Books - The Durango Herald

Kate Niles’ new novel a veritable New Mexico buffet

Kate Niles’ new novel, “The Last Hanging of Ángel Martinez,” is a glorious New Mexican buffet of all the good – and not so good – about this unique state. Nowhere else but northern New Mexi...

DATE: Nov 7, 2024 | CATEGORY: Arts and Entertainment

Retired Navajo Ranger talks about paranormal in new book

Milford to hold talks, signings in Durango and Farmington

DATE: Oct 3, 2024 | CATEGORY: Arts and Entertainment

New book shows La Plata County history through images

Author Ed Horvat contributes photos to Herald’s And the West is History

DATE: Sep 5, 2024 | CATEGORY: Arts and Entertainment

Walt Longmire returns for new adventure

Author Craig Johnson releases ‘First Frost’

DATE: Jul 25, 2024 | CATEGORY: Arts and Entertainment

Scott Graham back with another mystery

Durango author will talk about ‘Death Valley Duel’ at Maria’s Bookshop

DATE: Jul 3, 2024 | CATEGORY: Arts and Entertainment

Long-distance runner chronicles 460-mile trek, grief in new book

Emily Halnon will be in Durango to talk about ‘To the Gorge’

DATE: Jun 13, 2024 | CATEGORY: Arts and Entertainment

Anne Hillerman returns with new novel

Author will be At Maria’s Bookshop next week in Durango

DATE: May 2, 2024 | CATEGORY: Arts and Entertainment

Author’s book ‘The Naming of Horse’ imparts wisdom, unconditional love

Once you meet Horse, he’s hard to forget

DATE: Apr 11, 2024 | CATEGORY: Arts and Entertainment

Deborah Jackson Taff’s memoir explores life, history

Deborah Jackson Taffa’s debut memoir, “Whiskey Tender,” is an amazing mixture of deeply personal experiences and a well-researched history of Indigenous people’s treatment in the United Stat...

DATE: Mar 7, 2024 | CATEGORY: Arts and Entertainment

C.J. Box returns with new Joe Pickett novel

This newest novel by C.J. Box is No. 24 in his wildly successful series about this special Wyoming Game Warden Joe Pickett. Set in one of the least populated states in the union, it has a pl...

DATE: Feb 28, 2024 | CATEGORY: Arts and Entertainment

Durango native co-writes sweeping novel ‘The Reluctant Conductor’

Tim Turner, Moisey Gorbaty tell tale of family, survival – and music

DATE: Feb 15, 2024 | CATEGORY: Arts and Entertainment

N. Scott Momaday, Pulitzer Prize winner and giant of Native American literature, dies at 89

‘House Made of Dawn’ is considered as the starting point for contemporary Native American literature

DATE: Jan 30, 2024 | CATEGORY: Arts and Entertainment

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Photos: Veterans Day Parade on Main Avenue in Durango

Photos: Fort Lewis College football defeats NM HighlandsFLC wins its last home game of the season against New Mexico Highlands on Saturday at FLC

FLC wins its last home game of the season against New Mexico Highlands on Saturday at FLC

Final phases of project underway at Camino del Rio and Main Avenue

Photos: Marching for women’s rightsDurango Women’s March on Saturday starts at Buckley Park, continues down Main Avenue

Durango Women’s March on Saturday starts at Buckley Park, continues down Main Avenue

Photos: Durango High School football DHS beat Vista Ridge 20-14 at home Friday night

DHS beat Vista Ridge 20-14 at home Friday night

Gallery: Animals, super heroes and other creatures take over Main Avenue

Photos: A fun and spooky day at school

Haunted house northeast of Durango gets bigger every yearCody Petersen’s Halloween hobby is his escape from the daily grind

Durango resident Cody Petersen said when he moved into his home at 15 Edgemont Way several years ago, his house on the corner looked lonely and spooky.Today, it’s a madhouse. Halloween decorations are splayed practically on every inch of his lawn, in the trees and up and down his home.

A group of school-aged kids stop in front of his house every day to pose with a little gothic doll in the lawn, he said. It’s the favorite attraction amongst hundreds of decorations Petersen bought locally and online as early as July in preparation for Oct. 31, Halloween.He said he doesn’t want to think about how much money he’s spent on fog machines, animatronics and Christmas lights, but the bill easily totals several thousands of dollars.

For trick-or-treaters on Halloween, whom he encourages to visit, jumpscares abound at Petersen’s home, featuring animatronic spiders, growling wolves and other monsters, he said.He’s working on his own animatronic coffin, which shakes and rattles, and a pulley system that will push and pull a ghost up and down the yard, but neither will be ready for this year’s Halloween.He said he has fond memories of his parents decorating for the holidays during his upbringing and he’s a huge horror genre fan. So he enjoys going all out on decorations for the spooky season. He justifies his hobby with the logic his kids will only be in high school a few more years, and it isn’t as cool to decorate the lawn for Halloween when one doesn’t have children living at home.But the neighbors enjoy his haunts as much as the rest of the community. He said his Halloween scene has gradually grown larger every year; at least 50 trick-or-treaters turned up at his home last year.“I'm a home inspector, so I do have a lot of tools and no fear of trying things out,” he said.

He said typical Halloween animatronics cost $400 a piece, but they only last one year or so without breaking. That’s frustrating, he said, and he believes he can do better by building his own.He said this year’s display and experience is more organic than past years thanks to his handiwork. Among his myriad decorations, trick-or-treaters can spot easter eggs referencing “Beetlejuice,” “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and “Pet Sematary.”Among the horror props are real animal bones Petersen said he’s found on hikes across the countryside.“I've got ghosts and spiders and witches and that kind of thing,” he said. “Here in Edgemont, we have giant spiders for real. ... We get these huge wolf spiders that are bigger than my hand. I mean, huge, bigger than tarantulas.”

Petersen said he was motivated to make his first decorations within the first month he and his wife moved into the home on the corner at 15 Edgemont Way.A lone pine tree, a typical Christmas tree that would be strung up with lights and ornaments in December, stood out to Petersen in the yard, he said. He just felt compelled to decorate it and light it up.He said he thoroughly decorated the tree and left it lit year-round. Within a month of moving into the house, his neighbor died. The man was old and suffering from Alzheimer's.

Months later, the man’s wife approached Petersen and told him she and her husband’s last salient moments together were spent looking out at Petersen’s lighted Christmas tree, pretending it was Christmas. In the following hours, the man succumbed to delirium. He died several days later.“I don't know why I had that tree, why I lit it, but that's why that tree, even when Halloween is over, all year round, that Christmas tree always stays lit now,” he said.Petersen is a horror movie fan, and in particular he’s always enjoyed the sinister character Michael Myers of the “Halloween” franchise.

He said every year, after thrilling trick-or-treaters at his home, he takes to downtown and East Third Avenue in his Michael Myers costume, bearing a giant bowl of candy, to continue the fun.The highlight of his yard, the creepy doll neighborhood kids like to pose and take pictures with, is Petersen’s “elf on the shelf,” he said. He likes to move the doll around the house, sometimes propping her up to hold animal bones.“I have a real busy and pretty stressful job,” he said. “I just love the fall so much. And to come home, it's just a good way to wind down and, you know, de-stress, just go out and work in the yard.”cburney@durangoherald.com

Cody Petersen’s Halloween hobby is his escape from the daily grind

Reader-submitted photos of Halloween decorationsLast week, we asked readers to submit photos of their Halloween decorations or a neighbor’s decorations. We received dozens of photo submissions. We have selected some of the most spooky, elaborate and fun photos to share in this gallery. Enjoy!

Photos: FLC volleyball returns homeFort Lewis College volleyball took on Adams State University on Tuesday

Fort Lewis College volleyball took on Adams State University on Tuesday

Kate Niles’ new novel a veritable New Mexico buffet

Retired Navajo Ranger talks about paranormal in new book

New book shows La Plata County history through images

Walt Longmire returns for new adventure

Scott Graham back with another mystery

Long-distance runner chronicles 460-mile trek, grief in new book

Anne Hillerman returns with new novel

Author’s book ‘The Naming of Horse’ imparts wisdom, unconditional love

Deborah Jackson Taff’s memoir explores life, history

C.J. Box returns with new Joe Pickett novel

Durango native co-writes sweeping novel ‘The Reluctant Conductor’

N. Scott Momaday, Pulitzer Prize winner and giant of Native American literature, dies at 89

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