Stefanie Nelson is a walking, talking encyclopedia regarding all things “Beetlejuice.” From the original movie, she easily recites lines from each character and each scene. Her husband Randen is also a “Beetlejuice” fan.
Bigger than being fans of the 1988 classic, which has come out in an all-new sequel, “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” this year, the Nelsons are “super fans” when it comes to Halloween.
Moving to Nevada from Utah a year and a half ago, the Nelsons have quickly become the “talk of the town” regarding their love of Halloween and the incredible Beetlejuice scene they’ve created in front of their home at 414 J Ave.
“I’ve always wanted to do Beetlejuice (decorating), even before this new movie came out, but we could never afford the mannequins,” Stefanie said. Even used ones she’d found in the past were $80 or more.
Then, Something Blue had a “garage sale” during the Lincoln Highway Days celebration, and Stefanie decided to walk down and check it out, with no idea that she would hit a jackpot.
“I love a good sale, so I wandered over, and they had mannequins.” When she asked how much, the answer was music to her ears – $5 each. “I got every one they had, loaded them in my car and had bodies hanging out of my car. I was so happy. My sister was here, and she saw the mannequins, and she said, ‘I don’t even need an explanation. I’m in!’”
From that point, Stefanie said, the entire Beetlejuice display became “a family affair” involving her sister, nieces, aunt, uncle, mom, two sons, and of course, her husband Randen, who is a construction worker for Story Construction. His employer also donated a few supplies for the Beetlejuice scene, which the Nelsons say will continue to grow with new elements all the way up to Halloween.
Stefanie loves to visit with others about what they’ve created. Starting at the east side of the scene, “the first thing is the art piece that stepmom Delia is moving and hauling it with a crane, and they run it into the house, and she’s screaming, ‘That’s my art and it’s dangerous!,’” Stefanie recalls, adding, “the art’s also in the wedding scene and reaches out and grabs them.”
The art piece is the creative work of Randen, who made it from a number of things donated by Story Construction. It is made of electrical conduit, spray foam, boxes, etc. When he was finished, Stefanie spraypainted the masterpiece.
Next in the display is Lydia in her wedding dress. “My mom said I must have been channeling my daughters’ snotty teenage looks on that face,” Stefanie laughed.
It’s at this point, we should insert, that Stefanie and Randen are the parents of 10 grown children, a mix of boys and girls. “Six are mine, four are his,” Stefanie said. And when the couple moved to Iowa, a lot of their extended family also moved here, including two sons in their 20s and another son who will move here in the coming year to attend Drake.
Stefanie is also enrolled at Drake Law School and works full-time as a paralegal for an attorney in Des Moines.
Back to the display, the mannequins didn’t come with heads, so the heads on them are paper mâché masks, Stefanie explained. “And we painted them.”
Next to “wedding dress Lydia” is a combination Beetlejuice in his wedding tux and with his shrunken head “from when he messes with the voodoo priest and he takes his number,” Stefanie said.
The guy hanging from the porch is from the waiting room scene. “He’s the one who takes Adam and Barbara back to meet their case worker for the dead, and he’s flat, because he was run over.”
The west side of the scene starts with Beetlejuice in his iconic black and white striped suit, followed by more characters from the waiting room. There’s the burnt guy. “You want a cigarette? No, I’m trying to cut down,” Stefanie said as she laughed. “And then there’s my favorite guy, the shrunken head hunter. I loved making him. And then the lady who’s cut in half, the magician’s assistant. And she’s reading the ‘Handbook for the Recently Deceased.’”
A Beetlejuice sign in the display was made by Stefanie’s 13-year-old niece, and standing at the far west end of the display are Barbara and Adam.
The sofa some of these characters are sitting on is another lucky find – picked up from Facebook Marketplace.
In front of all the characters are the sandworms and a graveyard.
One of the things still to come in the display is a grand rooftop sign, but even without a big sign, the scene is drawing attention.
“We’ve had lots of great visits from people wanting to look at it, and all kinds of vehicles driving by and slowing down,” Stefanie said. One day, she noticed an Alliant truck stopping out front and was thinking the worst, that there was something wrong with power in the area. Nope, “they just wanted to look at the display!”
City full of Halloween Décor
Stefanie and Randen love that they’re not the only ones who are overly full of the Halloween spirit. They’ve now connected with others in the community, like Lynn and Harold Boeset on Maple Avenue south of Highway 30, who also go all out for the holiday and have been doing so for years.
“A few of us have created a directory of houses that are very decorated, and we will have a box with flyers in front of the house that you can pick up to see other addresses you will want to check out in town,” Stefanie said. She encourages anyone with a big Halloween display to get their address added to the list. You can contact Stefanie at her email: stefanienelson.rmi@gmail.com or contact the Boesets through their Facebook page: Mapleton Manor Yard Haunt.
In addition to Halloween and connecting with others who love the holiday, Stefanie said they’ve loved many things about moving to Nevada.
“I’ve never encountered a community that if I never had to leave Nevada, I’d be a very happy person. I love the openness and kindness of everybody here,” she said. “We’d always heard of ‘Iowa Nice,’ but I’ve never felt such a great community base as this.”
Early on, the couple became acquainted with Bob at Alley’s Pizza and Charlie at Good & Quick. “Alley’s Pizza is our go-to food. The meatball subs are to die for,” she said. They’ve also enjoyed the Mexican food at ElMezcalita.
On Halloween night, they hope to have a lot of visitors as they not only light up their display, but they, their dogs, and some of their family members who have helped decorate will dress up as Beetlejuice characters to entertain visitors and hand out lots of candy.
The reward of going all out like this, Stefanie said, is simple – “seeing people enjoy it. This world is kind of crappy right now, and every day is a struggle. So, if you can find just one thing that isn’t that you can enjoy, that changes everything for you.”
In addition, she added, “We really love getting to know the people. We’ve met a lot of people from the community, and we just love that.”
Spoiler alert: For Halloween 2025, they’re already planning for “Ghostbusters.”
–Written by Marlys Barker, City of Nevada
