By Marie Damman, Herald Writer

Don Morin’s fascination with Disney inspired him to create a “Pirates of the Caribbean”-themed Halloween display, complete with a pirate ship with cannons and a skeleton crew of sailors looking to pillage and plunder.

Graves dot the yard.

A black cauldron holds a witch’s brew just to the right of the door.

Off to the side, a microwave is cooking a bloody hand. Skulls around the microwave light up in red and blue. It’s not the typical meal you’d find at 1501 Colby Ave, Everett.

This is one of the homes in Snohomish County where the owners have gone all out for scares this Halloween.

The frightful sight is the product of homeowners Victor Timmons, 48, a self-employed investor in land and properties, and his wife, Tina Glenton, 41, an animal-shelter employee.

It’s been their tradition since 2000. This year, they are celebrating the first Halloween of their niece’s 9-month-old son, Jackson Howard. They snapped a photo of Jackson under a gravestone, with the approval of his mother, Anna Drew, 28.

To create the scenes, Timmons chopped wood to build the headstones, He recycled wood, metal and other items to make skeletons and decorations.

“I put the graves in the grass to make it more realistic,” Timmons said. “I cut down some bushes to make the Halloween trees.”

Timmons credits his wife for many of the ideas.

“I wanted to throw this away and then my wife told me, ‘No! Save it for Halloween!’ and now it does look nice,” he said.

The devil is in the details with this house: Like a snake on a metal bar or a tiny mouse just next to the porch. They spent 40 hours on this spookfest.

“We made this mostly for the kids and for the neighborhood,” Timmons said. “I really enjoy doing it.”

They wanted to make it scary, but not too scary to frighten away younger children: “We will have 20 pounds of candies, scary music and will be all dressed up,” Timmons said.

Another holiday-decorated home sits in the 5800 block of 111th Street SW in Mukilteo. The house features a pirate ship with skeleton crew. It’s a tribute to Disney’s “Pirates of Caribbean” ride.

“I’ve got fire, cannon, thunder, to make the boat as if it is on fire, and a rope which goes to the neighbor across the street,” said Don Morin, regional director of sales for Fiji Water.

He didn’t want anything bloody with zombies or graves. He’s gone with the pirate ship for years.

“This is the biggest boat I’ve ever made,” Morin said.

The boat is made mostly of wood, like a real pirate ship, Morin said. It took two to three weeks to create it. He tells people to visit at night when the ship is lit up in orange, red and green and the cannons are smoking. He’s had people drive from all over the Puget Sound area to see his yard.

The neighbors relish being the street with the pirate ship, Morin said.

Another haunted house at the corner of 81st Place W and 53rd Avenue W. in Mukilteo aims to be scary. Spider legs stick out of the main door, and a creepy doll is standing on one side. Everything moves when the door opens and shuts.

“I have caskets, zombies, guys coming up from the ground,” said Scott Estes, who decorated his parents’ and his sister’s houses for Halloween. “I also have some fog machines, to (add to the illusion) on Halloween.”

Estes, 37, who works for the Solavei Co., thinks the decorations put everyone in the mood for Halloween. As a kid, he remembers a neigbhor who went all out on his house. He wanted to do the same when he got older.

He started small, but over the years has done more and more. That’s why he’s expanded to his parent’s and sister’s homes.

“My parents have a nice wide yard,” Estes said.

Estes is keeping back some of his decorations for Halloween night. His mom, Carole Estes, didn’t like the idea of having so many scary things on her yard.

“There will be a 12-foot-long pumpkin,” Estes said.

His 6-year-old daughter, Tegan, works with him putting up the decorations: “She has been doing this since she was a baby. She thinks this is great and she isn’t scared at all.”

PHOTOS: Samuel Wilson / The Herald

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http://heraldnet.com/article/20131029/NEWS01/710299953/All-dressed-up