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Louise Thomas
Editor
A homeowner in New Orleans, Louisiana has combined her love for Taylor Swift with the spooky allure of Halloween to create an Eras Tour-themed haunted house.
Outside Louellen Berger’s two-story home, toy skeletons are dressed in Fearless, Reputation, Lover, and The Tortured Poet’s Department-inspired garb, reawakening the Grammy winner’s album eras from the dead. One skeleton is dressed in a long purple gown for Swift’s Speak Now, while another can be seen wearing a Travis Kelce jersey with the name “Skelce” written across.
Speaking to news station WGNO, Berger confessed the extravagant decorations were thought of and constructed with the help of her 11 grandchildren. In her yard, there are a total of 14 life-size skeletons, spanning the 34-year-old music icon’s career with one fashioned like her NFL star boyfriend.
Some skeletons are holding personalized props, while others are wearing friendship bracelets around their wrists, a tradition kept by fans who attend Swift’s Eras Tour concerts.
Having previously worked in the fashion industry, Berger was more than eager to tap into her creativity, constructing the haunted house concept of her grandchildren’s dreams.
She told WGNO: “We put our little family minds together because we’re all a little bit crazy and came up with all these different ideas.
“My younger grandchildren did all the friendship bracelets so it was a family affair,” Berger noted.
The detail-oriented grandmother dressed one skeleton in a costume scarily like the one Swift wears during her performance of “22” in the Eras Tour production. The skeleton is in a white T-shirt that reads, “A lot going on at the moment,” along with a black top hat and red sunglasses.
Rather than spending money on brand-new clothes to dress the skeletons, Berger rummaged through her grandchildren’s old clothes to find the perfect pieces.
“A lot of the outfits are former outfits of any one of our children or grandchildren,” she explained. “Several of them are gymnastics outfits. So I had fun sewing a lot of the outfits.”
Aside from the fashion, each skeleton features a different facial expression, hairstyle, and makeup look. Some skeletons are singing with their mouth open, while others are flashing sinister smiles. Most, however, are wearing Swift’s signature red lipstick.
The process of putting together each version of Swift was lengthy. “It really kind of took one full day per skeleton because I really wanted to honor her,” Berger confessed before adding: “She’s such an icon.”
According to Nola.com, Berger’s “scEras Tour” house is one of many haunted house themes she’s crafted over the years since 2002.
Berger has plans to attend one of Swift’s New Orleans shows with her grandchildren this October. The powerhouse performer is set to host three concerts in Louisiana from October 25 through October 27.
