Some Impressed, Others Disgusted By Gruesome Halloween Display In Brooklyn
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A gruesome Halloween display in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn has drawn heated controversy, with some calling it a work of art and others saying it crosses a line.
As CBS 2's Tamara Leitner reported Tuesday, some residents called the display "demonic," while others called it "brilliant and creative." But overall, they weren't quite sure what to make of it.
"Very eerie -- I've never seen a Halloween scene like this," said Dionne Watley Adger of Clinton Hill. "I'm not certain what they are trying to depict here."
The porch of the Bergen Street brownstone with the display has been turned into what appears to be a torture chamber. A surgeon with a jack-o-lantern head operates on a bloody baby doll, hooked up to an IV.
Other dolls are impaled, decapitated and mutilated, with knives or nails in their heads or skewers impaling their bodies. Another looks plaintively out of a bird cage, and another still is chained to a chair.
One doll even has a smaller doll emerging from a bloody gash in its belly, reminiscent of the "Alien" movies.
"Maybe it's an artistic expression, and maybe she has something important to say," said Doug Brooks of Boerum Hill.
Some have tried to ignore the macabre scene, while others cannot help but gawk.
"It's just someone's sense of humor," said Irene Zimmerman of Boerum Hill. "As twisted as it may be, we've all got our thing."
The display went up Sunday, and has been drawing a critical and sometimes admiring crowd ever since.
"That's the part that gets me," said Junie Futrell of Boerum Hill. "In light of everything going on in today's world, I don't know how tasteful this is."
"It's Halloween," added Meg Allan Cole of Boerum Hill. "It's supposed to be scary."
So who is the person behind this? According to public records, the woman who lives in this house is an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker.
Neighbors told CBS 2 the homeowner decorates for Halloween every year. CBS 2 did contact her, but she did not want to talk.
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