Spooky fun on Trumbull’s ‘Terror Trail’

TRUMBULL — When she’s not working as a professional event planner, Jaimee Smith-Solomon has been spending her free time planning one of the biggest events of the fall.

“It started small. We were just looking for things to do as a family,” Smith-Solomon said of the Trumbull Terror Trail, a map listing homes in town, and their plans for Halloween. “We just put it out there on social media, if you’re doing up your house for Halloween let us know. We thought we would have 10 to 15 houses. But the response has gotten so much that we’ve had to split it into two trails because there are too many to see at once.”

The trail consists of a map, with the addresses of Trumbull homes plotted and colorcoded based on whether the house is decorated, distributing Halloween treats, or both. It can be found online under the social media tag #trumbullterrortrail.

As the trail has developed, people have gotten into the spirit, with more elaborate decorations popping up.

“Oh, it’s definitely become kind of competitive,” SmithSolomon said. “I drove around

town (Sunday). There are people who have turned their entire yards into graveyards, moving witches and skeletons, a light show.”

One of the most enthusiastic decorators is Rebecca Lore, whose Ridgeview Avenue home features custom lights, giant spiders, witches,

and a handmade jack-o’-lantern the size of an above ground swimming pool.

“That took a couple of days to create,” Lore said. “We made it out of our backyard trampoline, and it took some time to figure out exactly how we were going to put it together.”

Lore, a theater lighting designer, said she has always enjoyed Halloween decorating. But like Smith-Solomon, the COVID-19 pandemic has all

but reduced her work responsibilities, and as a result, has made her house even more of a neighborhood attraction.

“We’ve always decorated, and each year you add something and build on what you did last year,” she said. “But this year we’ve done the most we’ve ever done. We really went all out and this year it’s extra important for people to have something for families to do.”

Brian A. Pounds / Hearst Connecticut Media Rebecca Lore’s and Sean Sloate's Ridgeview Avenue home is decorated for Halloween, part of the Trumbull Terror Trail.

Brian A. Pounds / Hearst Connecticut Media From left; Rebecca Lore, Aerokai Sloate, 15 months, Ember Sloate, 5, Dustin Sloate, 12, Icelynn Sloate, 3, and Sean Sloate, outside their Ridgeview Avenue home, part of the Trumbull Terror Trail, on Tuesday.

Rebecca Lore and Sean Sloate dressed their trampoline up as a giant pumpkin at their Ridgeview Avenue home, part of the Trumbull Terror Trail on Tuesday.