A homeowner in Parma, Ohio has reluctantly taken down her Halloween display amid allegations it is too extreme - and some unwelcome attention.
Vicki Barrett’s gruesome tableau featured an upside down body hammered to a crucifix, a corpse cocooned in plastic and dangling from a tree and a figure impaled on a stake, riddled with syringes.
The mother-of-two told NBC most of the feedback has been positive and city workers have even been coming to her home asking to take selfies with the ‘bodies’.
No Halloween here: Vicky Barrett has taken down her controversial display
Neighbours interviewed by the channel seemed in agreement, with Dorothy Dean saying: “What is the big hoopla about this, it is Halloween, my God.”
One person who did not agree, however is Jackie Anselmo, who told Cleveland 19 she was taking her daughter to school when they noticed the scene.
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She said: "Shock. You do a double take because it is a very realistic display. Almost horrified that somebody would think it's okay to put it that close to an elementary school."
WREG reports some youngsters have burst into tears just walking past the property.
Despite some teachers and students from the nearby school expressing apparent support, the display is no more.
The U-turn comes just a week after Fox News contacted city officials to confirm Barrett is not breaking any laws and has a right to freedom of expression. [Indeed Anselmo emailed city officials in an attempt to have the display taken down but was told it was not an option.]
Upon hearing the news, Barrett said: “So we’re going to basically go with our freedom of expression and keep everything up and enjoy Halloween.”
Barrett’s change of heart came after she found her yard full of people she didn’t know at midnight and feared for the safety of her family.
She told the channel: “We don’t even want to put up a pumpkin or any of what some people would think are typical Halloween decorations.
“That’s not the way we want to express it. I think by us decorating this way maybe some people think that we should, would be us caving in and this is not a caving in thing, this is a safety thing for our family.”