last day of cancer treatment was coming up, and how grateful she was for this daily diversion.
"Tears came to my eyes, really touched my heart," Pyles said.
He knew what he had to do. Pyles got to work adding to his display, so when Weihe made her final trip past his house, she saw a whole skeleton crew cheering her on.
"It was very touching to think that somebody would go to that effort for a stranger," Weihe said.
The two have since become friends.
"We talk all the time now," Pyles said.
Pyles said Weihe's letter and their new friendship has completely canceled out all the hate mail, inspiring him to not only keep his Halloween display, but to expand it. He now plans to keep the display up "year-round."
"Things are going to stay up and they're going to stay active," Pyles said.
And does he expect more angry letters?
"There will be."