COEUR d'ALENE — The Stevens family decorated for Halloween this year in a big 12-foot skeleton and towering Grim Reaper kind of way.

From porch to curb and driveway to side yard, skeletons are shrouded in spiderwebs, menacing pumpkins scowl at passersby and a cemetery walk lit by flickering electric candles beckons only the bravest trick-or-treaters.

The family has lived in their Fairway Drive home for three years, and each Halloween, the ghoulish gifts keep on giving.

"We've gotten a little bigger every year," Jennifer Stevens said, crediting her husband, Dustin, for being the mastermind behind the creepy creativity. Once he gets an idea, she and their three kids help it come to frightful fruition.

"I think it's the novelty," she said. "It's so fun to see the kids; we'll have little kids come by and they'll just stand there and stare at it. It's creepy and it has a little bit of that jump scare thing, which is always fun. It's great to have a good laugh when people get a little bit scared, but nobody's terrified. It's a lighthearted scare. Kind of makes us all feel alive."

The lights that have been installed create a spectacularly spectral scene at night, augmented by the smoke that pours through wooden steps and creeps along the decorative tombstones.

"We were excited about getting the cemetery together," Jennifer said. "It has that creepy graveyard fog."

The value of the Stevens Halloween collection is easily more than $1,500 when also considering extension cords, fixtures and equipment. More than 10 hours have been spent untangling, stringing, hanging, building and securing each piece for this year's display.

"Four weeks ago, I had several people stop by when I was out working in the yard, just saying, 'We can't wait for the decorations this year,'" Dustin said.

"We usually start a little early in late September, so people start expecting it by then, but this year it was October when we started," she said. "We do a little bit at a time."

Their son, Kayden, 13, said he just really likes Halloween.

"It's like the best holiday," he said.

Jennifer said they like the concept of this decorated yard being something everyone can enjoy.

"In the day to day, you don't really get to interact with your neighbors as much as people used to," she said. "As soon as we start putting this stuff up, we chat with our neighbors and the kids stop by. We'll be taking a walk and we see people stop and take pictures. It's fun to see everyone come together and just enjoy it."

    A giant skeleton towers over the neighborhood Monday at the Stevens home on Fairway Drive in Coeur d'Alene. Standing beneath the skeleton, from left: Kayden, Jennifer and Dustin Stevens.
  

    Dustin Stevens flips on a switch on a 12-foot Grim Reaper in his yard Monday in Coeur d'Alene. Dustin and his family have made it a tradition to go all out with Halloween decorations, which is fun for the neighborhood as well as visiting trick-or-treaters.
  

    A plague doctor sits on the Stevens porch, awaiting trick-or-treaters. It's just a stuffed decoration... or is it?

    A skeleton reaches up from the grave as Jennifer and Dustin Stevens inspect their Halloween graveyard Monday.