Dade City man transforms home car port into spooky 'Wild West' scene for Halloween

DADE CITY, Fla. - A Dade City man transformed the entire car port at his home into a spooky Wild West scene for Halloween, and his handmade experience has attracted visitors from around the town.

Brian Clay, who lives on Serbia Spruce Drive, said he and his wife decided to turn up the spookiness after they saw the neighborhood one Halloween night.

"When we moved here eight years ago, we had two or three trick-or-treaters and this went on for four years, and I told my wife, ‘Nah, this ain’t gonna happen,'" said Clay.

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So, he built an elaborate display starting in 2020, and continued every year for the past four years, running the display for visitors from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. during the Halloween season.

"I’ve had a pirate ship. I’ve had a space shuttle. I’ve had a 35-man orchestra, and now I have this," he said, calling this year’s display the "Best of the West."

He starts off with his thinking chair, sitting on his driveway to brainstorm how to create his project once they have a theme. His wife Marianne helped come up with the old west theme for this year.

"This is the biggest one, and so a lot of different themes, like the butcher, and the eye doctor and the band. I love it," said Marianne Clay. "It’s a challenge, but I’m always impressed when I see it coming together. At first, I see a little bit here, a little bit there. And the next day I got to work, and I see oh he did this, he did that."

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Brian spends 10 months bringing the feat of engineering to life.

"Sixty pounds of screws, if not more, 20 pounds of hardware, 340 picket fence boards 340 two by threes, each one of these units weighs 250 pounds," said Clay about the parts of his overall display and the motorized sections running it.

He said he invested at least $10,000 to pull off the concept.

"A lot of blood, sweat, tears, time. But it’s worth it. When you see the kids’ reactions to this, it’s amazing," said Clay.

He likes to share the process, walking children and adults through what they see.

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"It’s either going to hit, or it’s going to miss. And this took a grand slam, I have to tell you. This hit hard," said Clay.

But he said he’d like to take the concepts outside of his neighborhood to inspire children to use their imagination to create.

"This will probably be my last project because what I’d really like to do like with the schools and everything. I’d like to get in with the kids to help them," said Clay. "Work with your hands. There’s nothing better than translating what’s up here into your hands."

Before visitors go, they sign a guestbook with comments, ending this spooky season with a memory of the "Best of the West" display.

"I wanted to see the reactions of the people. They write it down so like that’s amazing. It’s a memory," said Marianne.