Forget The 12-Foot Skeletons: This Pittsburgh Woman's Giant Halloween Display Is Pure Nostalgia
For many, the most wonderful time of the year isn't Christmas; it's spooky season. Halloween decorations originated with the Celtic tradition of carrying lit, carved turnips on the ancient holiday of Samhain to keep evil spirits at bay. Today, Halloween decorating has gone way beyond ordinary jack-o-lanterns; Americans are expected to spend $4.3 billion (that's billion with a B) on decorations in 2026 alone, according to the National Retail Federation. Some households opt for small scares — fabric ghosts dangling from the awning, or cute inflatable witch-kittens popping out of pumpkins — while others go all out turning their front lawns into a nightmarish scene of monstrous mayhem. One Halloween fan went in a different direction altogether, and she's getting rave reviews for it.
To counteract all the humongous Jack Skellington statues and creepy animated skeleton mixologists, Sarah Rose, a spoken word artist from Pittsburgh, wanted a sweeter look to celebrate this year. She created a display of favorite Halloween candies — Twix bars, Skittles, Ring Pops, Runts, and even those old-fashioned strips of candy dots that had no real flavor — designed to look as though they were tumbling down the façade of her house.
Rose's front doorway was framed with a treat-covered archway that included a candy necklace, pieces of candy corn, and a box of Milk Duds. It's a trip down memory lane for everyone who remembers the candy classics, not to mention a perfect photo op for trick-or-treaters (and their parents). "That's what the kids do in this neighborhood," Rose told local TV station WPXI. "They come by, they're excited to see the candy, they're taking selfies on the stoop, and I just wanted to make the Northside brighter and happier."
This house takes repurposing to new levels
Creating a spectacular house display for Halloween — or any holiday, really — doesn't happen overnight. In fact, Sarah Rose began crafting her sugary masterpiece back in July. Such a massive project was more than one person could handle, so she enlisted a team of helpers to get the job done on schedule. Her work is not only inspired, it's eco-conscious; Rose used discarded and recycled materials like cardboard and Styrofoam. That candy dot sheet? Plastic ball-pit balls cut in half. The Nerds were carved out of a pool cover that once belonged to Rose's parents. The giant roll of Life Savers was originally a concrete tube used in construction. "My toxic trait is just walking by everything and being like, 'Oh, yeah, I can make that,'" Rose quipped in a Facebook video.
Towards the end of her build, Rose realized she was missing one crucial item: Sarris Candies, a Pittsburgh institution famous for its chocolate-covered pretzels. The intrepid artist dug into the odds and ends in her garage and whipped up a replica of the sweet shop's specialty using a cardboard box for the package and spray-painted pool noodles for the pretzels (above). When her work was publicized on local TV, Rose was flooded with praise online — "Fantastic," "Awesome," and "Cool" were among the most common reactions. "So sweet I might get a cavity but keep em coming cause I can't get enough of thisss!!!" raved one fan on Facebook.
Rose's work definitely wouldn't qualify as subtle Halloween decor you can leave up year-round, like a gothic skull vase or a candelabra with black tapers. But for a few glorious weeks, she was the talk of the town and delighted all passersby. As the artist quipped on Facebook, "Stay sweet, Pittsburgh!"