Crowds turn out for Halloween shows

Anyone driving past the Lincoln Park development off State Road these days might catch a glimpse of something colorful on Cotton Candy Lane: Local DJ Jordan Paiva’s house, which shines like a Halloween beacon.

Paiva has decked out his place with a host of inflatable characters from films like Ghostbusters, Hocus Pocus, Nightmare Before Christmas, and others, and has hosted a series of free “Halloween Spectacular” music and light shows to celebrate the season.

The shows have brought in hundreds of families from all over the South Coast and as far afield as Cambridge, Paiva said.

“It was a good crowd tonight,” he said after the Oct. 15 event, adding that he got his first complaint of the season, with a Dartmouth Police officer stopping by to ensure that people were safe. 

Due to the number of people attending, Paiva said, he blocks off part of the street — after warning the neighbors — to allow for social distancing as well as dancing.

He noted that he decided to go all out for Halloween this year in particular due to the stress from Covid-19.

“There was a lady on Slocum Road, she’s no longer with us...she decorated her house top to bottom,” he said. “It made me so happy as a kid.’”

“I’ve always wanted to do it,” he added. “And then with the year that we’ve had — we’re all laughing, because if you saw what this house looked like last year…[It’s an] upgrade!” 

This year, Paiva’s decorations include the Ghostbusters’ car complete with Slimer as well as a giant Frankenstein monster above his front door. “That was a challenge,” he laughed. “But we got it up there!”

As for the inflatable Ghostbusters car, he said, when he ordered it online it said it was seven feet. 

“I was like, ‘Oh, that’s not too bad,’” he said. “I plugged it in in the garage...It’s seven feet tall. It’s sixteen and a half feet!”

As for why he is hosting the free shows for the community, he added simply, “It makes me happy.”

It seemed to make those in attendance happy as well. 

“It’s our second time here,” noted Carmen Porto, who came from Taunton to see the show with her family. “It gives us something to do, especially with Covid.” 

“She loves it,” she said of her one-year-old daughter Kennedy Leverone, who was taking in the lights. “We come mainly for her.”

“It’s always a great show,” Porto added with a smile.

“I don’t like that one because it’s scary, but I like that one,” said seven-year-old Cole White of Fall River, pointing out a large green ghost. “He’s bigger than me!”

Paiva said that along with the Halloween shows, he will also be doing two “Disney Spectacular” shows.

“My son turned one this year,” he explained. “We were going to take him to Disney in April. We couldn’t do it. So I told him [I’d make] a Disney show.” 

Disney Spectaculars will take place on Oct. 20 and 24, and the last Halloween Spectacular will take place on Oct. 25, Paiva noted. All shows start at 7:30 p.m. and end before 8 p.m.