1998 Halloween: The Legend of Boney Island

Once upon a time--right in the middle of our little neighborhood--a carnival side-show of skeletons magically appeared during the Halloween season.  It happened in the front yard of Rick Polizzi's house on the corner of Morse and Sarah.

When the apparition first began in 1998 it was small.  But over the years it grew to include over 100 moving skeletons, animated with the aid of strings and motors and speaking with the help of hidden speakers.  Inspired by the Coney Island amusement park, Polizzi called his display "Boney Island."

Those who witnessed the annual spectacle say it was more funny than scary.  In 2004, the LA Times described the scene:  "Skeletons perch in the trees, playing trumpets. They climb on one another's shoulders to reach the roof.



In the carnival's batting cage, a skeleton swats at flying bats. Another bowls with his own skull.  By the front door, members of a bony band called The Skeletones play a bone xylophone, a scythe harp and an ax guitar as pumpkins with moving eyes and mouths sing along from the front window. Spiders bob up and down from a thick web in a tree, spouting corny one-liners, including 'Help me kill the Orkin man.'  Above the roof, in Polizzi's piece de resistance, a skeleton floats back and forth in a jack-o-lantern hot-air balloon." 10/30/04 - LA Times.

Every year, thousands of people came to see Polizzi's display.  But after 10 years, the traffic took it's toll on Poizzi's neighbors, and in 2007, he decided to call it quits.

"Boney Island" is gone forever...and we'll miss it.  But we still have the pictures and videos.  And it's spirit lives on in the many smaller, more modest Halloween displays throughout our neighborhood.

Thanks for all the good times, Rick!

See you around the neighborhood. - Jeff S.

P.S. Hollywood Gothique did a nice little video of Boney Island during it's final season.