How a Cohoes man creates handmade Halloween decorations

COHOES, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- The spookiest day of the year is only four days away and one Cohoes resident has made his house the spookiest trick or treating stop of all. James Grignon has been creating homemade Halloween decorations mostly out of recycled materials, for the last decade.

For James, Halloween isn't just an average holiday. In fact, he told NEWS10 he started for preparing for this year's big day in the middle of the summer. For the last ten years, James has been expanding upon his Halloween-decor-covered house.

"I just have fun building and I have fun, you know, plus it's my favorite holiday," said James.

A favorite holiday that has turned his house into a massive "magic show" for kids and adults. From talking skeletons to moving dolls and even mysteriously floating wine bottles, James has mastered the skill.

"Creating an illusion, with a live audience, that's what I like, I've always loved that," said James.

Yet instead of magic, he's using recycled materials like old car motors, zip ties, tiny remote control car motors and even some sticks from his yard.

"These are all tree branches from out back that I used to make a tripod to hold that up," said James. "Why burn this stuff or throw it away if I can do something with it, you know what I mean? That's how I look at it."

James's first creation was a tiny doll in a cage, that is currently hanging from the outdoor roof. The doll belonged to one of his grandchildren before they decided to give it up. Now, with a little paint, and an old RC car motor, James has made this doll (basically) come to life!

Plus, she's not the only old car part who took the stage... or porch.

“That’s an old windshield wiper out of a car, a windshield wiper motor," said James as he pointed behind one of his animatronics. "He swerves back and forth at the same time there’s a trunk out on the lawn that slams."

And the fun doesn't end there. James also has bought some parts and upgraded them to move and even make sound effects. He said the skeletons took about 10 hours to put together.

"These are Home Depot skeletons I bought and I made animatronic," said James.

Some creations are a little more complicated, with wiring down the inside of the skull, and a pack inserted inside to make the jaw move. James said for all of these animatronics, there are many parts and pieces to consider, yet YouTube has been a great help.

"It takes a lot of ingenuity I guess, I put a lot of thought into it," said James.  

He also explained a computer system he used to allow the animatronics to make noises. Many of them operate using an SD card.

For many families in the area, all of this hard work makes for an exciting trick or treating adventure. Plus, along with being a fun hobby for James, he said he mainly continues it for the kids.

“It gets bigger every year, yeah, and I like the look on the kids faces, I get a lot of return kids, you know, they walk by every day and look at the new things that I do and they look forward to it each year," said James.

Anyone interested in seeing more of James's spooky surprises can stop by Berkley Street in Cohoes this Halloween.