Oxford, Ohio — Never mind, Bill Pyle’s garden in Oxford, Ohio, has bones all about that.
But for Pyles and his family, the scariest thing isn’t their elaborate Halloween display—it’s their mailbox, which curses him with hate mail every year.
According to Pyles, the messages from angry neighbors accuse him of everything from “worshipping the devil” to “glorifying death.”
That’s why Pyles considered scaling back the display when a patch arrived earlier this month.
“I stopped dead in my tracks in the driveway looking at that letter,” Pyles told CBS News.
The note was written by Tammy Weihe, who has breast cancer. To get her daily radiation treatments, Weihe has to drive a country road in Oxford that takes her right past Pyle’s house.
Given her situation, it would be understandable how Pyle’s death diorama could be disturbing. But the tone of her letter was more humerus than sternum.
“The Ben family and what they are up to…(is) a highlight of my trip,” Weihe wrote.
She went on to explain how her last day of cancer treatment is coming up, and how grateful she was for this daily diversion.
“Tears came to my eyes, really touched my heart,” Pyles said.
He knew what he had to do. Pyles got to work adding to her display, so when Weihe made her last trip past his house, she saw an entire skeleton crew cheering her on.
“It was very touching to think that someone would go to that effort for a stranger,” Weihe said.
The two have since become friends.
“We talk all the time now,” Pyles said.
Pyles said Weihe’s letter and their new friendship has completely removed all hate mail, inspiring him to not only keep his Halloween display, but expand it. He now plans to keep the display up “year-round.”
“Things are going to stay up and they’re going to stay active,” Pyles said.
And does he expect more angry letters?
“There will be.”
