Going as a Corpse This Halloween

Thomas Shapiro always loved Halloween, and now it seems that it was a fatal attraction after he died while preparing his home for the season.

Thomas had hoped to make his house the most terrifying place on the block. Beyond lights or inflatable lawn decorations, he worked relentlessly to truly make his home a formidable hub of horror and fright. It started out innocently enough with a display of several skeletons appearing to dig themselves out of their own graves in his yard. He later added heads on pikes, and the traditional jack-o-lanterns and scarecrows. He then got it into his head that he wanted people to truly feel in danger as they approached his home for trick-or-treating, so he started setting booby traps, and even dug a trench he planned to turn into a moat surrounding his home.

As neighbors began to complain that things were getting out of hand, Thomas tried to reassure them that the traps were intimidating, but perfectly safe. He demonstrated how all one need to is to carefully avoid stepping on the trigger plate that would cause flames to shoot over one's head, walk carefully past the dozens of sharp pikes along the walkway, and then get a running start to jump over the moat filled with hungry alligators to land in perfect safety on his doorstep for a delicious treat.

Thomas made it as far as the moat when he stumbled right into the mouth of one of his alligators.

His family and friends are comforted by the fact that he died knowing his Halloween display had completely terrified at least one soul, and that he could feel like he had won the holiday. Unfortunately, he won't be joining the festivities as well as he would have liked. However, he specifically stipulated in his will that his corpse be made part of the Halloween display in his yard, so his family is gladdened to know that he will still terrify the neighborhood children, especially in death.

If you would like to visit, please come on by, but the family respectfully asks that you keep any carnivorous pets at home, as he has already been pecked at by the raccoons and birds in the neighborhood.