When you are looking for the most elaborate Halloween decorations maybe on the planet, you don’t have to look any further than 709 N. 8th in Purcell.

That’s the spooktacular home of Allen and Linda Dorman where they have at least 300 pieces of small and large skeletons that adorn their front lawn.

Now getting up in years, Allen reports he couldn’t get all the decorations out if not for the help of his nieces and nephews and their children.

“It would take forever if I didn’t have nieces and nephews,” the 1970 graduate of Maysville High School said. “I can’t do as much as I used to.”

One niece, Toni Knight lives in Slaughterville. Another, Tiffany Burns resides at Woody Chapel while a third niece, Ashley Reeves lives in Cordell. A nephew, Donald Dorman, lives north of Burns Flat.

All the clan gathered at the Dorman home in Purcell September 14 to get the annual decoration O’Rama started.

They worked from around noon till about 5 p.m. Allen said.

“They will gradually come back to put some more out. This isn’t near all of it,” he said with his yard packed with ghoulish figures.

With five weeks until the big night, Dorman still has much work to do.

“We haven’t put out any lights, yet,” he said.

Dorman has some 2,000 lights to hang.

“It’s so people can see the decorations at night,” he confirmed.

Allen and Linda purchased the home in 2010 but didn’t move here from Alaska until 2015.

“This is our ninth year of decorating,” Dorman said. “I got the 12 foot guy at Home Depot and the 5 footers I pick up wherever they are on sale like at Walmart or Home Depot. I’ve ordered some from Amazon and other places.

“This year I bought the basketball goal,” he said.

Dorman has jerseys on basketball player skeletons even with their names on the back of the jerseys.

“I spend a little bit of money every year,” Dorman said. “We started out small and it just kind of grown each year. This year the graveyard is actually twice the size it has been in the past.”

Dorman admitted the graveyard is his favorite decoration of them all.

“I try to do a different scene every year. This year it just happened to be the basketball three on three,” he said.

Dorman said putting the decorations out is the easy part. The hard part is taking them down and storing them.

“I’d like to keep them up all the time,” he admitted.

But instead, Dorman has a loft in his garage and a loft over their storage shed and the shed itself to house the decorations in the off-season.

So is Halloween his favorite holiday?

“Well, Christmas is my favorite but we don’t decorate for Christmas like we do for Halloween,” he said.

After living in Alaska for 45 years why move back here?

“It’s because we’re from this area,” he confirmed. “I graduated from Maysville in 1970 the same year my wife graduated from Wayne. I only attended school in Maysville for three years but my wife went all the way through at Wayne so she knows more people around here than I do.”

Dorman was asked if the decorations attract Trick-or-Treaters.

“Last year we had just a little over 200,” he recalled. “That was the biggest year. We get more each year but we only had 165 the year before. We had a big increase last year.

“A lot of people just stop and want to take pictures with their kids and I just say come on. I just like that people enjoy it. I think it has caused more people to give out treats. I’ve noticed our neighbors with some of their lights on later than when they used to.”

And speaking of neighbors, Dorman reports his neighbors help him out from time to time.

Dorman is retired from Chevron.

“If I hadn’t retired from Chevron with a really good retirement and with social security, I couldn’t do this, especially with the economy like it is,” Dorman said. “I spent $500 this year.

“Each year I spend between $300 and $500. The 12 footer was $300 by himself.

“They don’t have those in the store,” he said. “We do some shopping after Halloween when the sales are on. I recommend that to others.”

Last year the Dormans had a big loss when someone stole their giant skull off his mailbox. They said that was pretty much a bummer.

The change in routing around the school has been a plus for showcasing their decorations.

“Now that the school buses run up 8th more kids will see the decorations,” he said.

That may increase their foot traffic on trick-or-treat night.

Dorman is a skeleton purest.

“I’ve seen people with the blow up toys,” he said. “I don’t like those. I like to stick to the solid decorations.”

Where does he get the inspiration for all of this?

“My biggest inspiration is my wife, Linda. She encourages me all the time looking at stuff.

“She will say, ‘Do you want this or do you want that’.

“She’s all the time finding things I might want,” he concluded.

It would be worth your time to travel up north 8th and take a gander at the Halloween extravaganza.