On the front lawn of a central Salem home, Sally is making an escape in a mussel-crusted rowboat.
The skeleton pirate is one of six figures in a shipwrecked Halloween scene that also includes a fog machine, several maps in bottles, a crate of rum, a hand-painted Jolly Roger flag and a window displaying pirate treasure with a skull. A wooden cockatiel with an unsettling expression lurks next to the ship’s captain, Bridget.
The display, christened “The Wretched Rose,” is the brainchild of Ivy and Zade Clark-Henry, self-proclaimed Halloween “freaks” who spent weeks building the set with meticulous attention to detail, largely from items collected free from Facebook Marketplace and other supporters.
Going all-out with a Halloween display has been a longtime goal for the couple, who recently celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary. They bought their home near the intersection of Northeast 14th and Chemeketa streets in late 2020 and have eagerly awaited signs that more kids were returning to in-person trick-or-treating.
“Let’s go all out just to give some people something to look forward to,” Ivy said. “World’s a scary place, it’s fun to do something nice for people.”
The mussels on Sally’s rowboat were gathered on a day trip to the Oregon Coast, and maps in bottles come from a wallpaper motif the couple had from an earlier themed party. The wine barrels were donated by Sass Winery after a cold call from Ivy established the owner was a fellow Halloween enthusiast.
Ivy’s love of Halloween dates back to childhood. They were raised Christian and their family generally celebrated harvest festivals, rather than Halloween, but their mother was a set decorator and always handmade costumes.
As a queer couple, Ivy said it’s their favorite season to celebrate.
“It’s not a religious holiday, it’s not often a holiday that has, I think, a lot of family baggage for people. I think a lot of queer people love Halloween for that reason,” Ivy said. Leaning into spooky season also provides a dopamine boost when the shorter days of fall have many people feeling gloomier.
With three cats (a friendly tuxedo, Nix, is likely to be lurking near the front door on Halloween) and no kids, major financial decisions in the Clark-Henry household include issues like whether to purchase a fog machine. (They chose a top-end model from Spirit Halloween.)
The skeletons themselves were the other significant purchase for the display, about $150 at Home Depot.
“This is what we want to do with our grown-up money since we don’t have kids and we both love immersive experiences,” Ivy said, laughing.
Inspirations for the scene include “Pirates of the Caribbean,” the pirate romantic comedy “Our Flag Means Death” and “One Piece,” a long-running Japanese anime series following the adventures of a boy seeking to become the Pirate King.
Zade created lore and backstories for the skeleton pirates and prisoners. Captain Bridget is at the helm on the porch, next to First Mate Beau, who strums a banjo. On the porch rail, Regina, a bald skeleton with a knife, looks longingly over the yard. Beau and Regina are both in love with the captain and presumably willing to go down with the ship, while Sally decided to escape, rum in tow, on the S.S. Turncoat as soon as the ship ran aground.
Two skeletons are captives — one blindfolded and tied to the porch, while the other kneels in a garden bed in front of a squash plant that’s still hanging on, digging his own grave.
The display also includes a looping soundtrack Zade crafted — a mix of sea sounds overlaid with music from the video game “Sea of Thieves” and banjo covers of the “Donkey Kong” theme.
“It’s been fun to see people’s reactions as they walk by,” Ivy said. They’re already working up plans for next year and have sketched out other possible ideas, including a boardwalk around the side of the house leading to a haunted swamp.
The pair light the display nightly and have stockpiled candy in hopes of drawing a crowd on Halloween. Anyone is welcome to visit, whether they have kids trick-or-treating or not.
“My goal is to run out of candy and have to panic go to Safeway,” Ivy said.
Contact reporter Rachel Alexander: [email protected] or 503-575-1241.
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Rachel Alexander is Salem Reporter’s managing editor. She joined Salem Reporter when it was founded in 2018 and covers city news, education, nonprofits and a little bit of everything else. She’s been a journalist in Oregon and Washington for a decade. Outside of work, she’s a skater and board member with Salem’s Cherry City Roller Derby and can often be found with her nose buried in a book.
