GROVE CITY, Ohio — It’s officially Halloween, and while the warm temperatures might not make it feel like fall, the next few days are all about trick or treating, haunted houses, and of course, football.

What You Need To Know

  • Peyton Maxstead is a junior at Grove City High School

  • For the last four years he puts up a Halloween display in his yard that attracts hundreds 

  • Maxstead plays in the Grove City High School band that will play at halftime Friday in the playoffs
 

Friday night, the Grove City Greyhounds will take on the Olentangy Berlin Bears in the first round of the playoffs.

And there’s one of the band members from Grove City, who is extremely passionate about entertaining his community, in a spooky way.

It’s Peyton Maxstead’s house and his extravagant Halloween display that he calls "pirates on Sulton," named after the street he lives on.

He said it’s the biggest "home haunts" in central Ohio. He counted 150 cars the other night, pulling up to see his hard work that he works on year round. 

“It just makes me feel great. It’s why I do it. It wouldn’t be what it is without the support of people coming and seeing the pirates,” said Peyton Maxstead, a Grove City High School junior.

This is the fourth year that’s Maxstead has put on this display, but it never seems to get old.

And neither does the gratification he gets when he sees the reaction of the people who stop by.

“We all walk over here most nights to look at all the pirate stuff and hangout here,” said 11-year-old Ella Dunn.

“I’ve always enjoyed decorating and stuff but really I don’t do it because I like Halloween. I do it because I like seeing everybody’s smiles, everyone’s faces,” Maxstead said.

The display showcases dozens of skeletons which Maxstead said are the pirates, and he even uses the same fog they have at Kings Island!

“I had friends from school texting me, saying, 'Peyton, you got fog everywhere in Grove City,'” Maxstead said.

But the highlight of it all is the pirate ship. Maxstead said it weighs 2 tons. He and his grandpa built it together after the wood was donated to him. 

“They normally burn it, but I said don’t burn it, me and my grandpa will make a pirate ship out of it,” Maxstead said.

This display is part of a really big weekend for Maxstead and some of his classmates.

He’ll be on the football field with his fellow band members Friday night when Grove City takes on Olentangy Berlin in the first round of the OHSAA playoffs.

“Us in the band are always excited to keep that season going even though our competitons are already over, we still get to march at halftime show,” Maxstead said.

And then when it’s done, it’s right back to his masterpiece, which will be on display through Saturday night.

“People definitely twist their necks while it’s driving by it’s something you don’t see everyday on the highway,” Maxstead said.