π Welcome to the town of the Addams Family! Here neighbors compete over whose house is scarier, and walks through the cemetery are part of the cultural program! π
Picture a cozy American small town with neat houses, beautiful gardens, friendly neighbors and little shops.
And now imagine that by Halloween all of this turns into the veritable universe of the famous "Addams Family"!
Sinister characters peer out of windows, skeletons, tombstones and ghosts appear in the yards, and locals compete over who can turn their house into the most eerie structure in town.
And the best part is β the scarier the house, the more respect its owner gets! π
That is exactly how the American Westfield (New Jersey), the hometown of the famous cartoonist, transforms every October β Charles Addams, who dreamed up one of the most unusual families in the history of popular culture.
In 2026, the festival is being held here for the ninth time, AddamsFest, entirely devoted to his work, his dark humor and his love of all things strange.
How an ordinary boy dreamed up America's most unusual family
Charles Addams was born in 1912 and grew up right here in Westfield.
From childhood he stood out for his rather specific interests.
While other boys played the usual children's games, the future artist loved to spend time in the old local cemetery.
Perhaps that is precisely where his love of rather gloomy subjects was born.
Later, Addams became famous for his cartoons for The New Yorker magazine, in which ordinary American life appeared in a completely unexpected light.
His characters lived in an old mansion, adored everything dark, strange and frightening, yet remained a surprisingly close-knit and loving family.
That is how Gomez, Morticia, Wednesday, Pugsley, Uncle Fester and the other heroes of the legendary "Addams Family" came to be.
Subsequently, the characters moved from magazine cartoons to television, film, animation and stage productions.
And a new generation of viewers became acquainted with this unusual universe thanks to the Netflix series "Wednesday."
And now the residents of Westfield are quite officially proud of their unusual fellow townsman.
The scariest house wins a prize!
One of the main traditions of AddamsFest is the contest Haunt Your House, in which homeowners compete for the title of creators of the most impressive Halloween decorations.
What is more, the contest is held in two categories at once: daytime and nighttime.
After all, the same house must be able to frighten in completely different ways!
By day, you can astonish passersby with giant skeletons, witches, spiders and tombstones.
And in the evening, lighting, glowing eyes, fog effects and other atmospheric details come into play.
Participants register in advance, and residents and guests of the town choose their favorite houses using a special interactive map and online voting.
In 2026, the organizers provided for up to 25 participants in each category.
Picture a conversation between two neighbors:
"John, you have a wonderful house!"
"Thank you!"
"But last year it looked far more horrifying!"
Don't remind me. This year I clearly didn't try hard enough! π
A cemetery tour? With pleasure!
Ordinary tourist towns offer tours of museums, old churches and beautiful squares.
Westfield does too.
But with a small addition.
Here you can set off on a lantern-lit walk through the historic cemetery!
And this is not a random attraction, but part of a program dedicated to Charles Addams's childhood.
Guests are told about the old graves, local history and the places that could have influenced the artist's imagination.
Special walks are also organized along the town streets connected with Addams's life.
The route includes the places of his childhood, the surroundings of the old family home and historic buildings.
Among them is a Victorian mansion that is believed to have been one of the sources of inspiration for the famous Addams Family house.
So tourists come here not just for the scary decorations, but also for the genuine history of how these cult characters were created.
A real skeleton from the artist's childhood!
One of the festival's most astonishing exhibits is a life-size drawing of a human skeleton, created by Charles Addams himself back in his childhood.
What is more, he drew it not on paper.
But right on the wall of a shed!
The drawing has survived and is now on display at the Rialto cultural center.
It seems it was already perfectly clear back then that this boy would grow up to be an unusual artist.
An ordinary child draws little flowers, cars or a favorite dog.
Charles drew a full-length skeleton.
And decades later, his childhood creation became a museum attraction!
The whole town takes part in the celebration
AddamsFest is not just a single costumed evening.
The celebration lasts for almost the entire month of October.
Shops decorate their windows with drawings inspired by the world of the Addams family. Local artists create themed compositions, and business owners dream up festive entertainment.
This year's program included an art exhibition with original works by Charles Addams, costumed events, a family celebration, concerts and even a special evening bar crawl in honor of Wednesday.
On 18 October, the town center turned into a venue for family entertainment for several hours: music, pumpkin decorating and meetings with characters.
On 23 October, an open-air screening of the film βThe Addams Familyβ from 1991 was organized.
And on 28 October, the Wednesday Night Crawlers took place β an evening when adult Wednesday fans could stroll through the town center's establishments and try special seasonal cocktails.
Another unusual attraction is the Addams family's floating house, installed on Mindowaskin Pond.
It turned out to be a real celebration for those who love Halloween, imagination, cinema and a bit of dark humor.
Why is the Addams family loved decades later?
The secret is probably that behind all the skeletons, spiders, tombstones and gloomy jokes lies a very kind idea.
The Addams family has always been unusual.
Its members had no desire at all to conform to generally accepted standards.
But at the same time, they loved each other, supported their relatives and were not ashamed of their own oddities.
And that is probably exactly why their story remains popular even decades later.
And Westfield managed to turn the work of its famous native son into one of the town's most unusual local traditions.
Here, throughout the whole of October, you can quite officially decorate your house with coffins, take walks through the cemetery and take pride in the fact that your yard looks as frightening as possible.
The main thing is not to get the rules mixed up once Halloween is over.
Otherwise your neighbor comes round on the first of November and asks:
"Why haven't you taken the skeleton out of the garden yet?"
"What skeleton? That's my grandpa, he's just having a rest! ππ
