When people first begin to hear the phrase “holiday season” images of twinkling lights and yule logs naturally come to mind. For many, Christmas and Thanksgiving are the heavyweights of the fall/winter holiday season.

But for those who like their celebrations with a spooky, bump in the night flavor… Halloween is the undisputed champion. Scary movies, haunted attractions, and trick-or-treating may seem like a child’s holiday, but for Kimberlee Chambers Striker, Halloween never really ends. It just evolves.

In late August, as you pull up the driveway to Striker’s home in Simcoe, you’re greeted with trees adorned with jack-o’-lanters, ghosts, and witch’s pointy hats. There’s also a row of life-size skeletons leading up to a 12 ft. tall skeleton named King George. Her carport is filled with boxes overflowing with various fake body parts and faux weapons.

Make your way inside, and it’s like you’ve entered a Tim Burton fever dream. A Nightmare Before Christmas’ Jack Skellington stands toward the ceiling hovering like a menacing topper behind a black and purple lit tree adorned with skulls and skeletons. Framed portraits depict Striker and family in past Halloween garb, and a talking ‘Chucky’ doll stands watch over all of it. No bones about it… Striker is passionate about Halloween.

“I’ve loved it my whole life. I’ve done it nearly 40 years I guess. When I was young I would build haunted houses in the basement. I loved doing scary makeup and making costumes. It was always my most favorite holiday,” she said.

As an adult Striker still uses the basement, but only as a place where she and husband Shawn can plan and create the decorations that will transform their front yard into a local attraction drawing hundreds of visitors every year. Last year, Striker estimated they had between five and six hundred trick-or-treaters sending them on more than one emergency candy run.

“We usually run out [of candy] and we’ll send somebody to make an emergency run to the Dollar General. Last year we were buying the candy bars off the cash register instead of packs of candy because we bought them out of everything else and that’s all we could get was the individual candy bars,” she said.

But even though she is generous with the treats, she certainly delivers a fair share of tricks as well, saying one of her favorite things about Halloween is “scaring kids intentionally.”

“There’s a few that I intentionally try to make cry,” she joked… or not.

To put on this type of grandiose display takes time. Striker said she begins planning and building decorations in March while she awaits — impatiently — the annual return of decorations to retail stores.

“I was in Big Lots the other day offering to help the people put their Halloween stuff out because they were so slow.”

And it isn’t only Striker who decorates. She considers it a requirement that her neighboring family members be just as enthusiastic about the holiday. Together they transform the area they refer to as “Chambers’ Hill” into an all-inclusive Halloween spectacle for all ages.

“We light this whole hill up. This aunt and uncle [to the right of Striker’s home] like to cook and give out hotdogs and cokes, and then we do scary monsters and candy while this aunt [to the left of Striker’s home] caters to the littles and does inflatables that aren’t too scary — and Capri-Suns. We let everybody park in the bottom of the yard and get out so they can walk and then the guy across the road usually decorates too,” she said.

Decorations must be finished no later than September 1 so every weekend through September and October 31 is reserved for visits to haunted attractions across north Alabama and even into Tennessee and Georgia. She likens her experiences to how others feel visiting an art museum.

“When you’re standing in line to go in… and you’re getting scared… and you’re getting nervous… and your anxiety is building up… and your adrenaline’s flowing… and they go through it… and all this stuff happens…”

“Then you come out the other side — and you make it out alive — and all of a sudden your confidence is a lot higher. You are just like ‘I took on King Kong and I won.’ To me, that made me feel better,” she said.

For Striker, the controlled, pretend chaos of the attractions are therapeutic. Something she finds comforting after the out-of-control real chaos of 2 years ago.

In Aug. 2020 Striker contracted COVID-19 and spent 2 weeks on a ventilator at Cullman Regional Medical Center. When she was able to begin breathing on her own again, she had one goal in mind.

“I kept telling them therapy girls ‘Y’all have got to get me home before Halloween, y’all don’t understand.’ and they would say that they were trying, but they never would promise me. One day one of the girls brought me a pumpkin and surprised me by letting me paint it for therapy and I just cried. and then my husband had went ahead and started decorating and asked me ‘If you don’t make it home, is it gonna hurt your feelings if I still give out candy?’ and I said ‘Lord no, you better give out candy,’” she said.

But Striker did make it home just in time to celebrate her favorite holiday. She said that the experience has caused her to appreciate the little things more, and that something as simple as human touch has taken on a whole new meaning. Striker says that she now hugs longer and loves harder. She told her friends that the thing she wanted most when she returned home to celebrate was for them to “dog-pile” her in the front yard for hours.

“I made it home, I think, two days before Halloween. I put my witch outfit on and pulled my little oxygen tank out on the carport. I wasn’t supposed to be close to anybody or hugging on anybody, but that went out the window.”

Anyone wanting to see The Striker’s holiday decor and meet the Queen of Halloween, is invited to trick or treat at Chambers’ Hill, County Road 1534 off Hwy 69 in Fairview, on Saturday night from 5 p.m. until whenever. Just look for the lights, really big skeletons and maybe even a little Hocus Pocus.

Lester Hospital in Lester, Ala.

Striker says: A bit of a drive at an hour and half away, but VERY worth. Definitely her favorite this season.

Nightmare 3008 in Fultondale, Ala.

Striker says: Very good, but not for kids if you ask me. They also have an escape room and a outdoor trail up and down a mountain.

Atrox Factory in Leeds, Ala.

Striker says: One of the more well know haunted attractions in the state, so expect some traffic. Great costumes and animatronics, but not very scary. It’s one of the longer haunts. Can kill time while you wait in the gift shop, pick up snacks at the concessions, and there are some spooky things to walk around and look at. Bonus trip… there’s a Buc-ees nearby!

Arx Mortis in Killen, Ala.

Striker says: Another hour and half drive, but it’s a very long haunt that traverses inside and outside through the woods. Really scary. Great costumes and the monsters will scare you then pose for photos while you wait. Awesome gift shop.

Haunted House of Horror in Courtland, Ala. 

Striker says: It is awesome on scare and costumes. Not as long as the others, 25-35 minutes, but really intense.