CRITTENDEN, Ky. — Lisa Studer and her mom, Carol Phelps, were born to love Halloween.
With birthdays just two days apart near the holiday, spooky season was in their blood.
"She loved Halloween because I loved Halloween," Studer said. “She always, always, always said that I was the best birthday present she ever got.”
Growing up, Studer’s mom made her Halloween costumes, took her trick-or-treating, and even built her a haunted house.
“I'm a Halloween baby and my mom raised me as a Halloween baby," Studer said. “All my parties were Halloween.”
She’s carried on that tradition, and now her husband, children and grandchildren help build Studer Home Haunts, an elaborate homemade display right off of North Main Street in Crittenden.
WATCH: Studer Home Haunts display made to scare, bring joy
“This year we've got a lot new, but we have a 10-foot Ferris wheel," said Studer. “The Ferris wheel took about a month and a half to complete because it's got a lot of different moving spokes.”
Other original displays include a haunted “CarnEvil” with a ghoulish ticket booth, a skeleton popcorn stand and a spinning knife-throwing wheel.
But all the spirits in the family’s front yard serve a much bigger purpose. This year, Studer is raising money for the Alzheimer’s Association.
“I'm facing the fact that I lost my mom,” Studer said. “Physically two years ago, mentally seven years ago, to Alzheimer's. My family didn't know how to handle it. We'd never had that situation before.”
The Alzheimer’s Association helped her connect to the people who gave her the support she needed.
“It seemed like they were there every single time we needed them,” Studer said. "And sometimes we didn't even call them, and they were there.”
In her dining room, surrounded by Halloween decor and pictures of her mom, Studer said she puts one new prop or character out each day to get the neighborhood kids excited.
When it’s finally all together and ready to go on Friday and Saturday nights at dusk, she just wants people to experience one thing: joy.
“I think my mom didn't know she was building a legacy when she started doing this. She did it for a little girl who didn't get spooked. To make me happy.”
