A witch guards the Gothic revival-style Auburn home owned by Mindy Mass and her husband. The couple bought the house on Forest Avenue sight unseen after Mindy came across it online. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal Buy this Photo
Most rooms in the house offer some sort of animatronic display. This one sings spooky diddies. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal Buy this Photo
AUBURN — Up on Forest Avenue, there are a lot of skeletons in the historic William A. Robinson house these days.
And witches. And ghouls.
The Gothic revival home is spooked out with Halloween goblins, mirrors that tell visitors to “go back,” a Grim Reaper serving drinks in the dining room. There’s a Halloween Christmas tree that sways to and fro as it emits creepy sounds. The tree’s branches are as black as ravens, the tree is topped with a ghost, of course.
“I love Halloween,” said homeowner Migdalia “Mindy” Mass.
While Peter Geiger is considered Lewiston-Auburn’s master of Halloween, Mass “certainly is the queen of Halloween,” said her neighbor Silver Moore-Leamon.
A lofty title indeed given she’s new in town. Mass and her husband, Pete, bought the Forest Avenue home in the spring of 2018. While living in Washington state. Without ever visiting the house.
Every inch of every room is decorated. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal Buy this Photo
The couple wanted to move to Maine to be closer to his family, her cousins and their friends.
When she saw the Robinson house for sale online, “I bought it sight unseen,” Mass said with a laugh. She called her husband and said, ‘“Honey, I just bought a house in Maine. We’re moving!”
The Robinson house is among the oldest in Auburn. Built in the 1870s for Robinson, who was a local druggist, it is now on the National Register of Historic Places.
Mass said she’s always wanted a Victorian-era Gothic-style house. “When my husband saw it he said, ‘You finally got your dream house.’”
The dining room is set for creepy visitors. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal Buy this Photo
It’s perfect for Halloween, her favorite holiday.
Last fall, Mass was away from her new home in October. “This is my first Halloween here,” she said. This year she’s having a blast transforming every room — there are 12 — into a spooky spectacular.
There’s a talking witch or goblin around almost every corner. (In a Gothic-style house, there are a lot of corners.)
A Victorian ghost looks out of the lit watchtower at night, “waiting for her love who will never show up,” Mass mused during a recent tour.
In the library, books move. The librarian is a cackling witch.
The adjacent dining room table is set with black cat plates, blood-red goblets, candles with spider webs and spiders. Smiling skeletons sit at both ends of the table while waiting for service from the Grim Reaper.
In the parlor, family pictures on the wall have been replaced by photos of
Family photos on the fireplace mantel share space with Halloween decorations. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal Buy this Photo
Dracula and Frankenstein. Couch pillows feature witches and zombies. A life-size mechanical witch, brought to life by motion sensor, shares a conversation with a raven.
On the way to the kitchen, huge spiders creep up and down a wall.
Mass transformed her home for the season in September to allow time to enjoy it.
It’s all for fun, she says.
Halloween “gives you a chance to be different, to keep childhood memories alive. I just like bringing out the child in everyone, playing dress-up.”
Witches, naturally, play prominently in the decorations throughout the house. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal Buy this Photo
Her husband supports her enthusiasm. “He has even dressed up for my party and helped me spook some friends!”
Mass grew up in Puerto Rico and New York. Her father instilled her love of holidays, including Halloween. When a child, “I was always the odd kid who wanted to go out trick-or-treating,” she said. Trick-or-treating wasn’t big in Puerto Rico or where she lived in New York, she said. “We had parties at school. I always thought there should be more.”
When she grew up, she ended up doing a job that — coincidence? — had an uncanny connection to her Halloween hankering. Before working as a teacher, she served in the Army in
One room in the house offers an animated fortune teller ready to reveal secrets. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal Buy this Photo
mortuary affairs, assisting with autopsies, search and rescues, and funeral arrangements.
Despite the Halloween vibe that now fills her home, trick-or-treaters showing up at Mass’s door this year won’t be able to go into her haunted house. Narrow halls are not conducive to crowds.
But Mass said she’s bringing her Halloween spookiness outdoors to her porch and barn. In addition to sights and sounds, there’ll be a fog machine adding to the atmosphere.
She’s done Halloween in a big way for years. At her former home, “I used to get over 300 trick-or-treaters.” This year, “I’d love to see as many as possible. I’m not having expectations of 300.”
It gives her a thrill, Mass said, to watch trick-or-treaters come up to her door, react to her decorations, show off their costumes and “be happy and scamper away.”
Migdalia “Mindy” Mass is gearing up for her first Halloween in her new home on Forest Avenue in Auburn. The house is not open to the public, but she will be decorating her porch and barn in preparation for Oct. 31. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal Buy this Photo
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