Meet the king of Halloween, who spends six weeks creating his macabre displays

Ammon Smith - King of Halloween displays

(Picture: Ammon Smith)

There’s a good reason Ammon Smith’s neighbors are shy about decorating their homes for Halloween: a sparse jack-o’-lantern is spotted here, a modest faux spiderweb dangling from a tree there.

For the past decade, the Utah resident has gone ghastly gangbusters on his yard (think a near scale haunted pirate ship, a DIY Area 51-inspired display—flying saucer and all—and a Jurassic Park-themed enclosure replete with a gaggle of Velociraptors and a 35-foot T-rex), turning his Salt Lake City home into a local tourist attraction.